Day 4
Dublin - Jamie
Dublin is a city -- a real city, polyglot, bustling and dirty. It's
also big, too big to even consider walking in a day, despite what
James Joyce might have you think in Ulysses.
But it's beautiful. Phoenix Park is comparable to Central Park in New
York, and is lushly green.
Kilmainham Gaol is a chilling tour. It's not just that men who wanted
to change the world met a bloody end there, it's the hundreds of
thousands of souls who suffered there, some for just begging on the
streets. That it still stands is a testament to volunteers and the
fact that history has a lot to teach us still.
They Roll Up the Sidewalks Here - Emily
It's strange that a world city like Dublin would close so
early -- you're lucky if shops stay open till 7. People seem somewhat
less friendly than other parts of the country, but they're still
pleasant. There's so much history -- things are older than the US --
it can make you crazy.
Dublin - Mike
What can you say about Dublin? It is at the heart of much of the history of Ireland and yet it has become so cosmopolitan that it is almost not recognizable as Irish. The song "Rare Ould Times" laments the changes that Dublin has seen in recent years. One must really experience Dublin to appreciate the song.
Kilmainhem Jail - Shayla
We went to see the Kilmainham prison which was actually kind of neat. This was where the leaders of the Easter Rebellion were kept and then killed. The only leader not kept here was James Connolly who was kept at Dublin Castle until the time of his execution. We got to go a tour of the prison which was cool and bone chilling all at once. We got to peak into the cells to see what the insides were like. The west wing of the prison was very dark, however the east wing had natural light streaming in. When they opened the east wing they thought that the sunlight would help heal the souls. The whole prison was damp and cold. It was pretty disturbing to hear about the prison and what life inside those walls was like. For me seeing the mural on the wall of the cell that Grace Plunkett was kept in was pretty surprising. Grace was married to Joseph Plunkett on of the Easter Rebellion leaders the day before he was executed. She was arrested years later on unrelated charges and kept in jail for six months in which she managed to make a mural on her cell wall. The mural was a very detailed picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary and baby Jesus. I never knew that anyone could make a beautiful mural in six months let alone in jail.