My Day in Four Parts: Jail, Cathedral, Museum, Library

Me inside one of the jail cells.

So, today was our last day in Ireland and we decided to cram it full of activities. So, we started early this morning and didn’t stop until it was time to leave for the airport. We started the day off with a taxi ride to the jail in Dublin, Kilmainham Gaol. We took a tour there. It was pretty cool. Lots of interesting and sad stories about the Irish revolutionaries. It was really weird to go into the cells. They were pretty small. There was a female prisoner (a wife and sister of two other prisoners) who was put in jail after both her husband and brother were executed and she painted the Madonna and Child on the inside of her cell. It was really cool.

After the jail tour, we walked 12 blocks to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The walk was so long. By the time we got to the cathedral I thought I was going to die. We all had our backpacks with all of our clothes and stuff with us because we had nowhere else to put it. My backpack was so heavy! St. Patrick’s was really pretty. Jonathan Swift (author of Gulliver’s Travels) had been a Dean there, which I thought was cool. They had a plaster cast of his skull too. It was a pretty cathedral.

Our next destination was the Dublin Writer’s Museum. But, first we stopped for fish and chips. They were so yummy. Then we walked to the other side of the river and went to the museum. It was pretty small and I didn’t recognize all of the authors, but that kind of stuff is cool anyway. My favorites were their copy of Faerie Queen by Edmund Spenser. Their first edition of Dracula. And they had James Joyce’s piano. Those were my top three.

Me in the super cool library.

After we left the museum we headed over to Trinity College and waited in line to get into the library. Their first exhibit was the Book of Kells. I watched a little video about how it would’ve been made and that was awesome! Books are so cool! Anyway, the book itself was gorgeous. But, the highlight of Trinity College was what they called the Long Room. It was an absolutely gorgeous and wonderful and fantastic library. It smelled of old books and wood. It was perfect. I walked in and was completely stunned. I want one. It was so hard to leave because it was so beautiful.

After that we got on a bus and headed back to the Dublin airport. Waited there for a while before our plane arrived and then headed home. I was so excited to get back to London. I definitely miss home (Utah), but right now London is my home and it was the best feeling to walk out of the Gloucester tube station and recognize my surroundings. It was wonderful. 

So, yep. I’m back in London. Tomorrow will be another adventure! Enjoy the pictures!  

A view of a cell from the hole they sent food through. 

The center of the jail. This picture just shows the upper floor though. 

The Madonna and Child painting inside a cell. It's been restored. 

Oh you know, just a copy of Handel's Messiah which  was preformed in first in St. Patrick's Cathedral.
Super cool!

Pretty stained glass in St. Patrick's.

The plaster cast of Jonathan Swift's skull. 

The library at Trinity college!

Another picture of the library. 

And look what I found in Dublin! Cheers! :D