Saturday, March 3, 2012

Kilmainham

It has been almost a week since I walked the passageways of this gaol and I really can't stop thinking about it. I have been living in Dublin for 6 months and while this place should have been one of my first stops, shortly after a trip to Sandymount and the GPO, it took my housemate Lisa dragging me along with her on a day of site seeing. Boy am I glad she did.

I have to admit, I was a little scared to go at first. It has housed some of the most important political prisoners in Irish history behind its walls. Everyone from Robert Emmet, to C.S. Parnell, to the Uprising's leaders, to Countess Markievicz spent time incarcerated there. It was in the stone cutter's yard that the turning point in the fight for Irish independence happened with the execution of James Connolly. So, to be in a place with so much historical and political importance was a daunting to me.

While only 15% of the thousands of people who were jailed there were political prisoners, they were the ones which interested me the most. To walk in a place knowing that those who fought and died for their beliefs and convictions had not even a century ago was a bit awe inspiring. To see the rooms which held Parnell as he fought for home rule was amazing and slightly unreal. To hear the stories of the small children, the youngest of which was 5, who spent time in the drafty construct was shocking and horrific. And finally, to stand so close to the spot where James Connolly was tied to a chair and shot, despite being a dying man, literally brought tears to my eyes.

However the solemness was more than just the tragedy of the Easter Uprising Ringleaders. It was the  lingering sensation of despair which permeates through the gaol, lingering in the air, despite the fact it hasn't been a working prison since 1924. It was as if the despair from those held during the famine, the main failed rebellions, and the ones who had simply lost hope lingered there, imprisoned still with in the limestone walls, continuing their daily routines simply because it has no where else to go, creating an ambiance which could not be faked.

The in house museum was amazing as well, with wonderful personal artifacts including a cane of Michael Collins, C.S. Parnell's wedding ring, a letter from an 18 year old rebel to his mother. Add to that the information of the docent, whose brain I want to pick for my thesis, as his willingness to talk about prison life and the research he has done and there was a completely blown away Gillie. I may have to go back. And by may I mean MUST!!!!!

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