Dail Eireann, Kilmainham Gaol

Hi all,

In my last post, I commented that I would be taking a visit to Dail Eireann (the Irish parliament) and it turned out to be a fun trip. Our group got to meet with the head of one of the Irish third parties, the Labour Party. Oddly enough, this is one of the few Irish parties that has an English name. The two primary parties (that I am spelling wrong) Finna Fial and Finna Gail both have Irish names. I should know what they mean but have forgotten. We had a Q&A with Mr. Rabbitte, the Labour leader, while he tried to answer our questions, like most politicians he dodged really saying anything concrete. I was shocked to hear him, and later one of our guest lectures, refer to the their "welfare state." Opinions aside, no one in the US would ever self-describe our government as a "welfare state", except as a form of attack against a proposed policy. In Ireland though, politicians can openly talk about the benefits of such a mentality. Sadly, when we took our actual tour of the facilities our guide was a bit boring and we couldn't take any pictures. I wish I had some photos to share because the place was full of ornate design.

Yesterday, our group took a tour of Kilmainham Gaol (Gaol= jail). Its a famous Dublin landmark in the way I would guess Alcatrz is in the States. The most important thing about the jail is its connection to political imprisonments. Charles Stuart Parnell, who was a British MP and argued for Irish Home rule, was imprisoned there. Also the leaders of the Easter 1916 rising were executed at the Gaol. I have been inundated with 1916 right now, both in literature and history class and in seeing the film The Wind That Shakes the Barley (about the civil war that proceeds it).

This will most likely be my last post until I return from Belfast. Sadly, I won't have easy Internet access up in the North. I can get on a bit but I will most likely just be checking e-mail and not writing a lot. I won't be back from Belfast until the end of next week.