Struggle

Woke still full of cold but had a good breakfast and then we set off, again in bright sunshine, to visit Kilmainham Gaol. It was a grim place, with tales of the men, women and children held here from the 1700s (awaiting deportation to Australia, or locked up for begging during the famine, or as we saw in one log, for being 'about to commit a felony'). But despite all those shocking stories we heard most about the political prisoners held and executed here for the struggle against the English occupation. This was looking into the cell of Grace Gifford who had a tragic time, marrying in the prison chapel a few hours before her new husband was executed and then being held there herself later.
As with yesterday's museums and galleries it was really well presented and had been expertly restored and there were wonderful guides explaining it all.
We walked back and had soup and sandwich lunch talking about changing social mores even in our own lifetimes then headed to the design and craft museum in an old barracks. Enjoyed the room sets from through the ages and the fashion exhibition, but there was also an intensely poignant exhibition about the orphanages and Magdalen laundries in Ireland....terrible stories.
We were all starting to flag by now and headed back to the hotel to collect bags and then head for the airport. I started on all the REF reading I need to have finished by tomorrow morning and once I was home I got into bed with a cup of tea to finish it. It's been a fantastic weekend despite my cold and I enjoyed being away and getting some perspective on stuff.