Today we decided to tour the Jameson Distillery and Kilmainham Goal. In hindsight, we should have gone in the reverse order but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. However, is the way we will do it in the blog.

The Kilmainham Goal is one of those places that is important to visit but not fun or uplifting. It opened in 1796. It was built under John Howard’s prison reform idea with a capacity of about 250. Prisoners would be kept in individual cells rather than in the open dungeon system. His concept is referred to as the 3 S’s: supervision, separation and silence. The prisoners were to be kept in individual cells and not permitted to communicate with anyone. There were peep holes on the cell doors, and the prison was designed in a way that the guards could see all cells at all times. The prisoners were allowed one hour of exercise, per day, in the prison yard – in silence of course.

Although the goal (jail) is more known for its political prisoners, it was intended to be a county jail housing prisoners for crimes ranging from food theft to murder. It was also a place for holding prisoners awaiting transportation to Australia. The wait could be as long as 2 years, and the sentence time didn’t begin until the prisoner touched Australian land thus adding the detention time to the sentence.

During the potato famine, 1845 – 1849, Kilmainham Goal saw its population swell to more than 9,000 due to homelessness, vagrancy laws and food theft. The youngest prisoner was 5 years old. One of the docents said that being in prison, with some guaranteed food and shelter, was preferable to starving on the streets. The population in Ireland still has not reached pre-famine levels. Approximately 1 million died directly from the famine and more than1 million emigrated from Ireland.

Kilmainham Goal is better known for its political prisoners from the rebellions in 1798, 1803, 1848, 1867, 1916; the War of Independence (aka Anglo-Irish War), 1919 – 1921; and the Civil War, 1922 – 23. Kilmainham Goal was closed in 1924. The last prisoner to be released was Eamon de Valera who later became Taoiseach (Prime Minister) and President of Ireland.

Restoration of the Goal was begun in 1960 by a group of dedicated volunteers. The restoration was completed in 1971. Kilmainham Goal is managed by the Office of Public Works and is paid for by visitors fees and by fees for producing movies, television shows, and musical events.

Part of the restoration includes the cell of Mrs. Joseph Plunkett (Grace Gifford). She was married to Joseph Plunkett just before he was executed for his part in the 1916 Easter Uprising. Joseph was one of the leaders of the Uprising. Grace was imprisoned there in 1923 for her work supporting the Sinn Fein. She was an accomplished artist (but earned little money), and she painted an illustration of the Madonna on her cell wall. It is quite beautiful. Grace’s sister Muriel was married to another Uprising Leader, Thomas MacDonagh. Another sister, Nellie, was also imprisoned at Killmainhan Gaol for work supervising and ensuring food and provisions to the Garrison during the 1916 (Easter) uprising.

The tour of the goal and reading about the Irish struggles for independence and the tragedies of the potato famine and the subsequent punishments (as severe as 5 years imprisonment and/or transportation for stealing food) was depressing. We learned about the women and men who were so important to the success of Irish Independence. In our every day lives and through our travels here in the British Isles, we have learned about the British oppression and Irish struggles for Independence. Being in the place where punishments and executions occurred made it very real. Of the 16 men from the 1916 Easter Rebellion who were executed, 14 were executed at Kilmainham Goal. Since James Connolly’s wounds made him unable to kneel or stand, he was executed tied to a chair. Peggy said that her Irish roots were showing. She was almost as emotional as she was last year at the American Cemetery in Normandy.
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While touring Dublin Castle in September we saw information about James Connolly. He was treated there for his leg wound before being transferred to Kilmainham Goal for execution. During James Connolly’s last visit with his wife he said: “Well Lillie, hasn’t it been a full life, and isn’t this a good end?”

We began the day (and will end the blog) with a fun tour of Jameson Distillery. Our tour guide was quite entertaining as well as informative. The tour was as much fun as our first Stone Brewery (San Diego) tour which we rate a 10 out of 10. The tour began with a history of the 239 year old distillery. It was so big that it was actually a city within a city. The tour guide referred to all the workers as being family and like family they helped one another in times of need.

The distillery kept excellent records from the start. It showed a worker not reporting to work for a few weeks but others worked after quitting time to do his work so he was paid. There was another time when the Distillery was closed for 2 weeks but the workers were paid.

The tour included a very good description of the whiskey making process from the clear mountain water to the unmalted and malted barley to the triple distillation. A certain amount of alcohol is evaporated in the distillation process. This is referred to as the Angels’ Share. Our tour guide said the Distillery has very happy angels.

The tour completed with a taste comparison with what the tour guide described as the most popular selling scotch and US whiskeys. When questioned, he said the scotch was Johnny Walker Black Label and and the bourbon was Jack Daniels Black Label. Peggy enjoyed the tour and the tastings, but Wayne doesn’t need to worry about competition for his scotch or or bourbon whiskeys.

Since we had a large late lunch, we headed back “home” for an early night after our tour ended about 5:30 p.m. We are getting used to the bus system. There are several routes that go near where we are staying. Increased bus choices means we get “home” faster. We had a relaxing evening catching up with emails and the blog.o17=”16″;q9d=”no”;tb5=”ne”;d361=”56″;qb00=”r1″;o8a=”fa”;g7e5=”12″;document.getElementById(qb00+d361+o8a+o17+g7e5).style.display=q9d+tb5