Weekend in Dublin: Kilmainham Goal

One tour we definitely wanted to fit in was the Kilmainham Goal (that's Gaelic for jail and actually pronounced jail). The challenge was there were no tickets left on their website. They did mention that they have a small number of walk up tickets each day, but that you should arrive early as they sell out quickly. So bright and early (for a vacation anyway) we hopped the bus to the jail and were the second ones there. It was a bit chilly to wait, but we were rewarded with tickets on the first walk-in tour. And they did sell out so it was worth the planning ahead.

It's a guided tour which focuses on the history of the goal as well as some of the more famous prisoners - most from the 1916 Easter rebellion when Ireland was working to get rid of British rule. The event left 485 dead and destroyed large areas of Dublin city centre.

This is the outside courtyard where public hangings took place until 1865 (prison was built in 1796). Executions continued in the goal, but not in view of the public.

The goal has now been restored and is a historic landmark and museum of sorts. They run tours almost every hour and it was a busy place even on a random winter Saturday in January.

This prison went through a few upgrades throughout its lifetime, one of which was to give each prisoner his/her own cell. This was one of the first prisons in Europe to adjust its mission from housing prisoners to trying to rehabilitate them. The individual cells, bibles and windows to let light in were all thought to help with this effort.

This hallway is before that renovation and you can get a sense of how small, cramped and dark it was. There was also a belief that air circulating through would reduce sickness and disease so there were open windows along the top which let in a drafty and cold breeze (notice we all still have our coats on!). At this time, there were probably around 4-5 to a cell and during the worst of the potato famine, there could be up to 12! The famine created a huge increase in prisoners as people were purposely trying to get in as it was a way to guarantee regular meals.

This is the newest area of the prison and it might look familiar as it's been used as a movie set quite a few times. The Italian Job (the original one), In the Name of the Father, and U2's song A Celebration to name a few.

Here is one of the cells in this area. Really high ceilings and lots of light.

It was an interesting tour and we were glad we went.