In 2016 my father and I went on a tour of Kilmainham Jail and it was an interesting and informative day. We visited the cells of the rebel leaders of the 1916 Rising as well as viewing some historical items they kept on the higher floors of the prison. Some of these items included a lock of Michael Collins’ hair, the Free State uniform of Collins, the death mask of Wolfe tone and much more. However while this was all interesting to me as I love history, the courtyard part of the tour was very somber. We stepped into the courtyard where the leaders of the 1916 Rising were executed and the atmosphere instantly changed. Somehow the usually loud city seemed to silence itself as we stood where these men died.
As the tour guide talked, some people cried and some people including myself were clad in a deadpan face just in complete shock. I knew this had happened but actually standing where it happened gave me a feeling of grief for men I never knew. As the guide told us about James Connolly’s execution, the feeling of sadness in the courtyard was palpable to the point that it almost felt like we were watching it happen. The man was fatally injured and yet he was still strapped to a chair to meet his death by hand of a firing squad. Even though the tour induced emotions such as this, I would still like to take the tour again as Irish history fascinates me and it is a tourist attraction in Dublin I would recommend for anyone who feels the same
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