Tags
B&B, church, convicts, films, Irish rebellions, Trinity College, U2
An early and sobering start today to beat the queues at Dublin’s Kilmainham Gaol and we come face to face with some of Australia’s convict past. More than 4,000 Irish were transported to Australia from this jail from early in the nineteenth century.
The Gaol has held leaders of five different Irish rebellions. We see the individual cells in the section of the jail where the leaders of the 1916 uprising were held the night before their execution. Outside we see the execution sites, marked by poignant small crosses.
There is also a cell in the same block with the name badge of a Countess Markievicz who took part in active fighting the Easter Rising, and was the only woman to be court martialled. A death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment but she ended up serving 13 months in Ireland and then England. Subsequently she went on to a political career and became the first woman elected to the Commons in the British Parliament.
Later we meet two other famous women, a fictional heroine from the past and one from modern times.
The reclining lady statue apparently has some not so savory alternate names, but her more polite nickname is the Floozy in the Jacuzzi.
Molly Malone was said to be a beautiful fish monger from the seventeenth century who turned to prostitution due to poverty and died from cholera contracted from one of her clients.
A three hour free walking tour with knowledgeable and entertaining John from Sandeman’s is a fascinating trip through time and Dublin. He tells us we are blessed to be here for one of the two days of the year the sun shines in Dublin.
He leads us to Dublin Castle, Christ Church cathedral where lies ‘Knee High’ the 6′ 7″ crusader who was chopped off at the knees so he could fit into the one size fits all coffin, the bar where U2 was discovered, the site where Dublin’s Viking past was unearthed, scenes of the 1916 uprising, Temple Bar, Trinity College, the Gate Theatre where Orson Wells had his first acting part at the age of 16, a number of famous film locations, and more.
We take our time at each stop as John brings to life Dublin’s history and in doing so explains some of the present. A terrific afternoon and highly recommended.
We finish the day off with a Guinness Beef stew and head back to our B&B, Beech Lodge, just a short bus ride from the city centre.