Travels with Marti--Ireland,Italy,Cuba,..across the country: Dublin- Day 2

Here we are at Dublin Castle that was built in 1204. Destroyed by fire in 1684 and rebuilt 1922 when the Irish free state took over, the castle was used as a Red Cross building. This is the courtyard and the Bedford Tower you are looking at used to house the Irish jewels worth 50,000 pounds but they were stolen in 1907 and it is still a mystery how they were stolen with no sign of intrusion.
The statue of justice (to the right) with no blindfold has the reputation of facing the palace with"her arse to the Nation"

These are the many beautiful rooms that are still used today.

Each room has its own beauty.

Halls leading from one area to another, bathed in grace and beauty.

This one is the Ladies drawing room. If you look to the left the are mirrors that are under the tables as well as above. This is so the ladies can check their dresses as well as the hems to make sure no petty coats showed. That wasn't proper. The fire screen to the right was to shield a woman's face. Back then the make up was made of grease with heavy paints and would melt if too close to heat. The saying is "to lose ones face or to loseface" came from this.

This throne was made for King George IV as he weighed 300 lbs. Above the throne are the symbols of a harp for Ireland, Unicorn for the Scotland and Lion for England.

Another hall leading into the next room.

This room, St Patrick's Hall, was breath-taking. The next day it will be used to inaugurate the new head of state. Take a moment to look at the ceilings, the flags, the chandelier,and the gold whch is all the yellow.

This is a picture of what the castle looked like when it was built in 1204. The people outside the wall are called the liberties (no taxes) and the inside are the pale (taxed)

This the beginning of the excuvation which goes back 1000 years. If you look at the picture on the wall and at the red arrow that is where we are. It is hard to give you a good perspective.- corner of the city wall.

Use the picture to show you the arch way and the bulge of the tower.

I am also showing this particular one to show the damage that Dublin suffered two weeks ago with the flooding it had. The water that you see below rose up above the upper railing at the top of this picture.

some info to explain.

We are now on the bus and this house belongs to Oscar Wilde an Irish Poet and writer.

A monument dedicated in 2002 that is called all sorts of names. The Irish don't approve as it cost so much money with no meaning. It is the tallest stainless steel spire in the world.

A mural along the walk way.

This is the Kilmainham Gaol which is the jail. This model shows how big it is. The 3 S's were implemented - Silence, Separate, and Supervise. One might find themselves in here for stealing bread, not paying rent, stealing clothes, begging and many other offenses. It also didn't matter what age they were or what sex. They history tells of a 5 years old girl that had no ticket on a train.- another 8yr girl sentenced to hard labor for 5 months for stealing a dress.

Showing the hardships in Ireland especially during the potato famine 1845-1850 when Ireland lost 1/4 of its populations. The stories I have read in books have been disheartening. A father traveling 7 miles to try and get some food with a child that was dying on his back because he didn't want to leave him to die a home where he had 2 other small children. No food was had and he was told to come back next week to get his name on a list. A week later the father crawled back the 7 miles to find no food. He was told to come back but the father said he was going home to die with the rest of his children.

This is the chapel which a prisioner was allowed to marry his sweetheart. They had 10 minute together and never to see each other again. Another prisoner built the altar.

Sorry this is a little blurry but it still shows you how awful the jail is.

These stairs 1859 were added later and have been used in many movies. In each cell they had 5 prisoners. They had one bucket...food and then used for bodily functions, then food..no soap and water for them...

These are the original stairs at the other end.-can't run on these. There isn't one angle that you can hide in and not be seen. Downstairs in the laundry, kitchen and workshop rooms.

In 1916 The Irish Revolution..These are the names of the ones that were shot to death . The cross below shows the place. Among the famous is Thomas Clarke. He had been brought to the red cross hospital(dublin castle) to heal and then he was arrested and brought here to be shot. He couldn't stand because of his injuries so he was tied to a chair and shot. This single act was pivotal in turning the tide of the Irish people to support the revolution.