RED SHOE GALLERY Episode 5: Prison Biatches

The Red Shoes travel west to Ireland. The photos here of of the infamous Kilmainham Gaol (Gaelic for "Jail") in Dublin, Ireland. The jail operated from 1792 to 1924 and for just one afternoon in March of 2006 when the Red Shoes were so wrongly incarcerated here. The Gaol held men, women AND children, many of whom were famous Nationalist of the Irish Republic. The leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising were all executed here and memorials were erected in the exact spots of their deaths (mostly via firing squad). I've got to admit that it gave me a pretty freaky, eery feeling to be standing literally 2 feet from the spot where men and women were executed in such a ghastly manner. In addition to the political revolutionaries, they hosted a LARGE number of petty thieves, because during much of the Gaol's operating days, Ireland was in a huge depression, a.k.a "The Great Potato Famine" and the accounts of food theft (turnips, potatoes, loaves of bread) were astronomical. The conditions of the jail at the time were horrendous due to over population. There was hardly a deterrent to food thievery at the time because the people of Ireland were so starving and desperate for food that if they got caught and landed in jail for 1-3 weeks, (an average length for stealing a turnip or a loaf of bread), at least they were guaranteed 3 square meals a day. I don't recall who it was but some high up political hot shot who supposedly dedicated his life to improving the jail's physical environment commented that when he went to assess the jail's conditions, could not make his way through half of the facility because he was quite literally "wallowing knee deep in urine and feces". No joke. Some interesting notes about the photos. I actually didn't include a picture of the original quarters of this jail because it was dark and our crappy disposable camera didn't have the flash to handle it, so the photos you see are actually of the new "Victorian Wing" which was significantly more modern in comparison. You may recognize the photo of the full view room because apparently this wing has been used numerous times by Hollywood in movies such as "In The Name of the Father" and in music videos by Sinead O'Connor among others.

This was definitely one of the highlights of our touristy endeavors. Drake and I are both kinda oddly intrigued with prison stuff (movies, songs, documentaries, stories and especially those adorable outfits they wear!), but of course the history of it was pretty facinating as well.

Also - don't forget that you can double click on all of these pictures (throughout the blog) to get ot full size.