14DAY-KILMAINHAM GAOL (JAIL)

October 11, 2018

Our last place to visit was the Kilmainham Gaol.  It was opened in 1796 as Dublin's county jail and debtor's prison. They would arrest very young kids for  begging on the streets or even just stealing a loaf of bread.  Sometimes they got very lengthy sentences. It was also used as a political prison.  Many who fought for Irish independence were held or executed here, including leaders of the rebellions of 1798,1803, 1848, 1867 and 1916. The last prisoner to be held here was Eamon de Valer, who later became president of Ireland. He was released July 16, 1924, the day the prison was finally shut down.  The prison was in ruins, but restored in the 1960's

Original courtroom

Exterior views

Interior walkways, very dismal looking place

Prison Cells

 Original artwork by one of the women political prisoners 

After taking a taxi back to our hotel, we had a last dinner with 2 couples that we had gotten to know

14TH DAY-THE BOOK OF KELLS

October 11, 2018

Besides visiting the Guinness factory, this is considered the biggest attraction in Dublin.  It was amazing to see.  The Book Of Kells is located inside Trinity College.

The College was built in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I to establish a Protestant way of thinking about God. It is Ireland's most prestigious college. It was first limited to rich Protestant men. Women were admitted in 1903. Catholics were only given formal permission by the Catholic Church to study at Trinity in the 1970's. Today, half of all the students are women and 70% are Catholic. Only 20% of Irish youth are churchgoing. 

As you can tell, the first 2 are postcards to get an overall view, better than I could get.

The Book Of Kells is a lavishly decorated copy, in Latin, of the 4 Gospels of the Life of Christ.  It dates from the 9th Century, written by  dedicated cloistered monks on the remote island of Iona near Scotland.  It came to Trinity College in 1653 for security purposes.  It was first displayed to the public in the mid 1800's. 

It was written on vellum. The vellum was made by slaughtering 185 calves, soaking the skins in lime, scraping off the hair and drying the skins. They can still detect hair follicles on some the pages.

Vellum

Closeup view of the writing

The next 2 pictures show the intricate designs and artwork in the Book Of Kells

Description of the Book Of Kells

This is the Long Room, built  between 1712 and 1732.  It  is situated on the 1st floor of the Old Library, chosen by the designer to preserve the books from the elements. It is the longest single room library in Europe. It is 200 ' long and stacked to the ceiling with 200,000 books.  

Postcard

My pictures

I am always amazed at how intricate and elaborate they built buildings back hundreds of years

14TH DAY-BACK TO DUBLIN

October 11, 2018

After staying the night in Trim, it was the end of the line for people that had gotten the 14 day tour. We dropped them off at the airport. For the people on the 15 day tour, we went to Dublin  for a free,  on our own sightseeing day and a final  night in Dublin.  We got to the hotel early, so we stashed our bags and went sightseeing. I had a full day planned of seeing three of the must see attractions in Dublin.

Our first stop  was the Archeology Museum. It was very interesting, but, we were so saturated with the History of Ireland, that we could have actually skipped it.  It shows the treasures and history of Ireland from the Stone Age to Modern times. We saw 4000 year old gold jewelry, 2000 year old bog mummies, Viking swords, metal tools from 2500 BC and much more. The building itself was beautiful, well worth the visit.

Amazing how intricate the shoe design is