That morning I actually got to sleep in until about 9 which is sad that’s considered sleeping in! I was the only one out of my hostel group to stay in Dublin, the rest of them went to Belfast for the day and night. I was instead meeting up with Val and staying with her, her brother, and his girlfriend in the hotel room for the night. I didn’t want her flying alone out of Dublin and we found a cheaper flight than the one from Belfast so I told her I’d fly with her. It ended up being a great decision. I had the best day with her and her family. Her brother was hilarious, and her brother’s girlfriend was so nice. They took me in like I was part of their family. Around 10 am I walked to their hotel room and got MY FIRST real shower (like in a shower with a tub). It was heavenly. I think I took at least a 30 minute shower. We all got ready and walked around Merrion Park (their hotel was in Merrion Square). We got lunch at Dublin's smallest Pub called Dawson's Lounge. The maximum number of occupants is 20 people standing.
After lunch, we took a bus to Kilmainham Gaol, one of the biggest unoccupied gaols in Europe. It ended up being one of my favorite things that we did in Ireland. It was only 2 Euro's for the tour of the jail, and our tour guide was really cool. This jail was known for having over 100,000 prisoners and executed several hundreds. Life in the jail as explained as our tour guide was unimaginable. Most of the imprisonments occurred during the Potato Famine, which was a tragic time in Ireland. In order to keep the prison from becoming overcrowded the conditions in the jail had to be worse than the conditions outside or else people would just commit a crime to be placed in jail. The problem was outside the majority of the population was starving and homeless.
There was no segregation of prisoners; men, women and children were incarcerated up to 5 in each cell, with only a single candle for light and heat. They were only allowed to use this candle for one hour during the day. They received one hour per day to go out in the field for exercise where they were required to remain silent, and one hour with light for reading the bible. Twice a week for one hour they had to go to the Chapel which was located in the jail for mass. The youngest child ever recorded for being incarcerated was 5 years old for petty theft. Kilmainham Gaol played an important part in Irish history, as many leaders of Irish rebellions were imprisoned by the British and later by the Irish Free State. One of the most famous was Joseph Plunkett. The picture below is a painting of him before he was publicly executed. At the age of 28, he released to be married in the prison chapel to his sweetheart Grace Gilford, then three hours later he was executed by firing squad.
We returned to our hotel room after our tour of the jail because Val, Matt, and Carmela were attending an Irish House Party (dinner and Irish dancing) that night. I was invited many times to go but it would have cost me $72, which wouldn't fit in my budget. They went to their show, and I was fine exploring by myself. I went and got a postcard and went around in some shops. Then I stopped in a pub called Sheenan's and went up to the bar and sat by myself since they're weren't any tables lol. I ordered Irish Stew which I was definitely getting before I left. It was phenomenal, i still drool sometimes thinking about it. I went back to the hotel and was out by 9:30. I was so tired and we had to get up at 4:30am to catch our flight to Torino. We then took a train back to Lugano, and was back at the Montarina by 5pm. It was really good to be back I literally ran to the door I was so excited. Home sweet Home.
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