As we get more settled into the new house and school, we are finding more time to start exploring Irish history! Our first stop was Kilmainham Gaol. Within her first week of school, Pia had to do a project on a famous Irish landmark - so off we went to Kilmainham Gaol - providing us with a lesson in Irish history and information for Pia's project in one!
The jail was built between 1792 and 1795, originally as a county jail for Dublin. It held men, women and children from Dublin, and over 4000 of them were actually sent as convicts to Australia from here. Apparently, conditions in the jail started off quite well and attempts were made to let in light through high ceilings and large windows in some areas. But as conditions in Ireland worsened, and as more and more rebellions broke out in the fight for independence, the jail become more and more crowded and conditions became very poor.
The Irish have had a long hatred towards British rule and as rebellions broke out against the British in 1798, 1803, 1848, 1867 and 1916, the leaders of all these rebellions ended up here. In 1910, the jail closed as a common jail and became a military detention barracks. We saw the cells in which famous leaders of the 1916 Easter uprising were held, as well as the sombre, grey courtyard (below) in which they were executed - one of them, Joseph Plunkett, only hours after his wedding.
Pia and Ella look suitably saddened in a cell in Kilmainham Gaol.
The jail closed in 1924 and after falling into disrepair for many years, was eventually restored. It is now the largest unoccupied building of its kind in Europe. Here is the project Pia created based on her visit to the jail.
The following weekend took us to a somewhat happier historic site as we explored the Viking settlement area of Dublin. We started off with a walk through the Temple Bar district, which is an area full of narrow little cobblestoned streets and lots of pubs and restaurants. They were having the "Tradfest" festival while we were there, which meant we enjoyed some traditional Irish dancing and music, as well as the sights of a donkey, cow, sheep and goat wandering the streets!
The donkey was being used as an example of why children should brush their teeth carefully!
We then headed over to Christ Church Cathedral - a Church of Ireland Cathedral founded in 1030, and once at the centre of medieval Dublin. The original cathedral was made out of wood but the Normans rebuilt it in stone in 1172 and it is a very impressive building. The girls were able to take part in some sort of group drumming ritual outside the Cathedral - not sure what it was in aid of, but they had fun!
Just next to the Cathedral is a great museum - Dublinia - which recreates the Viking world through models and recreations of daily life and village scenes from the time of the Vikings. It was amazing to learn that the Vikings (the word means 'sea pirates', which I did not know before) arrived in Dublin from Scandinavia in 820 and have left so much history in Dublin, including Viking graves, foundations of homes, as well as pottery and evidence of their daily life buried beneath the earth. As development has taken place in the area, much of this evidence has been uncovered.
Once again, Pia and Ella look suitably upset by their punishment in Dublinia - medieval style!
Other exciting happenings over the last week or so include both Pia and Ella losing a tooth on the same night. This was very well times as it meant that the Irish tooth fairy could pay two visits to our house on the one night - and she did leave Euro!
Last week was International Week at the girls' school and on Wednesday the P&F ran an International Day food fair. All classes visited the fair, which was held in the hall, and were able to sample foods from many different countries, including India, Ireland, France, the Philippines, America, Poland, Greece, China and Australia, of course! The girls and I made lamingtons and Anzac biscuits and another mother who has just returned from living in Australia for 7 years made fairy bread. I had not thought that fairy bread was particularly an Australian thing, but she assured me that she has never seen it anywhere else and that it was very Australian! Needless to say, the Australian stand was very popular and many Irish children were heard exclaiming, "I'm going to live in Australia!!"
Finally, we have endured some very cold weather this week, with some days only reaching -1 and a few days of snowfall, which looked very pretty on the mountains around. Luckily, it did not really stick to the roads as driving in heavy snow is something I would like to avoid! Here is a view of our backyard in the snow.
We are looking forward to next weekend when we are doing our first trip into the Irish countryside to visit an ancient monastic ruin at Glenalough. I'll fill you in on that in my next post.
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