Kilmainham Gaol April 12, 2012
Posted by irishelectionliterature in Culture, History, Irish History.trackback
Visited Kilmainham Gaol for the first time earlier in the week and it’s fantastic. The museum is excellent and the tour even better.
The museum tells the story of the Jail, with exhibits detailing the penal history of the prison, its political history and its restoration. There is also a Temporary exhibition of Prisoners Art.
The first floor of the museum details the penal history, which has everything from a list of professions of convicts , mug shots, locks,keys, personal belongings, prison diets, details of Dublin slums and much more.
As you can imagine The Political exhibition caught my imagination. The prison housed almost every major Irish Political Prisoner from 1796 to its decommissioning in 1924. So there are items from Parnell,Emmett, De Valera, Napper Tandy, Pearse, Clarke and more besides. There are political posters galore (some of which I posted here), weapons, a Proclamation from the GPO. There are films from 1916, The War of Independence and The Civil War. It really is a treasure trove.
The exhibition on the Restoration (more info here ) is excellent too and a reminder that it was voluntary work that restored the jail.
The Tour though was the highlight. To stand outside the cells of the 1916 leaders, to walk where Pearse, Countess Markievicz, McDonagh, Clarke, Plunkett and many others walked and slept. To stand where Connolly was shot tied to a chair, to stand where Pearse and other rebel leaders were shot. All the while being told the stories of their executions by the excellent guide.
The prison has and East Wing and a West Wing, the East Wing being the newer one which has been the set of movies such as “The Italian Job” and “In the Name of the Father”.
You also got a glimpse of the role class played. For richer, more prominent prisoners like Parnell and Emmett there were bigger cells and a lot more creature comforts than the normal prisoners had.
My words cant really do it justice. Its Well worth a visit…
The Cedar Lounge Revolution 
The museum is great and makes a top day out when added to a look around the War Memorial Park across the road and the Royal Hospital (IMMA is mostly closed at the moment but there’s a great exhibition of photographs from the Bank of America collection in the new, separate gallery).
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I recently read, and it might have been in one of the Dublin museums, that Connolly was shot strapped to a stretcher which was laid against the wall. He was slouching obviously in the chair, strapped or not, thus not allowing the firing squad a clear shot at the heart. I spent hours in the museum at Kilmainham, the guide was brilliant, the tour a bit fast especially the 1916 wing. Worth a visit, I’d go again.
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