Kilmainham Gaol and the Guinness Storehouse, Dublin

The Kilmainham Gaol is on the western edge of the city of Dublin so  we decided to catch the Luas suburban rail. The ticket outlet we went to only had combined bus/Luas tickets so we bought those, only to find that they had to be validated on a bus before use on the Luas. Luckily an inspector at our Luas stop was able to do that for us!

We arrived at the gaol just after 10am but there was already a queue and we were booked into the 10.40am guided tour. The tour lasted over an hour and our guide gave a very vivid and passionate presentation as he led us through the various wings of the gaol. The most well-known prisoners were Irish nationalist leaders, particularly from the 1916 Rising, when fourteen were executed there. He told us the sad story of Joseph Plunkett who was married to Grace Gifford in the prison chapel the evening before his execution. Grace never remarried and died in 1955.

The yard where executions took place

The cell where Mrs Joseph Plunkett (nee Grace Gifford)
was imprisoned in 1923

At the end of the tour we saw the 'Roses from the Heart' installation which was a 'carpet' of cloth bonnets, each embroidered with the name of a convict woman who was transported to Australia, usually after being held in Kilmainham Gaol. This memorial was organised by Australian Dr Christina Henri, and the bonnets were made by women throughout Australia. I found it a most moving display.

'Carpet' of bonnets

Bonnet (detail)

The afternoon was spent at the Guiness Storehouse, a couple of Luas stops back towards the city. The process of transforming water, hops, barley and yeast into Guinness beer and the history of the iconic brand are experienced in a most innovative way throughout the seven-storey centre. The tour ends in the Gravity Bar on the seventh floor with a complimentary pint of the brew and spectacular views over Dublin. Our visit also included lunch in the Brewer's Dining Hall before returning to our apartment via the Luas.

Ian enjoying his complimentary Guinness
in the Gravity Bar

Our day ended with the 'exciting' business of shifting our car from a city carpark to the carpark under our apartment building, in readiness for our early departure tomorrow. (Don't ask why it wasn't there already!) Anyway, we battled with one-way streets again (shades of Liverpool!), going around the same block at least twice and finally doing an illegal u-turn to access the street we needed. Luckily the traffic was light!