Well, I’ve returned from Ireland and I have so many stories to tell! I had an amazing trip – my first international jaunt (excepting England). I didn’t have a particular plan in mind when scheduling a trip to Dublin. I had some time off from class, a few extra bucks and a long-standing desire to see the Emerald Isle, home to Guinness, ancient Celtic history and The Quiet Man (three of my favorite things). So, on November 9th, off I went. I booked a cheapo ticket through Ryan Air, cheap because travelling with them is about as luxurious as being caber-tossed by a drunken hairy lumberjack over the ocean. Crammed into a tiny little seat on a pared-down jet (read: no between seat armrests…ick), we were subjected to commercials from our “friendly” cabin crew every five minutes, selling the entire commercial pantheon, ranging from five hour energy shots to watches to first-born children. Well, you get the point. Amazingly, the one thing they weren’t selling, the only item I would have bought, was coffee; their coffeemaker wasn’t working. Le sigh. But, after 5 glorious, decaffeinated minutes, yours truly stumbled in Dublin Airport, breezed through border patrol and heading out into the GREAT Green Way.
I opted to stay in a hostel in the western part of the city, to be close to the touristy stuff, but not too close to tourist traps like Temple Bar. My hostel was decent, though after a mix-up on their part, I wound up in an eight bed room, instead of the cozy four bed I had booked. But it was all right. To be honest, I’m such a heavy sleeper that I am sort of the ideal candidate for hostel travel. I took a bottom bunk and barely heard the Seven Drunkertons when they stumbled in shortly before my alarm would go off each morning.
I spent my afternoon in the city doing a mixture of terribly important things. First, while waiting for check-in time, I stopped at Ryan’s Pub on Camden Street for my first local pint of the good old “black stuff.” And I must say Guinness really does taste even better in Dublin. And of course, by better, I mean like molten heaven. With a side of puppies and rainbows. For serious. After dropping off my own teeny little bag at the Ritz Hotel (har har), I started off on my second important mission of the day: Getting lost in every spectacular way possible. I started wandering with a map that was several years old, borrowed from a classmate. Now, I could have Rand McNally holding my hand and I’d still get lost, so me and an outdated map? Forget it. After walking in circles, I broke down, visited a bookshop and bought a non-Stone Age cityfinder. Much better.
With the help of my map and at least 6789 locals, I spent the day looking at the outsides of some beautiful places, and stumbled upon the small Focus Theatre, coincidentally opening previews for Men of Tortuga that evening, for which I promptly bought a ticket . The play was really well done, in an intimate black-box setting that I’d kill to work in. Very reminiscent of Allegheny’s beloved Playshop, which is still my favorite theatre ever. The four men in the cast worked well together, and had perfected their American accents. Aside from a few sticky blocking moments, it was overall a very thoughtful and engaging production, and definitely a nice little surprise, as I’d not heard of Focus before.
Wednesday was a great day. I trekked out Kilmainham Gaol (muuuuuch further away than it looked on my decidedly not to scale map). Now, I shan’t give you a full history lesson (even though it’s fascinating stuff!) but you should know that the jail was built in 1796 and was originally concerned quite modern. The prison figures heavily in the histories of the Famine, Easter Rising of 1916 and the War of Independence. While Kilmainham was open into the 1920s, during its last years it was used to hold only political prisoners. The stories surrounding the Easter Rising were particularly heartbreaking. On Easter Monday 1916, rebels, in an effort to publically to sever ties with the British, seized control of strategically important buildings in Dublin, including the Post Office, in front of which leader Padraig Pearse read aloud the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. The siege lasted several days, over the course of which much property was destroyed and many civilian lives lost. Hundreds of men and women were arrested as a result of the rising and imprisoned at Kilmainham. 14 of the leaders were swiftly court marshaled, and within three weeks, executed on the jail’s grounds, including Joseph Plunkett who married his fiancée Grace Gifford in the prison chapel a mere five hours before he was killed. The final execution, that of Joseph Connolly, is considered to be the tide-turner in public opinion for the Rising. Because of all of the damage done by the rebels, public opinion was initially quite negative. People jeered when the leaders were first taken to Kilmainham. As a result of the swiftness with which their deaths were ordered by the British however, the mood began to change. Connolly’s execution was particularly brutal. He’d been badly wounded during the rising and was held at hospital prior to his death, not at the jail with the other leaders. On the day of his execution, he was carried into the stonebreaker’s yard on a stretcher. He couldn’t stand, so the British soldiers tied him to a chair and then shot him. This final cruelty helped the public to see the rebels in a positive light, allowing the Rising of 1916 to pave the way for Irish independence a few short years later.
Okay. I know I said I wasn’t going to give you a history lesson. But it is just too interesting and too powerful not to share. I realized while on the grounds at Kilmainham how little I know about Irish history. I just kept thinking about the strength and conviction that it would take to stand up for one’s country and beliefs that way. I’m not sure that I have the fortitude for it, but I certainly grateful for those who do. I felt quite moved standing in the stonebreaker’s yard, marked at either end with a black wooden cross, demarcating the execution sites. It was quiet, and my fellow tourists were not chattering, but rather just being ‘in’ the space. I got choked up, which surprised me, as it’s not my history… but there is something enduring about people who stand up for their convictions, and, more importantly, for the good of their fellow man. Very very strong stuff. I took some pictures at the jail, which can be spotted here if you’re curious.
Incidentally, the story of Kilmainham’s restoration is quite amazing. Abandoned after the 1920s, it quickly became derelict. Due to its key presence in much of Ireland’s struggle for independence, a campaign began to restore it and open it as a museum. An all-volunteer team, many of whom were former political prisoners, spent 30 years getting Kilmainham ready to reopen. Because of their hard work, Kilmainham is now a monument, a landmark in the fight for Irish freedom.
After Kilmainham, I took a long walk to clear my head and sort of digest all of that experience. And where did I walk to? The Guinness Storehouse of course! Terrifically good city planning to put the Guinness brewery a 15 minute walk away from a humbling museum like Kilmainham! And that was just Day One…. Wait till you hear about the rest of my trip!
Love,
TGI
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