(caption on the photo)

“If the prison does not underbid the slum in human misery, the slum will empty and the prison will fill.”- George Bernard Shaw

Walking through the dark, eerie, and damp cell halls of the Kilmainham Jail was so unreal. I could almost see the pain seeping through the walls. Today we took a tour through the Kilmainham Gaol and Museum. The jail itself was built in 1796, which is over 200 years old. Over the course of it being open, (it closed in 1924) around 12,000 people have been inmates, and at least 250 have been executed. During the time of the Great Famine, people were actually trying to get put in this jail just so they could be fed.

It was so unreal for me to be able to actually see the cells of the men who where significant in the 1916 Rising. Specifically James Connolly. I couldn’t believe that I was actually looking at the spot where he was executed- sitting, tied down to a chair and blind folded.

I also was amazed when finding out that women and children had also been inmates, some of the children had even been executed simply for committing theft. The youngest inmate was a 5-year-old boy. These facts made me feel deeply saddened.It was even more depressing for me when I realized that back in America their are still police that participate in public executions, or rather killings of innocent civilians public execution style.

I really connected to this place because it is the original but refurbished jailhouse. I was able to look into those damp, dark and locked jail cells. I was able to walk down the oldest part of the jail- the west wing. Personally, I hold on to historical events when I am actually able to see, feel and be apart of it. I got to experience that today as I walked through the halls of Kilmainham Gaol.