Kilmainham Gaol Analysis

Kilmainham Gaol was an experience that definitely lived up to its expectations. When walking up to the structure, it doesn’t look like a Gaol. It looks just like a gated stone building. Upon going into the entry way to the museum, you can read about some of the history of the building and see the full layout. When the tour started, the inside of the Gaol was actually colder than the outside temperatures. Walking through the corridors you could almost imagine living in the cells where it was cold and damp, having only a small blanket for warmth. The first place we went in the Gaol was the chapel. Sitting in the congregation area, our guided told us about the history of the Easter rising and the men executed. One story particularly stuck out to me. It was the story of a man sentenced to …show more content…
The story here is that two brothers were both in this same hallway, yet neither new the other was there. They each thought the other was safe, however both were executed. One woman was also held here, she was not executed because of her gender. The east wing of the Gaol is where the women were kept. It was just a large oval shaped area with three floors. Women and children generally served their labor time in the kitchen or laundry under the east wing. The heat from these would then come up through vents in the floor heating the wing. The last area of the Gaol visited was the site of the executions. It is a stoned walled area with two crosses, one at each end. Most of the executed were killed at one end. The last man executed was at the other end, closest to the doors because he was said to have been too weak from a Gangrene to have made it to the other side. In fact he was too ill to even sit up, causing the executioners to tie him to a chair before shooting him. Upon hearing these stories, the executions were halted by the King of England because he knew a revolt would be on his hands if