#East Wing. A prison built in Dublin

[dlyarchitecture]

[dougrobyngoold]

A Park, A Prison, & A Performance - Dublin, Ireland

Phoenix Park, the largest enclosed public park in Europe, is a short walk from our Airbnb. We decided to spend the morning checking out the park. The weather was cloudy and the temperatures were cooler, but no rain, perfect for a nice walk around some of the park. There is a lot going on in this park - polo grounds, Dublin Zoo, a racecourse, bike trails, walking trails, a tea house, a restaurant, monuments/memorials, a castle, numerous historic buildings, etc. Not to mention the beautiful trees, ponds, and gardens.

We walked just a portion of it, entering at the corner of North Road & N. Circular Drive. We passed by the pond, pictured above, and then the Sean Heuston Statue:

Sean Heuston was an Irish republican rebel, he took part in the Easter Rising of 1916. He was executed for his role in the uprising.

The Wellington Monument, the obelisk is over 200 feet in height, making it the largest obelisk in Europe. It stands as a tribute to the Duke of Wellington and his victory at the Battle of Waterloo.

Ashtown Castle, a tower house that was built circa 1430. It was found hidden in the walls of a much larger and more recent Georgian building, Ashtown Lodge, when it was being demolished in the 1970s.

After strolling around the park for close to two hours, we exited on the southern end of the park and crossed the River Liffey, making our way to the Black Lion Inn for lunch.

It was a pretty little pub, however, Doug wasn't happy with his meal. I had soup and bread, which is always good in Ireland!

After lunch, we walked over to Kilmainham Gaol, where we had tickets for an afternoon tour. It was an interesting tour, a little gruesome at times, but the walls definitely held some incredible stories.

The entrance to Kilmainham Gaol.

The old court room, where our tour started.

It was a bit eerie to enter the old jail - dark and dingy, not someplace I would want to visit at night.

Looking through a peephole into one of the cells.

The names of some of the more famous prisoners are on the walls above some of the cells.

The east wing of the gaol was replaced completely in the late 1850s. The new wing contained 96 cells, all of which could be seen from the central viewing area. The prison was decommissioned as a prison by the Irish Free State government in 1924. Several movies have been filmed inside the prison, including The Italian Job.

The space is brighter than the older portions of the prison, but I still wouldn't want to spend a night there. The last photo is through the peephole of one of the cells and shows the artwork that was painted on the wall by one of the prisoners held in that cell.

The outer yard, where male prisoners were allowed to exercise, the women and children prisoners were allowed to be in the yard behind the wall in the distance.

The above two photos are of the portion of the yard where executions by firing squad occurred. It is very sobering to stand in this space. The executions of rebels from the Easter Rising of 1916 occurred in this yard and those executions resulted in a change in the mood of the general Irish public toward British rule.

The old entrance to the gaol, public hangings took place in the courtyard in front of this door. The 5 serpent-like shapes above the door represent the five worst crimes: murder, rape, theft, treason, and piracy. Everyone told us to make sure we visited this site and we have to agree - well worth the 8 euro/person entrance fee.

This evening we walked over to St. Patrick's Cathedral for a Fleetwood Mac Concert by the West End Singers. The music was good, however, the lighting in the cathedral was awful where we were sitting. Throughout the concert we had a bright spotlight shining on our seating section - very unpleasant. It was suppose to be a concert by candlelight, not exactly the experience we had. Oh well, the inside of the church was beautiful, as well as the outside.

We walked back toward our Airbnb, crossing over the River Liffey, enjoying the beautiful lights and pretty night:

We decided to stop in at a pub near our place for a nightcap, where we ended up having a rather interesting experience. First off, the bartender was a super nice young man and we had a wonderful time visiting with him. However, about 20 minutes after we arrived, he had to deal with a rather intoxicated gentleman at the door of the pub. The guy was totally wasted and he hadn't even been into this pub this evening, he was wanting to come in and the bartender and another patrol spent a good 20 minutes preventing him from coming in. Eventually, they managed to get him headed in the direction of home - walking, of course! The bartender was very concerned about the guy's welfare and very flustered about the whole incident - it was rather unfortunate. He made up for it by pouring me a HUGE glass of wine, because I had to wait while he took care of that situation.

Shortly after that, a young couple came over and chatted us up. At first, it was enjoyable to visit with them, but it quickly became apparent that they were rather intoxicated and we just felt like something was a bit off. They got a bit distracted ordering their last drink and we high-tailed it out of the pub and made our way home! Quite a memorable experience!