Rebels and Writers...

Kilmainham Jail was built in 1796, and has held many important prisoners in Irish history, as well as petty criminals and thieves (including lots of people stealing food during the famine). 14 prominent leaders of the 1916 rebellion were executed by firing squad in the courtyard. One of the rebels was so sick (and said to be dying already) that he had to be carried in on a stretcher and tied to a chair in order to face the firing squad. Pretty redundant, if you ask me, but I guess that's the way capital punishment works...

The jail is an interesting piece of Irish history, and the setting for a few movies (In the Name of the Father, for example). It was closed in 1924, and remains open as a museum.

After visiting the jail, we went to a literary pub crawl. Led by two local actors, the crawl covers a few venerable boozy joints (and a couple of non-boozy ones) that relate to Irish literature. The actors kept us entertained between pints by performing scenes from Beckett, Joyce and Wilde, among others.

A few days later, I went out to Sandy Cove to visit the James Joyce tower. OK, James Joyce only lived there for about a month (without paying rent), but it's now a museum dedicated to him.

The tiny stone steps were challenging to climb, but the view from the tower is lovely.

On Monday, I head off for a 3-day tour of southern Ireland (to kiss the Blarney stone and all that touristy stuff), and then it's a whirlwind of preparation for the Iceland trip!