History Overload

 Up and at it by 6:00 am.  But wow was that difficult!  When the alarm went off we were anything but awake.  Anyone who knows Sue will be saying "what else is new"?  And you would be right!  And if anyone is wondering about the early start for the day while on holidays, I can explain.  28 days ago when we booked our first tour, it seemed like a good idea.  Never thought it through that we might be just a 'tad' tired after missing a nights sleep on the flight over. Go figure!

Today was all about Dublin/Ireland's history.  We visited Kilmainham Gaol.  It was built in the 1780's through the 1790's and housed prisoners until it closed in 1924.  It did not look like a lot of improvements were ever made in those years.  It sat derelict until the early 1960's and was restored by volunteers some of whom had been prisoners there.

Kilmainham was an incredibly 'harsh' institution to put it mildly.  It housed men, women and children.  Many were sentenced for petty crimes.  Prostitution, breaking and entering, begging, being in possession of a vegetables taken from a farm field.  During the famine years the population of the gaol grew to 9000.  It was meant to house no more than a 1000. These prisoners were housed with murderers and rapists.  During the years of political unrest leading up to the Easter Rising of 1916 and the eventual Irish Independence, it housed political  prisoners right along side all the others.  To go into the details of 'The Troubles' as this time is referred to in Ireland, would take up way too much time. (And probably bore you to tears.)  To be honest, my knowledge of these problems could never do it justice.  Spending time in their museum reading the fascinating stories began our 'historical overload'.

Our second stop was at Christ Church Cathedral.  It was built in the 1100's.  In the late 1500's due to disrepair, it collapsed.  It sat derelict for 350 years.  Hard to believe that anything could survive that long. But in the 1860's with a lot of money donated by the owner of the worlds largest distillery at the time, George Roe, it was restored.  Unbelievable what the building is like.  By the time our tour was complete, so was our 'history overload!

Three tiers of gaol cells

Where prisoners were executed

Inside Christ Church Cathedral

Christ Church Cathedral

Mosaic tile floor Christ Church Cathedral

Statue of Molly Malone

Just to show it was not all about history!

A couple more of Ireland's finest!

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