Page 57 - royal-times-11-12

Kilmainham Gaol

On Tuesday 17 April I and my classmates in form 4 went to Dublin
for a tour of Kilmainham Gaol and museum. We had studied Irish
political history in class and were very interested in seeing the
famous prison which had held so many famous Irish historical
figures such as Wolf Tone, Charles Stewart Parnell and Eamon de
Valera.

We arrived at the gaol and our tour guide introduced herself (Orla)
and gave us a brief history of the prison. She said it was a functioning
prison from 1792 until 1924. She told us that it was Europe’s second
largest non-functioning prison at the moment and that a total of
123 people had been publically hanged in the prison during that
time period. She pointed out the hanging gallery which was just
above the front door.

We then walked along the corridors of the prison and viewed the
cells of many famous historical figures such as Eamon de Valera,
Countess Constance Markievicz, Henry Joy McCracken and Thomas
MacDonagh, We learned that the youngest male prisoner was a five
year old boy who spent ten weeks hard labour (breaking stones in
the yard) for stealing food during the famine.
Our tour concluded with a walk around the stone breaking yard
which is also the place where the 1916 Rising leaders were shot
dead April/May 1916. The yard had an eerie feeling to it and we
were all glad to be back inside.
Overall, I enjoyed this trip. I found it very interesting and Orla was
friendly. Thank you Ms. Treiner for organising it for us!!
Fionán Lavin

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