13 May ’05, Friday. Kilmainham Gaol (Jail)
The winds are back !!! Poor “Bumble Bee” was buffeted all night long with heavy wind gusts. Then, when it was time for us to roll out and head for the showers, we forgot about “Bumble Bee” and it was every person for themselves. Head low and into the wind, we forced through and found the shower room. Unfortunately, the shower room was located on the windward side, and the wind blew cold into the shower…right through the door. Now this campground is one that you have to put a “coin” in to take your shower. Each coin is worth 1 Euro ($1.30), and the shower room is large enough for the both of us to easily get in at once. Yesterday it worked out just fine…today, not quite as good. Louise was in first and really is quite fast, but I had no sooner gotten wet, soaped up, and…”hey, what the hell is this ???? ____ we have just been shut off” Have you ever had to dry off when you have soap all over your body and still have a smile and good humor about yourself ??? It is tough to do… Well, having put that all behind, we headed back outside, to the van for breakfast, and then off to Dublin for day 2. The agenda was to the Dublin Castle first and then onto Kilmainham Gaol, and then if time permits, Guinness Brewery. Like in England, we purchased the Heritage Sites pass. This will let us into most of museums and ancient sites in Ireland for $30 Euros. Today alone, we saved $16 Euros, so we are half way there already. The Dublin Castle was a guided tour through the castle and government offices. Some of it was still in daily use, and most of the rest is used during “special” high profile occasions. Originally built in the 13th century by the Vikings, it functioned as a military fortress, prison treasury and the government seat. Because of fire and explosion (one of the castle towers was used as a storage area for gun powder), it was rebuilt over several centuries from 17th to the 20th. The guide was very good with the history and the people that made it. We had a good time exploring all the nooks and crannies, and the castle museum. Then off to the internet café, and onto the bus stop for our next stop. Louise asked the driver if the bus would take us to the prison (Gaol), and he said it was, so we got on. We chose the spot to get off, thinking we knew right were to go…well, after walking through the gale (yes, the wind is still blowing and is cool..), we make 2 stops and ask 1 person along the walk for directions, and finally after at least a 40 minute walk, we find Kilmainham Gaol…and guess what ???..it has our bus stop right at the front door !!! Who says you can’t have fun traveling ???
Kilmainham Gaol is one of the largest unoccupied gaols (jails) in Europe. The history covers most of the heroic and tragic events in Ireland’s past and more recent times’ (1780’s – 1920). Now, you would call it a shrine to the heroes of the Irish struggle for independence. A symbol of British rule, Kikmainham is a monument to the most tragic moments in Irish history. Our guide was outstanding !! He really made you “feel” the tragedy and sorrow of this time in Ireland and Kikmainham Gaol. It was just after 5 when we walked out of Kikmainham, and right out front was our bus stop and right across the street was a pub…yep, we walked across the street. As we walked in, we were asked no less than 4 times (in about 20 feet) if we were aware that it was a bar or were we looking for the restaurant upstairs ? Well, we answered politely, and made our way through all these fellows that obviously have made this their 2nd home, and had a couple of Guinness…boy did they taste good !!! Tomorrow…Kilkenny and more
The winds are back !!! Poor “Bumble Bee” was buffeted all night long with heavy wind gusts. Then, when it was time for us to roll out and head for the showers, we forgot about “Bumble Bee” and it was every person for themselves. Head low and into the wind, we forced through and found the shower room. Unfortunately, the shower room was located on the windward side, and the wind blew cold into the shower…right through the door. Now this campground is one that you have to put a “coin” in to take your shower. Each coin is worth 1 Euro ($1.30), and the shower room is large enough for the both of us to easily get in at once. Yesterday it worked out just fine…today, not quite as good. Louise was in first and really is quite fast, but I had no sooner gotten wet, soaped up, and…”hey, what the hell is this ???? ____ we have just been shut off” Have you ever had to dry off when you have soap all over your body and still have a smile and good humor about yourself ??? It is tough to do… Well, having put that all behind, we headed back outside, to the van for breakfast, and then off to Dublin for day 2. The agenda was to the Dublin Castle first and then onto Kilmainham Gaol, and then if time permits, Guinness Brewery. Like in England, we purchased the Heritage Sites pass. This will let us into most of museums and ancient sites in Ireland for $30 Euros. Today alone, we saved $16 Euros, so we are half way there already. The Dublin Castle was a guided tour through the castle and government offices. Some of it was still in daily use, and most of the rest is used during “special” high profile occasions. Originally built in the 13th century by the Vikings, it functioned as a military fortress, prison treasury and the government seat. Because of fire and explosion (one of the castle towers was used as a storage area for gun powder), it was rebuilt over several centuries from 17th to the 20th. The guide was very good with the history and the people that made it. We had a good time exploring all the nooks and crannies, and the castle museum. Then off to the internet café, and onto the bus stop for our next stop. Louise asked the driver if the bus would take us to the prison (Gaol), and he said it was, so we got on. We chose the spot to get off, thinking we knew right were to go…well, after walking through the gale (yes, the wind is still blowing and is cool..), we make 2 stops and ask 1 person along the walk for directions, and finally after at least a 40 minute walk, we find Kilmainham Gaol…and guess what ???..it has our bus stop right at the front door !!! Who says you can’t have fun traveling ???
Kilmainham Gaol is one of the largest unoccupied gaols (jails) in Europe. The history covers most of the heroic and tragic events in Ireland’s past and more recent times’ (1780’s – 1920). Now, you would call it a shrine to the heroes of the Irish struggle for independence. A symbol of British rule, Kikmainham is a monument to the most tragic moments in Irish history. Our guide was outstanding !! He really made you “feel” the tragedy and sorrow of this time in Ireland and Kikmainham Gaol. It was just after 5 when we walked out of Kikmainham, and right out front was our bus stop and right across the street was a pub…yep, we walked across the street. As we walked in, we were asked no less than 4 times (in about 20 feet) if we were aware that it was a bar or were we looking for the restaurant upstairs ? Well, we answered politely, and made our way through all these fellows that obviously have made this their 2nd home, and had a couple of Guinness…boy did they taste good !!! Tomorrow…Kilkenny and more