Page 103 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Ireland

FUR THER AFIELD  101

3 Irish Museum
of Modern Art –
Royal Hospital
Kilmainham
Military Road, Kilmainham, Dublin 8.
Tel 612 9900. £ Heuston Station.
@ 51, 51B, 78A, 79, 79a, 90, 123.
Irish Museum of Modern Art:
Open 10am–5:30pm Tue–Sat,
10:30am–5:30pm Wed, noon–5:30pm
Sun & public hols (last adm: 5:15pm).
Closed Good Fri & 24–27, 31 Dec.
8 1:15pm Wed, 2:30pm Sat & Sun.
- = 7 limited. Gardens open all
year. ∑ imma.ie
Ireland’s finest surviving 17th-
century building was laid out in
1684, styled on Les Invalides in
Paris. It was built by Sir William
Robinson as a home for 300
wounded soldiers – a role it kept
until 1927. When it was comp-
leted, people were so impressed
by its Classical symmetry that it
was suggest ed it would be better
used as a campus for Trinity
College. The Baroque chapel
Restored central hall at Kilmainham Gaol has fine carvings and intricate
stained glass. The Formal
2 Kilmainham Gaol wounded colleague James Gardens, restored using many
Connolly, un able to stand up, of the 17th-century designs,
Inchicore Rd, Kilmainham, Dublin 8. was strapped into a chair before are now open to the public.
Tel 453 5984. @ 51B, 51C, 69, 73,
78A, 79. Open Apr–Sep: 9:30am–6pm being shot. You also pass the The hospital’s former
daily; Oct–Mar: 9:30am–5:30pm Mon– dank cells of those involved in residential quarters now
Sat, 10am–6pm Sun & public hols (last the 1798, 1803, 1848 and 1867 house the Irish Museum of
adm: 1 hr before closing). Closed 24, uprisings, as well as the punish- Modern Art, opened in 1991.
25 & 26 Dec. & 8 advance booking ment cells and hanging room. The collection includes a
Ashtown for groups. - = 7 limited. Among the exhibits are personal cross-section of Irish and
Gate
NAVAN (N3) CASTLEKNOCK ROAD ∑ kilmainhamgaolmuseum.ie mementos of some of the interna tional modern and
Castleknock former inmates and depictions contemporary art, comprising
Gate B L A C K H O R S E A V E N U E A long tree-lined avenue runs of various events which took some 3,500 works mainly from
from the Royal Hospital Kilmain- place in the Gaol until it closed the 1940s to the present day,
White’s ham to the grim, grey bulk of down in 1924. which are displayed on a
Gate
Cabra Kilmainham Gaol. The building Part of the tour takes place rotating basis and include
Gate
was opened in 1796, but was outside so dress accordingly. special visiting exhibitions.
restored in the 1960s. During its
C H E S T E R F I E L D A V E N U E
130 years as a prison, it housed
many of those involved in the
fight for Irish indepen dence,
including Robert Emmet (see p81)
Knockmaroon
Gate and Charles Stewart Parnell (p47).
The last prisoner held was Eamon
de Valera (p49), who was trans-
NCR
Gate
C H E S T E R F I E L D A V E N U E
ferred from Kilmainham in April
1924 before being finally
KNOCKM A R OON HILL
released on 16 July.
Park
Islandbridge CONYNGHAM RD Gate The tour includes the chapel,
Gate
DUBLIN
where Joseph Plunkett married
Grace Gifford a few hours before
West Link (M50) Chapelizod NAAS (N7)
Gate
C H A P E L I Z O D R O A D L i ff e y he faced the firing squad for his
part in the 1916 Rising (see pp48–
9). The tours end in the prison
yard where Plunkett’s badly The Royal Hospital Kilmainham designed by Sir William Robinson in the 1680s
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp296–7 and pp308–11
100-101_EW_Ireland.indd 101 08/03/17 3:23 pm