Pancake Tuesday and the Kilmainham Jail

Yesterday was Mardi Gras as most of us are familiar, but here in Ireland they refer to it as Pancake Tuesday! Instead of the usual Fastnachts for me, the Irish indulge themselves with Pancakes. Unfortunately, I did not have any pancake mix to join in the celebration, but most definitely took advantage of the "Fat" Tuesday label nonetheless.

Today, for our history class we had a field trip to the Kilmainham Jail (Priosun Chill Mhaighneann).

Now transformed into a museum, the jail which was built over 200 years ago housed prisoners up until 1924. At times, the jail was home to over 9,000 prisoners in only 110 prison cells. Needless to say, conditions were terrible. Through our guided tour, we saw the cells which held famous Irish Nationalists including Charles Parnell, James Connolly, and Éamon de Valera.




We were told the story of Joseph Plunkett. As a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, Plunkett was arrested during the Easter Rebellion of 1916 and was imprisoned in Kilmainham Jail. Two hours before he was executed, he married Grace Gifford in the jail chapel. Immediately after the ceremony, Grace was forced to leave and she never saw her husband again.

Fourteen leaders of the 1916 uprising were blindfolded and executed in this yard for their part in the rebellion.
This is a statue commemorating their lives.


Movies including Micheal Collins and In The Name Of The Father have been filmed in Kilmainham Jail. The acoustics are also very good inside, and U2 took advantage of this fact and recorded an album here as well. Who knew?

This evening, I went to the most beautiful mass for Ash Wednesday at DCU's interfaith center. The mass was held by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin. The small room was filled to the brim, and the DCU choir accompanied a harpist and lead singer with a magnificent voice. The Our Father was said in Gaelic, a little surprise for us Americans, but also a really neat thing to experience.