Kilmainham Gaol
Kilmainham Gaol buildings: Photo credit to http://kilmainhamgaolmuseum.ie
A musty, stale smell entered my nose as Hayley and I stepped into the cold, dark entrance to Kilmainham Gaol on Wednesday, February 8th. The building itself is very intimidating with large, arching stone walls and narrow hallways that made me feel claustrophobic. I felt my light, happy mood falter as I stepped through the door into a different time. Our tour began in the prison chapel which was dark except for a small light near a Christian crucifix at the center of the room. Here, our tour guide introduced us to the origin and purpose of Kilmainham jail, stating that it was an English prison which held (and executed) a variety of people during its history. In this room, he explained that Joseph Plunkett, a well-known Irish nationalist and leader of Easter Rising, married his wife Grace Gifford seven hours before his execution (Griffith 175).
Letter written by Plunkett to Grace before their marriage and after his arrest. Photo taken by me at Kilmainham museum
Plunkett was a member of the IRB and was active in seeking assistance and advice for staging an uprising in Ireland in order to overthrow the British. After Easter Rising he was taken to Kilmainham Gaol and given the death sentence. It was extremely haunting to stand in the room where Plunkett and his wife took their vows just a few hours before his execution, and it gave me chills to know that this is just one of many stories with unhappy endings.
Design on entrance door of Kilmainham. Photo credit to http://kilmainhamgaolmuseum.ie
After this intense introduction to the jail, we walked through the oldest part of Kilmainham and observed some of the cells that prisoners stayed. Our tour guide told us that prisoners were given some straw for sleeping and ate small portions of plain food including bread, oatmeal, and milk.
Food options for prisoners. Photo credit: http://kilmainhamgaolmuseum.ie
Looking into the dark cell, it was nearly impossible for me to imagine life in these conditions. The window was just high enough so that the average man could not see out of it, increasing the feeling of claustrophobia and despair. It was extremely cold in this area of the jail, and the stone walls and floor only amplified the cold and wind. To imagine living in these conditions, with only rags for warmth, sleeping on the stone floor was truly depressing, although I don’t know what I expected upon taking a tour in a jail.
Typical jail cell in Kilmainham. Photo taken by yours truly
Our tour guide reminded us that Dublin was one of the poorest cities in Ireland during the 1800s, and as a result, many people were starving on the streets and struggling to find their next meals. According to Griffith in Stones of Dublin, it was believed that poverty led to evil, so many of the prisoners were arrested on the single fact that they were poor (Griffith, 163). People engaged in small-scale crimes such as petty theft and burglaries in an effort to get arrested, and this fact illustrates the poor conditions that the Irish people felt on a day to day basis (Griffith, 169). They were so hungry and desperate for food and shelter that they would rather be in the freezing, dark, ominous walls of Kilmainham Gaol than on the streets because they would be guaranteed a place to stay as well as a small amount of food. As a result, prison boards reduced the food rations so to counter the desire for arrest (Griffith, 169).
During the Great Famine, 1845-1850, the prison was filled to the brim, and there was extreme overcrowding, leading to even worse conditions. Often times, many people would be squashed into a cell that was designed for one person, and the cells were filthy (Griffith, 164). As I write this in my single-room apartment at Maynooth, I find that I am extremely grateful to have my own bathroom, carpet, and bed with a quilt, little blessings that I often take for granted.
The execution yard at Kilmainham. Photo belongs to me
There were many other aspects of the jail that made me cringe, including the execution yard. Here, the guards would line up the prisoners that were to be killed for their crimes. Many of the masterminds of Easter Rising were executed here including Joseph Plunkett and Padric Pearse, and they were blindfolded and knelt in the stones near a black cross (Griffith, 174). The guards attached a piece of white paper to the prisoner’s shirts in order to shoot them in the heart for quick deaths.
This plaque hangs in the stone breakers yard (execution area) of the jail. It lists the men who were shot as punishment for their actions in Easter Rising. Photo taken by me
Walking through that pathway was again eerie, and I felt as if I were walking through a graveyard of some sort. Many of the executed prisoners were those that participated in Easter Rising, so they were arrested and killed for attempting to get Ireland out from British control. They dreamed of an independent future, and continued to fight for it until they were killed themselves.
Poster in the Kilmainham museum advertising the consequences of British control over Ireland. Photo taken by me at museum
Exploring Kilmainham Gaol and the attached museum was really interesting and haunting, as I have stated before. I know very little about the Famine and the Troubles, but walking through the prison, hearing the stories of the Irish nationalists, and looking at pictures and artifacts from the museum really helped me to form a greater understanding of these topics. I now understand that the British had an extremely strong hold on the Irish, and as a result, a lot of the culture was influenced in certain parts of Ireland. I have a better grasp on the intense suffering that people experienced during the Great Famine and the desperation that was running rampant throughout the land. I am starting to learn that the British occupation of Ireland was much more influential than just political control. People were struggling to create and experience a sense of national identity during this time of conflict and corruption during the Troubles, and it is becoming more clear to me that this idea of seeking identity is an ongoing process.
