PTM // Visit to Kilmainham Gaol

Today I headed over to Kilmainham Gaol, Ireland’s most infamous former prison now turned museum. Kilmainham operated as a prison for over 130 years as it was built in 1796, and was abandoned in 1926. It stands today as one of the largest unoccupied Gaols in Europe.

The conditions of Kilmainham were by far the worst that I’ve ever heard of. I know, most would say that no conditions are good when you’re in prison, but these conditions were absolutely horrendous! When Kilmainham was first built there was no glass in the windows, the windows were left wide open to the frozen winds and rain. Kilmainham Gaol consisted of 112 prison cells built to hold 1 inmate each. At Kilmainham’s worst the 112 cells held over 9,000 inmates!

The first stop along the tour through Kilmainham was the Prison Chapel which was pretty interesting. We were shown an audio/visual tour in the Chapel and it included some photos of former inmates and Irish rebels and also some footage from the aftermath of the 1916 Rising in Dublin City Center. Next stop was to the oldest part of Kilmainham a small hall with about 10 prison cells with a lot of history behind them. After that we walked outside into the prison walls and saw where the executions happened, it was pretty eerie!

My trip to Kilmainham Gaol was great. The price of the guided tour was great and most definitely worth the 6.50 Euro ticket price. The tour group that I joined was fairly large, probably about 25-30 people and the guide herself was very knowledgeable.

I would have to say that this is one of my favorite tours that I’ve taken in Dublin so far. The only other thing that would compare to todays trip to Kilmainham would be the Guinness Storehouse Tour which is also a must see!

There is just so much history to be learned at Kilmainham and I would classify it as another must see on your to do list if you visit Ireland!

Click here for more information on Kilmainham Gaol.