Kilmainham Jail, Dublin

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Kilmainham Gaol opened in 1796, and is without doubt Ireland’s most famous prison. Many famous Irish Nationalists were held in prison here and the leaders of the 1916 Ester Rising were executed in the exercise yard. It was closed in 1924 - the last prisoner was Eamon de Valery, who later became Prime Minister and President of Ireland...

The Gaol now functions as a museum, and is open for public on guided tours... It will take you through the prison chapel, the West Wing, the prison yards with the execution spot, and the East Wing... The East Wing is the most spectacular section; it has 96 cells, is 3 storeys high and has been used as settings for a few well-known films like “In the Name of the Father” and “Michael Collins”. Very interesting and absolute worth a visit…

The highlight of our trip to Dublin, the wait for the guided tour was well worth it, the guide was great and gave a brief history of Irish times from the 1700's to the early 1900's and the struggles the people went through. The goal itself was amazing and you wondered what the prisoners went through.

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This is a really interesting guided tour and museum for anyone interested in Irish history. The guides were great story tellers and the place has been kept up really well.

When I was there, we had to sign up for a specific time for our tour, and ended up having to wait for a little over an hour, but it was worth it.

*Note: I believe we used a map we got from our hostel, Oliver St. John Gogarty's, and it was definitely not drawn to scale! By the looks of the map, Kilmainham seemed to be only 6-8 blocks away, but the map stopped including side streets after a while, and really shortened the roads just to fit the jail on the map! It wasn't an unbearable walk, but what we thought would take 30 min. took us far over an hour, so be aware of that :)

The tour of this gaol and its museum was the highlight of our trip to Dublin. Fascinating insight to the more recent Irish history and the struggles for independence. Our tour guide was fantastic - just the right amount of information, never boring.

Just a word of advice: don't bring children under 8 years old to this. It's boring for them and very distracting for the rest of the group to have a bored child verbalizing and running about. My 12-year-old enjoyed most of it and was able to cope with some of the longer talks, but young ones simply cannot.

The courtyard at the end is a powerful reminder of how fortunate we are to be free.

Just returned to the UK from Dublin , great time in the city but disappointed with our prison visit. Was recommended this tour by a tourst info rep, however weren't told that u had to book onto a tour firstly so resulted in a 90 minute wait with frankly nothing to do in the mean time. Lots of hanging around in dark pokey corridors (not good for the clostrophobics) and due to the size of the group, found it difficult at times to hear what the guide was saying , also quite a few children on our tour which were quite distracting ( no good for the kiddies) .
If you're interested in Irish history then go for it, if not give it a miss !!!

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I also agree with those who recommended the Kilmainham Goal. It was one of the most touching and memorable things on my trip 2 years ago. I think a walk through the Merion Square area with all the colorful doors and very cool knockers, if you are around Christ Church or St Patricks at evensong time you have to sit through a service, but you get in for free at least. We stayed at the litton lane hostel which used to be a recording studio for U2 and David Bowie. The location was great, except that you are right next to a bar that does an irish dance show most nights. A day trip to Knowth is worth it if you like history and neo-lithic things. you can get a bus straight from dublin

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I also agree with those who recommended the Kilmainham Goal. It was one of the most touching and memorable things on my trip 2 years ago. I think a walk through the Merion Square area with all the colorful doors and very cool knockers, if you are around Christ Church or St Patricks at evensong time you have to sit through a service, but you get in for free at least. We stayed at the litton lane hostel which used to be a recording studio for U2 and David Bowie. The location was great, except that you are right next to a bar that does an irish dance show most nights. A day trip to Knowth is worth it if you like history and neo-lithic things. you can get a bus straight from dublin

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A visit to the jail was recommended to us by the info centre, the receptionist at our hotel and various other people, so we decided to give it a go and were not dissapointed. The goal was built in 1792, and it is Ireland's most famous disused prison. It held throughout the years many famous Nationalists and Republicans in members of the Society of United Irishmen (1798), Young Irelanders (c1840s), Fenians and Land agitators, Parnell, Davitt. The leaders of the 1916 Ester Rising were executed here. When you stand in the execution area, you cannot help but feel sad about what struggles there were for this nation to get to independence, but I am sure that the people who gave their lives for it, is happy today. The prison was closed in 1924. This building gives a good insight into the history of Irish Republicanism.

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If at all interested in history and in particular, Ireland's troubled history with England, visit this jail. Even my 12 year old daughter enjoyed it but then she always loves learning and visiting historical sites. The guides on the tour are amazing and full of history facts both known and unknown.

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On our tour of the Goal there were many places of interest were highlighted relating to the Easter Week rebellion.

Some of these were the cells where the prisoners were kept, the plaque detailing the names of those executed within the goal, and the Cross in the courtyard indicating where executions took place.