Today was a day full of juxtaposition. First, I explored the gardens at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. These gardens were so peaceful and welcoming, they evoked such feelings of content and awe. They represented the beauty that Ireland can offer in a very manufactured and polished way. The gardens did not, though, represent the natural beauty of Ireland. They were a piece of art, after all, so I understand why they were so polished. The statues in the garden were of Greco-roman inspiration, a feature I had not yet seen in Ireland. The Irish Museum of Modern Art’s gardens were so clean, with straight lines of trees and immaculately manicured bushes. This was in stark contrast to the area visited later that day.

After the gardens, I visited the Kilmainham Gaol, or the old prison used to imprison everyone from Irish beggars to insurgents. The best word to describe this place was that it was sobering. To go from the beauty of the gardens, to the desolation of the jail was so striking. It was incredibly eerie to see the cells in which some of the most famous and influential revolutionaries were housed and ultimately, executed. Seeing the two crosses, on opposite ends of the exercise yard, where the thirteen men were executed was powerful, but I was speechless when I saw the green, white, and orange of the Irish flag flying high above this area. So much suffering and destruction had occurred here, but in the end the efforts of those executed were not in vain.