The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #23701   Message #266442
Posted By: GUEST,Shanti
28-Jul-00 - 06:04 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Blackbird of Sweet Avondale
Subject: RE: New Member, Old Lyrics
Thanks for all the info, Dan. You've done some great research.

Kilmainham Goal is now a museum, and an incredible place to take a tour of. The ASGARD, a yacht that ran guns to Ireland for the '16 Rising is now in the yard of the prison. They're restoring it. One really grim stat about the prison, is that it was originally made to hold perhaps 500 people...but at one point it was housing 3000! Children were also kept there as prisoners. The youngest was an 8 year old girl, who had stolen a cloak, because she was cold.

You can see the cells where all the '16 prisoners were kept, the yard where they were shot (there's a placque on the wall with all the names. That one act, more than any other, is what finally brought the attention of the world to Ireland's cause.