Kilmainham Gaol Chapel
by Weston Westmoreland
Title
Kilmainham Gaol Chapel
Artist
Weston Westmoreland
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Kilmainham Gaol Chapel, Dublin.
Detail of the altar of the Chapel at the prison of Kilmainham Gaol.
Joseph Plunkett, one of the seven who signed the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, and Grace Gifford married in this chapel before he was executed after the Easter Rising of 1916.
Plunkett had proposed to her in 1915 and their wedding which was planned for Easter Sunday 1916. Those plans had to be put on hold when Easter week was chosen for the Rising to overthrow British rule. However, Plunkett promised they would marry as soon as they could, even if that meant marrying in jail.
Plunkett was one of the leaders stationed in the General Post Office when the rebellion began and one of the seven men who signed the Proclamation declaring a new Provisional Government of the Irish Republic. He knew it would mean being executed if the rebellion failed.
The Rising failed. Plunkett was captured and sentenced to death by a military court.
The authorities agreed to let Plunkett marry Grace. The couple had to move quickly. Plunkett was due to be executed on 4th May.
Grace went up to Kilmainham Jail on the outskirts of Dublin and was allowed in to see Plunkett in the prison chapel. The service was conducted by the light of a single candle held by a British soldier. No family or friends were allowed to attend so the two soldiers had to act as witnesses.
Once the service was over, Plunkett was taken back to his cell. A few hours later, Grace was allowed to see him for the last time before he was executed.
The couple were allowed 10 minutes together as a group of soldiers stood guard and looked on. When the 10 minutes were up, Grace was told to leave. Plunkett was then taken out into the dreaded Stonebreaker’s yard at Kilmainham and shot dead by firing squad.
Kilmainham Gaol (Irish: Príosún Chill Mhaighneann) is a former prison in Kilmainham, Dublin, Ireland. It is now a museum.
The prison was built in 1796 to improve the conditions of the prisoner, who up to that time were all bunched together, men women and children, in a single space. The English,afterwards, used it to keep and repress politic prisoners. Many Irish revolutionaries, including the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising, were imprisoned and executed in the prison by the British.
Seen principally as a site of oppression and suffering, the prison was closed when the English left in 1924 and reopened as a Museum in the 60s.
Weston Westmoreland
Uploaded
May 30th, 2019
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