We visited Dublin Castle
Justice, at the gates of Dublin Castle
And Fortitude, on the other gate
And another day, visited Kilmainham Gaol with Phyllis, Isabelle, Isaac, and James. The image below shows the “new” jail, with an innovative design that allowed one guard to see everywhere in the jail from any point. It also brought sunlight in to the prisoner’s lives, which was an important improvement from the old jails at the time. Our guide also mentioned that the design is quite like our current shopping malls. Discuss!
Our guide was very good. The last stop on the tour was this room that was for prisoners who received a visitor. Beyond this gate, there is about 20 feet of dead hallway and another identical gate. Visitors would be on one side of one gate with the prisoner on the other side of the other gate. The lower grate in the door was created so that child prisoners, the same age as these three ruffians 🙂 could see their parents through the first gate, hallway, and second gate.
Prisoners scratched graffiti into their door frames. This one was pretty darkly funny — To Let, or “For Rent” on a prison cell.
After the jail visit, we went for some lunch at the cafe inside the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA). The cafe is open even on days that the museum is closed! Then we played a bit in the formal gardens beside the museum.
Of course some messing around ensued…
Debate topic: is it photo bombing to intentionally squeeze one’s eyes shut in a posed photo? (I say yes.)
Then we topped off the day with a trip to the Guinness Storehouse. Impressive as always, but we hear that the Jameson tour is also worth a visit these days!
Great photos! About the jail looking like a shopping mall, maybe they could paint everything yellow and blue, add elevators and escalators, and turn it into an Ikea.
I agree that it is indeed photo-bombing to squeeze one’s eyes shut. In one photo it looked like there were various methods of non-looking being practiced.
Being in jail must have been really bad with no outside light! And child prisoners, wow!
Kilmainham gaol is definitely one of the best tourism sites in Dublin and yes squeezing eyes shut does sound like photo-bombing! I must add the Guinness store-house to my to do list next time we’re home!