Dublin - Day 1

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Geo: 53.3419, -6.3

Most of yesterday was spent traveling. Train from York to London, train to Gatwick airport, waiting, waiting, flight to Dublin, pick up car, argue with Sat Nav, drive to apartment. Now I could have spent all that down time blogging, but I chose to read a book instead. Not constructive, but I've finished the second volume of Game of Thrones now. I got to my apartment, booked through AirBNB, to meet Rory, the nicest host I've had so far. He had already sent me a few emails on things to see and do in Ireland. He helped me reverse my car into the car park downstairs, spent half an hour going over the tourist map with me making recommendations on places to visit, eat, drink etc, really went out of his way for me. Awesome. Although I will say his first recommendation was that I go to jail (the Kilmainham gaol is a historic site here) But that's how my people got to Australia in the first place.

So on Rory's recommendation, my first stop today was the Kilmainham Gaol. I walked from the apartment, it didn't look that far on the map, but took longer than anticipated, because 1) Dublin is deceptively big and 2) they are not really big on street signs here. The jail is only accessible by guided tour. I got there at 10.05, just in time for the 10.10 tour. Not that it would have mattered if I'd missed it. They have a really good museum on site a person can spend some time while waiting for the next tour.

The jail was opened in 1796 and operated until 1924. It was a "modern" jail for the time as it had individual cells for individual prisoners. Prior to that all prisoners in a jail would be thrown into group cells together regardless of age, gender or crime. Somewhere along the way the authorities figured out this system only led to more crime. So they built this jail on top of a hill, for better airflow and sanitation and gave the prisoners individual cells. The problem was they arrested people and threw them in jail for all sorts of reasons. Children as young as eleven could be jailed for crimes such as stealing bread or potatoes or begging. Their sentences could be anything between two days and three months. During the famine the jail became overcrowded anyway with six to eight people crammed into cells designed for one. People committed petty crimes because a few days in jail meant a roof over your head and at least one meal a day, which was preferable to what they were dealing with on the outside.

The jail was home to many political prisoners. There were five uprisings against British rule between 1798 and 1916. Not surprisingly, the same time period the jail operated. It would appear that the fallout of the last uprising may have been what lead to its eventual close. The last uprising in 1916 was organised by a group of 1500 volunteers. It did not have popular support of the people as it was held during the first world war, when Ireland had sent off 150,000 troops to fight the war. The timing was not right. The revolution was put down in six days with massive destruction to Dublin, leaving 450 dead and over 2000 injured injured, mostly civilians. The uprising lead to over 3000 arrests and 180 people were given death sentences. However the treatment of prisoners and the hurried death sentences fueled public resentment of British rule. Only 18 of the death sentences issued were carried out. The executed became martyrs and this lead to further wars of independence in 1918 and 1921.

Most of the executions, by firing squad, were done in Kilmainham gaol. One of the leaders, James Connolly, was badly injured in the rising. He was not housed at Kilmainham during his sentencing but they brought him there to be executed. He was so sick he could not walk to the end of the yard to be shot, so they lined him up near the gate. Furthermore, he could not stand, so they put him in a chair. He fell off the chair so they tied him to it and then they shot him. That is a lot of stuffing around to execute a man who was probably going to die from injury anyway!

From the jail I walked through the lovely art museum gardens to the famous Guinness brewery. Now I am not a beer drinker (until recently) but I have been told this is a "must do"....and it is. The tour is self guided, but there were three floors of displays on the history of the brewery, how the beer is made, charitable works, essentially all things Guinness. In one room, there were interactive displays that were hooked up to motion sensors. The people on the TV screens started talking to you as you walked up to them. An old Dublin cabbie explained the charitable works of the Guinness family. A barman talked about Arthur Guinness, the founder of the brewery. He brought an rundown brewery, putting his money, his wifes money, everything that he had into it. In 50 years in doubled in size. 250 years later they are still pumping out the black stuff. He signed a 5000 year lease on the property. I wonder if they will put the rent up at the end. In another display a doctor talked about Olivia Guinness, Arthur's wife. The poor woman gave birth to 21 children. Only 10 of them survived childhood. It was the 1700's and the infant mortality rate was 50%.

On another floor was a "tasting room" here we were all given a "sample" of Guinness, and a very nice young man taught us how to drink it. Yep, there is a right and a wrong way to drink Guinness! Ones back must be straight, eyes forward, drinking elbow out to ensure enough of the black stuff goes down the gullet, not just the head. It was a bit of a lark, but I at least got a taste of it so I could figure out if I could stomach a whole pint. The next floor up, everyone could take lessons on how to pour a Guinness. There is a bit of an art to it. And the beer must be allowed to stand for 112.5 seconds. Do not forget the .5, its very important.

After learning how to pour we could take our pints up to the galaxy bar to enjoy them. The Galaxy bar is on the top floor of the storehouse and has fabulous views of Dublin. I didn't much care for the glass elevator, but the bar was cool. And it was a beautiful sunny day so the view was great. I drank all my pint although to be honest, it is not the beer for me. I did however notice a lot of pints which had not been finished. Some were only half drunk, some had barely been touched. Such a waste.

After knocking back my perfectly poured pint I made my way into town and came across St Patricks Cathedral. The current cathedral was built in the 1200's although there used to be a church on the same site some 400 years earlier. Apparently the site was selected because it is "near" where St Patrick baptised all his converts. That sounds accurate doesn't it. I don't know what happened to the original wooden church but I'm guessing with all the raiding and invading and warring that went on around here, it must have gotten burned.

After the Church I made my way home and rested my feet for a bit. Then headed out to the local pub Rory recommended. A little place just down the road called the Cobblestone. They have traditional Irish music there. It was really cool but they don't do food and by this stage I was just a tad hungry. The only thing I'd had since breakfast was my pint of Guinness. Tasty but not necessarily filling. Shall revisit on Friday with a full belly this time.

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