Last Monday, Ms Broderick’s class visited Kilmainham Gaol. Our tour started at the front gates of Kilmainham Gaol. Here we were met by our friendly guide called Mick.

Mick began the tour by bringing us to the chapel inside the Gaol. Here he told us the captivating story of how Joseph Plunkett and Grace Gifford were married just hours before Joseph was to be executed due to his participation in the 1916 Rising.  Following this, we were led through the old and new parts of the Gaol.

As we walked through the Gaol, we were able to experience a real feeling of what life was like for a prisoner in Kilmainham.  The cold and dampness that the prisoners must have felt was evident as there were many windows and no proper heating system in the prison at the time. Our guide informed us that prisoners mainly survived on porridge, bread and stew. He also told us that prisoners were kept in their cells for 23 hours per day and were only allowed one hour to exercise and empty their chamber pots!

When we reached the East Wing of the Gaol, many of the cells were open. There were many plaques stating the prisoners’ names that would have slept in these cells during the 1916 Rising. Some of these were Joseph Plunkett, Eamon De Valera, Edward Daly and Countess Markievicz.  The children were fascinated to see the size of the cells.

Another famous cell inside the prison is that of Grace Gifford. She was imprisoned during the Civil War, after her husband’s death, for her promotion of Sinn Féin policies through her work as an artist. The cell in which she slept contains a painting of the The Blessed Virgin and the Christ Child.

Our tour ended in the Stonebreakers’ Yard. Our guide explained to us that it was in the Stonebreakers’ Yard that fourteen of the leaders of the 1916 Rising were executed in May 1916. Today this is commemorated by a plaque and two crosses in the Yard.

Over the last few weeks, Ms. Burke’s class have been learning about China. The pupils have researched and gathered information on a handful of topics. They presented them creatively on paper and had the challenge of speaking about each topic in front of their peers. There was a very high standard and Ms. Burke was extremely impressed with the amount of time and effort every child put into their project. In art, we drew and coloured three of the twelve Chinese Zodiac. This year’s animal is the rooster, last year’s animal was the monkey and next year’s animal will be the dog. Have a look at the photographs to see all their wonderful work!

Today, Ms. Burke and Ms. Swanton’s classes enjoyed a great trip to Kilmainham Gaol. We have been learning about Irish history and in particular about the 1916 Easter Rising. There was great excitement as we walked through the cold Gaol and discovered the prison cells where the seven signatories were held. It was interesting to see where all seven leaders were executed and to hear more about each of them from our tour guides. As we strolled through the museum, we read Joseph Plunkett’s letter to Grace Gifford and an original copy of the proclamation. We certainly learned loads and had a brilliant day out!

First Class are spreading a smile through January! The children have been busy practicing a poem for assembly about the power of sharing a smile!

Room 19 completed beautiful winter scenes last week. We would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!