12 July, 2008
This morning, we awoke still a bit full from the Chinese food and had a much smaller, but still delicious breakfast. The owner's at Number 31 were worried because we ate so little!! We tried our best to assure them that the food was delicious.
One of the great things about Number 31 is it's location across the street from St. Stephen's Green and Grafton Street. St. Stephen's Green is an ideal urban park. It feels like you are completely removed from the city for the time you are inside. It was once owned by the Guinness family, but they donated it to the city. It has ponds, bridges, gazebos and rare quiet in the heart of Dublin. It also makes me think of Niall William's book
Four Letters of Love each time I walk by the fence around the park.
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| St. Stephen's Green |
From Number 31, if you walk through St. Stephen's Green and out the opposite corner you find yourself on Grafton Street. Grafton Street is a pedestrian only street that runs from St. Stephen's Green in the south to Trinity College on the northern end. In between is an essential part of a visit to Dublin. The street has shops that run from fast-food to upscale shopping. Lining the street will be as many buskers as you could ever imagine (I can't think of ever hearing a bad one either). Perhaps the most famous place on the street is
Bewley's Cafe, once frequented by
James Joyce,
Patrick Kavanagh,
Samuel Beckett and mentioned in Joyce's book
Dubliners. If you have seen the film
Once, there is a wonderful scene of Glen Hansard busking on Grafton Street near the gate to St. Stephen's Green.
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| Grafton Street, Dublin |
It's our last day here and it's been nice to slow down the pace the last couple of days. I'm really exhausted! We met Éamonn for coffee and then walked to Kilmainham to see
the jail. Admission is €6, but we used our Heritage Passes (what a great deal!). I can't believe I had never been before. The tour is really moving. The place makes you feel very sombre and sober. Perhaps made more so by this being the 12th. Kilmainham Jail opened in 1796 and was used primarily by the British to house Irish nationalists. Virtually every important nationalist leader spent time here. Perhaps most crucially, the leaders of the
1916 Easter Rising were held and executed here.
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| Kilmainham Jail |
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| Chapel at Kilmainham Jail |
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| West wing |
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| East Wing |
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| Stairs to 2nd floor of East wing |
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| The inside of Grace Plunkett's Cell |
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| Carvings over Plunkett's Door |
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| The inside of Grace Plunkett's Cell |
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| Éamon de Valera's Cell, Kilmainham |
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| East wing, Kilmainham Jail |
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| Stonebreakers Yard, the cross is the spot where the leaders of the 1916 Rising were executed |
Tomorrow early in the morning we are off back home. What a full trip!
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