"As We Gather In This Chapel Here": Kilmainham Gaol in Pictures

 

The entryway to the Gaol, now museum operated by the OPW.  It's through here that visitors cross into the spaces previously inhabited by individuals incarcerated there.  They ranged from petty thieves who committed crime during the Great Famine to escape starvation (and receive even small rations of food while in jail), to bread thieves and murderers, political prisoners, men, women and children, sometimes in shared spaces.

A prison door along one of the main hallways.  The peep-holes at both the top and middle of the door allowed prison guards to shine lantern light into one, and peek through the other in order to check on the prisoner inside.





The chapel in which 1916 Republican Proclamation signatory, Joseph Plunkett married Grace Gifford just hours before his execution for taking part in the Easter Rising.  During the Irish Civil War, Grace Gifford took part in the struggle, and was incarcerated at one point in Kilmainham Gaol.

"Beware of the risen people that have harried and held; Ye that have bullied and bribed..." -The Rebel (Patrick Pearse)



The cell in which Patrick Pearse, headmaster turned political revolutionary, spent his final hours before his execution for involvement in the Easter Rising.




The spot that those charged with responsibility for the Easter Rising were executed by firing squad.  All but James Connolly were executed here: his took place just opposite in the yard next to the large doors.  His wounds had grown gangrenous by the time of his execution date, and so he could not walk.  A place near to the door was simply more convenient for the ambulance driver and the prison guards.



The sculpture across the street from Kilmainham Gaol includes fourteen of these ghostly figures standing in a semicircle around a bronzed plaque of the 1916 Proclamation.  Entitled "Proclamation," the piece hauntingly depicts these figures, blindfolded, riddled with 'bullet holes,' and some with faces turned to the sky.

 

The photos here are barely expressive enough to show the journey that visiting this site brought me.  The "Proclamation" still is in the back of my mind, and walking into Pearse's cell was unforgettable.  The location brought me an absolute and utter appreciation for the power of place, as my NPS family would call it. 

Perhaps one element that fascinated me with the place was that I had studied the Rising back at my home institution, Gettysburg College, and have become well known among my group for my appreciation of Patrick Pearse, and finally the simple fact that I had nearly grown up with the song "Grace" by the Wolfetones.  The song taught me the story of those charged with inciting the Rising, and especially the story of Joseph and Grace.  History made legend in song, perhaps?  Listen here and decide for yourself!

Even after the first visit, I couldn't stay away, and dragged a classmate along with me.  The individuals, their stories, and the indescribable feeling of walking those halls is something I'm still piecing together, honestly.  What it means now, I have a small understanding of. What it will mean by December, I hope I will have the ability to define.  Until then, however, I await epiphany, as well as an adventure during my time here in Belfast and Northern Ireland for the next couple weeks.

Next time - an update on Belfast, thoughts on religion, flags, marching, and identity.