Alexa Beach, Dublin Engineering Program: ENG, Mechanical Engineering, Junior

This is the newer Victorian wing of the jail Kilmainham Gaol. The photo was taken during a guided tour. People during the tour learned about the history of the jail and it’s relationship to the history of Ireland. For example, during the famine the jail cells, which were intended to house a single prisoner, actually held as many as six including some children whose main crime was poverty. The executions carried out after the 1916 Easter Rising helped turn public opinion positively towards the fight for Irish independence. The jail was also involved during the Irish Civil War where it housed those who were anti-treaty.