Today is our only full day in Dublin. We started the morning with a two mile walk to our first destination, Kilmainham Gaol. This little church was our view as we walked out the front door of our hostel.
Bin the poo.
Sweet, simple, effective. We haven't seen any poo that hasn't been binned.
Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin's county jail, was opened in 1796. It was often used by the British as a political prison, against those who fought for Irish independence. Fourteen people involved with the Easter Rising in 1916 were executed here.
After the Easter Rising, Joe Plunkett (a rebel leader) married his fiancee, Grace Gifford, hours before he was executed.
It was his last wish.
And hopefully hers too.
In the end, his promise to never love anyone else was rather easy for him to commit to.
Years later Grace was arrested and confined for three months, where she painted murals on the walls of her cell.
This is the original wing of the jail.
Often six people stayed in each cell. And there was no bathroom or running water.
According to the wardens, no one wanted to walk the halls because it smelled to awful.
The jail was overcrowded before the new wing was built, and continued to be overcrowded afterwards. But at least women and children were separated from the men. Before that it was common for everyone and anyone to share one cell. The original part of Kilmainham Gaol was built for 100 people, but housed 9,000. Poverty was so rampant that many people were jailed for stealing, mostly bread and turnips. Some were arrested on purpose, as they were guaranteed three meals a day, nothing good (no delicious turnip stew), but at least it was something.
The execution site.
We went back to the heart of the city since we had some time to kill before our Guinness tour, so we had some coffee, walked around, and took a double decked bus (which offers some nice views).
The Guinness Storehouse was built in 1759, and has grown significantly since. In 1868, it was the world's biggest brewery. It now takes up 64 acres of space, and brews 1.5 million pints every day. They roast 100,000 tons of barely each year, roasting every single day.
I don't think I have ever been so impressed by a brewery tour. Not because I learned something new about the brewing process, but because it was so beautifully done. It is a five story work of art, including their advertisements, memorabilia, pubs and interesting Guinness history lessons. For example, Guinness and his wife had twenty one children, of which ten lived to adulthood.
There are TVs in the handmade barrels which makes it look like guests have had one too many.
Genius.
We learned the proper way to drink Guinness; nothing we couldn't figure out on our own, but it came with extra samples so we played dumb.
"Drink through the head, you say, so we can taste the beer, you say..."
At the end of the tour you get a pint of your choice of beer.
It was the best Guinness that I have ever had (a sip of).
