Welcome to St. Rynagh's N.S. Banagher, Co. Offaly

Our School Tour

On Monday the 24th of January 2011, Sixth Class went to Kilmainham Gaol and the Phoenix Park. First we went to Kilmainham Gaol. Our tour guide's name was Mícheál. The original building was built in 1796 and was built of limestone. Because it was built on a hill, the building was exposed to the elements. This made the building very damp, and when the Gaol opened the Ground Floor of the building could not be used. When it was built it was three miles outside Dublin city. Now it is considered to be in the city centre. Famous prisoners such as Joseph Plunkett, Grace Gifford, Thomas Clarke, Eamon de Valera, Robert Emmet and Edward Daly were detained in the Gaol. Robert Emmet was excecuted in the Gaol. Fourteen leaders of the Easter Rising 1916 were excecuted in the Stone Breaker's Yard. James Connolly, who was badly injured in the Rising and who was dying in hospital, was brought out and excecuted. Joseph Plunkett and Grace Gifford were married in the chapel in the Gaol and three and a half hours later Joseph was excecuted. There was a Victorian Wing built in 1862. The building was closed in 1924 and was saved from demolition in 1960 and then restored. Some films such as The Italian Job(1969), In the Name of the Father(1993) and Micheal Collins(1996) were filmed in the Gaol. We then went to the Phoenix Park. We saw Áras an Uachtaráin, the American Embassy and the Phoenix statue. All in all, we had a great day out!

Shane Hogan