May 20-30, 2011 Tour of Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin

1. KilmainhamGaol A former prison which is now a museum. KilmainhamGaol played an important part in Irish history, as many leaders of Irish rebellions were imprisoned and some executed in the prison by the British and latterly in 1923 by the Irish Free State.

2. A beautiful fireplace in what would have been the warden’s house.

3. Gas lines for light were added in the 19th century. Before then the small hole over the doorway provided light from a window opposite. There were no windows to protect from cold.

4. The view from a peephole in the cell door.

5. The East Wing was added in Victorian times when jail reform was based on giving the prisoners light and exercise. The wing was designed so that guards on the bridges could see all the cells at all times.

6. Prisoners used the spiral staircase which forced them to move slowly in single file.

7. Grace Evelyn Gifford Plunkett (4 March 1888 – 13 December 1955) was an artist who was active in the Republican movement. She is mainly remembered for marrying Joseph Plunkett in KilmainhamGaol only a few hours before he was executed for his part in the 1916 Easter Rising. She was arrested with many others in February 1923 and detained for about 3 months. She painted pictures on the walls of her cell, including one of the Madonna and Child. She was released in May 1923.

8. A cross marks the spot where James Connolly, a leader of the 1916 Easter Uprising, was tied to a chair (he was wounded in the rebellion and could not stand on his own) and shot by firing squad. The executions of the rebels deeply angered the majority of the Irish population, and eventually led to the freedom of the Irish Republic.

9. An effective method of preventing prisoners from climbing the drainpipe to escape.

10. A “Tommy Gun” and primitive bullet-proof vest from the uprising of 1916

11. A gun rack designed for use on a bicycle.