Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin

Kilmainham Gaol is a former prison in Dublin, Ireland.  Many revolutionaries, including the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising, were imprisoned and executed in the prison by the British.

It was built in 1796 and called the “New Gaol” as it was replacing an old prison.  Originally, public hangings took place at the front of the prison and then in 1891 a small hanging cell was built inside the prison.

The original entrance to Kilmainham Gaol, with Five Snakes in Chains above the entrance

The was no segregation of prisoners; men, women and children were incarcerated up to 5 in each cell, with only a single candle for light and heat.  Most of their time was spent in the cold and the dark, and each candle had to last for two weeks.  Its cells were roughly 28 square metres.  Children were sometimes arrested for petty theft, the youngest said to be a seven year old child, while many of the adult prisoners were transported to Australia.

The spectacular East Wing, providing an extra ninety-six cells, was built in 1861.  It was typical of the Victorian belief that prison architecture was crucial to the reform of inmates.

Mural of a Madonna painted by Grace Gifford Plunkett while she was held during the Civil War

In 1910 the Gaol closed as a convict prison and was handed over to the (British) Army who used it as a military detention centre.
On Easter Monday, 1916, groups of the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army seized strategic buildings in Dublin and declared an Irish Republic.  The Rising lasted a week before the rebels surrendered.  Kilmainham Gaol was reopened to house hundreds of men and women for their part.  In May of that year, fourteen leaders were executed.  During the War of Independence (1919-1921) Kilmainham was now used by the British government to hold captured members of the Irish Republican Army until the truce of 1921.  During the Civil War (1922-1924) the Gaol was taken over by the National Army (pro-treaty) and used to house both male and female Republican prisoners.  When the Civil War ended, its last prisoner, Eamon de Valera, was released from the Gaol in 1924.  After this the Gaol was closed for good.

Cross marking the place of execution of the leaders of the 1916 Rising

Plaque marking the executions of the leaders of the 1916 Rising

Cross marking the place of execution of James Connelly

The courthouse, located beside the Gaol, was opened in 1820 and served as a courthouse until 2008.

Newgrange and the Hill of Tara

Bru na Boinne - the palace or the mansion of the Boyne - is the name given to one of the world’s most important archaeological landscapes, dominated by the spectacular prehistoric passage tombs of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth ... I visited Newgrange.

The River Boyne is about 112 kilometres long.  Despite its short course, the Boyne has historical, archaeological and mythical connotation.  The Battle of the Boyne, a major battle in Irish history, took place in 1690.  The river passes through the ancient town of Trim, the Hill of Tara (the ancient capital of the High King of Ireland - more on this later), Bru na Boinne, and the medieval town of Drogheda.

The River Boyne at Bru na Boinne

In recognition of the international importance of these monument and the many other archaeological features in the area, UNESCO has designated the Bru Na Boinne area a World Heritage Site.  At Bru Na Boinne  the remains of about forty mounds which are the oldest surviving traces of human activity in the area can be seen.  They remained the focus for activity and tradition long after their formal use as burial places ended.

Newgrange, the best known Irish passage tomb, dates to 3,200BC,  The large mound is approximately 80m in diameter and is surrounded by a kerb of 97 stones, the most impressive of which is the highly decorated Entrance Stone.  The mound covers a single tomb consisting of a long passage and a cross-shaped chamber.  There are the remains of two smaller tombs immediately to the west of Newgrange and at least one and probably two to the east.  A corbelle roof covers the chamber.  To construct the roof, the builders overlapped layers of large rocks until the roof could be sealed with a capstone, 6 metres above the floor.  After 5000 years, the roof at Newgrange is still water proof

Newgrange was excavated between 1962 and 1975 by Professor M. J. O’Kelly who discovered the Roof Box through which the mid-winter sun penetrates into the chamber.  Based on archaeological evidence, he also designed the reconstruction of the white quartz façade.

The intricately carved entrance stone

A circle of standing stones also surrounds Newgrange.  Its purpose is unclear, although recent research indicates that it could have had an astronomical function.  The Stone Circle was erected sometime after 2000BC since excavation have shown that one of the stones of the circle lies directly on top of the Early Bronze Age Pit Circle.  Originally there may have been more stones in the circle - possibly some were broken up over the years.  These stones were the final phase of building at Newgrange.

We didn’t stop at Knowth but we did drive by it.  The great mound of Knowth is outlined by 127 massive kerbstones and around the great mound are at least eighteen smaller or satellite tombs.

The Hill of Tara is a hill and ancient ceremonial and burial site near Skryne.  According to tradition, it was the inauguration place and seat of the High Kings of Ireland, and it also appears in Irish mythology.  Tara consists of numerous monuments and earthworks - from the Neolithic to the Iron Age - including a passage tomb, burial mounds, round enclosures, and a standing stone (believed to be the Lia Fail or “Stone of Destiny”).  There is also a church and graveyard on the hill.  Tara is part of a larger ancient landscape and Tara itself is a protected national monument.

The remains of twenty ancient monuments are visible, and at least three times that many have been found through geophysical surveys and aerial photography.

The oldest visible monument is a Neolithic passage tomb built around 3,200 BC.  It holds the remains of hundreds of people, most of which are cremated bones.  There are several large round enclosures at Tara which were built in the Iron Age - dated to the 1st century BC.

The Lia Fail (Stone of Destiny) atop the Hill of Tara

 The “Mound of the Hostages” and the intricately engraved stone inside

One of the six Wells of Tara listed in the ancient documents

A church, called Saint Patrick’s, is on the eastern side of the Hill of Tara.  The ‘modern’ church which stands currently was built in 1822 and is on the site of an earlier one.

The 11th-century Lebor Gabala Erenn (The Book of the Taking of Ireland) says that Tara was the seat of the high kings of Ireland.  In Irish mythology, Tara is said to have been the capital of the Tuatha De Danann, who are based on the gods of pagan Ireland.  It says that when the Milesians (the first Gaels) arrived, Tara became the place from which the kings of Mide ruled Ireland.