Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
It took four years to build, and the prison opened - or rather closed - its doors in 1796.
The Irish were locked up for all sorts of misdemeanours, some more serious than others.
A six-year-old boy spent a month here in 1839 because his father couldn't pay his train
fare, and during the Famine it was crammed with the destitute imprisoned for stealing
food and begging. But it is most famous for incarcerating 120 years of Irish nationalists,
from Robert Emmet in 1803 to Éamon de Valera in 1923. All of Ireland's botched upris-
ings ended with the leaders' confinement here, usually before their execution.
It was the treatment of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising that most deeply etched the
gaol into the Irish consciousness. Fourteen of the rebel commanders were executed in the
stone breakers' yard, including James Connolly who was so badly injured at the time of
his execution that he was strapped to a chair at the opposite end of the yard, just inside the
gate. The places where they were shot are marked by two simple black crosses. The exe-
cutions turned an apathetic nation on a course towards violent rebellion.
The gaol's final function was as a prison for the newly formed Irish Free State, an irony
best summed up with the story of Ernie O'Malley, who escaped from the gaol when incar-
cerated by the British but was locked up again by his erstwhile comrades during the Civil
War. This chapter is played down on the tour, and even the passing comment that Kil-
mainham's final prisoner was the future president, Éamon de Valera, doesn't reveal that he
had been imprisoned by his fellow Irish citizens. The gaol was decommissioned in 1924.
Guided Tours
Visits are by guided tour and start with a stirring audiovisual introduction, screened in the
chapel where 1916 leader Joseph Plunkett was wed to his beloved just 10 minutes before
his execution. The thought-provoking (but too crowded) tour takes you through the old
and new wings of then prison, where you can see the former cells of famous inmates, read
graffiti on the walls and immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the execution yards.
Asgard & Museum
Incongruously sitting outside in the yard is the
Asgard
, the ship that successfully ran the
British blockade to deliver arms to nationalist forces in 1914. It belonged to, and was
skippered by, Erskine Childers, father of the future president of Ireland. He was executed
by Michael Collins' Free State army in 1922 for carrying a revolver, which had been a gift
from Collins himself. There is also an outstanding museum dedicated to Irish nationalism
and prison life. On a lighter note, real U2 fans will recognise the prison as the setting for
the video for their 1982 single 'A Celebration'.
