Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin

First opened in 1796, the prison was closed in 1924 and was re-opened in the late 1980’s as a historical site. Without a doubt, it was the most impressive, interesting, and moving tour of our week in Dublin. We could have listened to our guide, Kieron, all day. Fascinating blend of social and political history, woven around periods in the life of the prison.

Fifteen of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Uprising were executed by the British here in what was the exercise yard. The yard is now sacred ground, with a simple cross marking the spot of the executions. It's an incredibly moving spot. One of the men, James Connolly, was in hospital with a shattered ankle for a bullet wound. The British took him by horse cart into the prison yard, tied him to a chair, and shot him too.

One of the more touching stories of the 1916 execution, told in the prison chapel, is of James Plunkett. At the age of 28, and just hours before his execution by firing squad on May 4, he married his sweetheart, Grace Gifford, at this alter late at night on May 3, 1916. Two soldiers and a prison guard served as witnesses. The couple were given twenty minutes together in his cell after the wedding, with a guard in attendance, before his bride was taken out, never to see James alive again. They were to have been married on Easter Sunday in Dublin. Grace never re-married, spent time on the executive of Sinn Féin, and died in 1955. Her sister Muriel, was married at the time to another one of the men executed for his role in Easter Uprising, Thomas McDonagh. Grace herself spent five months in Kilmainham Gaol for activities in the 1923 Civil War.

New Years on the Aran Islands

Inishmor is one of three of the Aran Islands (famous for their hand knit sweaters), off the west coast of Ireland, and is Gaelic speaking (the people, not the island itself). We spent three nights there, including New Year’s Eve. It’s small – only 12 square miles.

Amazing place, and great spot for New Year’s Eve. The pub was jammed, and we had seats right by the musicians (traditional Irish), which included two teenage brothers who were amazing. One picture shows the main road in Kilronan, the largest village on the island. 800 or so winter residents.

Did lots of walking, and first went to Dún Aengus, which is a Bronze Age ringed fort on the cliff edge (300+ foot vertical drop). Next day, along with another couple we met, we hiked cross country to Dún Dúchatair (the Black Fort), another cliff edge ringed fort, but not easily accessible to tourists. We had the place to ourselves. The picinic of Irish whiskey and dark chocolate tasted great. Did I mention it was windy and cold? That's the picture with the lower, curved rock walls, within the inner ring of the fort.

The arched doorway (in Black&White) is Na Seacht dTeampaill (the Seven Churches), this site of some early Christian monastic ruins going back about 1500 years. Interspersed in the site are graves going back hundreds of years, and modern ones. One of the two remaining stone church ruins is dedicated to the founding saint of the site, St. Brecan.

The Burren, Ireland

Rocks, rock walls, and ruins. Ireland is littered with both, and the ruins are invariably made of rock. As the guidebook says, the Poulnabrone Dolmen (meaning “the hole of the sorrows” – it’s a portal tomb), in the Burren, County Clare, south of Galway, is one of Ireland’s most photographed and ancient monuments. The top stone weighs five tonnes. Built 5,000 years ago, it housed sixteen human remains. As it was winter, we pretty much had the place to ourselves. There are about seventy of these dolmens scattered about the Burren. Bleak place, but an amazing site. It would appear in Ireland that you can't throw a rock without hitting a pub, a sheep, or some ancient historical site. Pretty cool, all in all.

And yet more Ireland...

Sheep (rather iconic of Ireland, unless you take pictures of pubs, painted doorways, and narrow little country roads with posted speeds of 100 kmh), the "other" icon - the Celtic cross, cold looking tourists (on Inishmor, one of the Aran Islands), the countryside, and the River Liffey in Dublin.

More on Ireland

Sheep on the road, feeding the wildlife (I found the B&W option on the camera), another small ruin in the middle of nowhere, and a cultural experience in Dublin...

Ireland - round two...

Our second trip to Ireland (fabulous as the first) – the land of Guinness, sheep on the road, “the full Irish”, mile upon mile of rock walls, Bronze Age ruins, ruins of castles, churches and assorted ancient buildings, little pubs where the craic is good and alive with traditional music, more Guinness and yet more roadside ruins – or, as we would laconically remark in the car “AFR” (another f**king ruin). Did I mention the Irish Whiskey and soda bread?

This was a great opportunity to read some of the local literature, including Brendan Behan and Brian O’Nolan (writing as Flann O’Brien). One (of many) famous Behan stories: one biographer recounts that one day, at the age of eight, Brendan was returning home with his granny and a crony from a drinking session. A passer-by remarked, "Oh, my! Isn't it terrible ma'am to see such a beautiful child deformed?" "How dare you", said his granny. "He's not deformed, he's just drunk!" Ah, the Irish.

A great vacation. Relaxing, entertaining, fun, musical, and time together. Or, in Gaelic 'Beidh ceol, caint agus craic againn'.