Church, Jail and the Count of Monte Cristo

I have two more days of our Ireland trip to write about (counting this post--so one more after this one) and then I'm officially done with our trip. Except, I might post one more to write about a few odds and ends. Plus I still need to blog about the kids' first day of school. I will get there...eventually!

So, this post is day 3 in Ireland. Since it was a Sunday and since we hadn't experienced church in England yet, I thought it would be a good idea and go to sacrament meeting in Ireland. Garrett found a few wards around Dublin and we picked the one we thought was closest. So, after a quick Irish breakfast we drove around trying to find the church building and got a little lost. When we finally found it, we were about 15 minutes late. We felt really bad about walking in during the talks, so we waited in the foyer until the current speaker was finished. I was excited to hear the Irish accents. We heard some, but the main speakers were the missionaries--one was American and the other was English. Oh well. It was good to get back to church, if only for a short time. Lots of people came up to us after and asked us if we were new. Their ward was so tiny, I'm sure they were hoping for a new big family. We sang for the closing hymn, "We Thank thee O God for a Prophet" and at the end, Lydia said to me, "We sing that song at OUR church!" It was cute. I explained that our church is the same no matter where we go. It is pretty neat to know that the church is the same throughout the world!

After, we decided to go see a jail called Kilmainham Gaol (jail). This was something that Garrett really wanted to go see. It was opened in 1796 as the Dublin County Jain and a debtor's prison. Realistically, it was used as a political prison. Many of those who fought for Irish independence were held or exectued here, including leaders of the rebellions of 1798, 1803, 1848, 1867 and The Easter Rebellion of 1916. It was a guided tour and most of it was pretty interesting. Trying to keep up with who was with what rebellion was kind of confusing--but it was really kind of depressing. They talked about 7-8 men who were kept there for fighting for Ireland's independence, only to end up executed. One man, and I can't remember his name, was brought into the prison's chapel on the night before he was executed so that he could marry his fiancee. They were only allowed 10 minutes together, supervised of course, and then taken back to his cell and then executed the next day. His new bride must have been fighting for Ireland's independence as well, because in a different part of the jail, they showed us her cell. I don't think she was executed, though. The jail closed in the 1920's. The guide also told us that the youngest prisoner they had there was a five year old! He and his family were caught riding a bus or train (can't remember which) without a ticket, so they were all thrown in jail. Awful, isn't it? In this jail, there was no segregation of prisoners; men, women and children were incarcerated up to 5 in each cell, with only a single candle for light and heat, and most of their time was spent in the cold and the dark. Sounds pretty miserable.

Tad, I just read on the internet that U2 filmed a video here for a song called Celebration. Have you heard of that song? It's supposed to be one of their earlier songs. It was filmed there in 1982. They also filmed part of the movie, "In the Name of the Father" here with Daniel Day-Lewis. Never saw it because it was R, but still interesting to know.

Garrett in front of the jail.

Inside one of the hallways in the jail.

One of the cell doors. We couldn't get a picture inside, but there wasn't much to look at.

I can't think of what they call this room. I'm not sure if it even has a name. It was just a big open room with jail cells on each of the three levels.

One of the hallways.

Door to the outside exercise yard.

To the left of the door was where they had the executions.

Me, trying to keep Bella quiet so that the rest of the people could hear the tour guide.

The Irish flag flying at the prison. It was not until the Easter Rising of 1916, when it was raised above the General Post Office in Dublin, that the tricolour came to be regarded as the national flag.

After we left the jail, Maggie was quite depressed. She did not like being in the jail at all and hearing about all the executions. Poor kid--not a very fun place for kids. So, we decided to go see a place called Powerscourt Gardens--a little bit more cheery. If any of you have seen the movie "The Count of Monte Cristo" with James Caviezel then you've seen this place. (Can you tell that I really like movies?) Right after Edmond becomes the count, he invites everyone to his place in Paris (but really Ireland) so he can see Fernand and Mercedes and start his revenge. It was quite cool to be in a place that you've seen in a movie. And the house, but especially the gardens were breathtaking. So beautiful--and such a big piece of land. There were separate gardens inside the garden. Pictures don't do it justice at all!

This is a picture of the house. Remember, from the movie how the Count flies in his hot air balloon right over the house and lands right in front?

This is a view looking down to the gardens from the side of the house.

This is down a few flights of steps from the house. I think this is where the Count gets out of the hot air balloon, leans over the railing and says, "Greetings." The design in the floor is really neat--all made from little stones.

4 Beauties

Looking up at the house.

Lots of stairs.
At the bottom of all the stairs is this beautiful pond full of lily pads. The girls loved the pegasus statue.
Garrett and I


Lydia is so much like me. I could not take a decent picture when I was younger because my eyes were always watering whether it was bright or not. (It was bright here.)

Beautiful flowers. These were my favorite.

The McKibbens (Bella was sleeping, of course)

After leaving here, we went to the little town that this house was close to and had a yummy Italian dinner.

This was the restaurant: Emilia's

These are pictures of the town.

And a telephone booth. Kind of cute. :)