Photo Credit: Kelsey Doogan
By Kelsey Doogan
Kilmainham Gaol is a former prison located in Kilmainham, Dublin just south of Phoenix Park. Now it is a museum run by the Office of Public Works in Ireland. The admission fee is certainly cheap compared to similar museums in other countries.
While it did cater as a prison for even the most common of prisoners, it is primarily known for the imprisonment of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising such as Patrick Pearse, Seán Mac Diarmada, and Joseph Plunkett. All were executed within the walls of the prison byy order of the British Government at the time.
“One of the aspects of the site I find most interesting is the fact that it was often used to imprison the most marginalised groups in Irish society in the 19th and early 20th century,” said Brian Crowley, Curator of Collections at Kilmainham Gaol.
Photo Credit: Kelsey Doogan
It serves as a bleak reminder of a dark period of Irish history and a time of oppression and suffering in our past and this can very much be felt as you walk through the doors.
“Kilmainham was more or less abandoned after 1924 and was semi- ruined when the Kilmainham Gaol Restoration Society was formed in the early 1960s to restore it. The Gaol was officially opened as a museum in 1966 by President Éamon de Valera, a former prisoner in the Gaol. In addition to restoring the Gaol they also began to collect and display material related to the struggle for Irish independence,” said Crowley.
The Gaol is only accessible through guided tours and is definitely worth a visit. Even if you aren’t a history fanatic, there is something about standing where some of our greatest heroes stood that will live with you forever.
Photo Credit: Kelsey Doogan
As you wait for your tour guide and the tour itself to begin you are invited to wait within the old courtroom located within the Gaol, where many of these historic prisoners would have received their damning sentences.
Photo Credit: Kelsey Doogan
Within the walls of the Gaol, there were two chapels, for both protestants and Catholics. Now however, only the Catholic chapel is open to the public. You are invited to sit where the prisoners would have sat during mass.
The room is most notable for its red walls, a design used to distinguish the Catholic cells from the blue Protestant cells. Hours before his execution, Joseph Plunkett married the love of his life, Grace Gifford in this very room.
Photo Credit: Kelsey Doogan
The oldest section of the Gaol is called the West Wing. This part of the Gaol is dark, dull and downright gloomy.
Photo Credit: Kelsey Doogan
When first built, there was no glass in the windows, and no heating or light and the original stone walls still standing only adds to the sense of eeriness.
Photo Credit: Kelsey Doogan
The most recognisable part of Kilmainham Gaol is the East Wing, known for its huge glass roof letting in lots of natural light. During the Irish Civil War, many of the prisoners in this wing went on hunger strike.
Photo Credit: Kelsey Doogan
The East Wing has featured in many films on Irish history such as ‘Michael Collins’.
Photo Credit: Kelsey Doogan
The Tour ends in Stonebreaker’s Yard, which got its name due to the fact it was mainly used by men who had been sentenced to hard labour where they would have to manually break up stones.
It was in this very yard where the leaders of the Easter Rising were executed and you can stand where they stood next to the two crosses which were placed in their memory.
As time goes on it is easy to forget about our history as a country but places like Kilmainham are striving to not let their stories and sacrifices be forgotten.
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