Leinster House History Tour

The three sixth classes went to Leinster House and the National History Museum on Wednesday the 24th of January. We left the school early in the morning at around 9:30, it was a long bus ride to Dublin city centre and we arrived at around 10:30. We walked into Leinster House and left our bags in lockers and we went into a large gallery. Beneath us was the Dail where the Ministers were discussing Brexit and how it would affect Ireland. We watched for a while and then we were split into groups to go around the building

We were brought into a hallway and we were told the story of the Duke of Leinster who lived in the house first. We then went into was another room, the Seanad where we listened to more discussion. We moved on and we saw an original copy of the proclamation and we were told about the men who had signed it. After that we headed out to a large room where Thomas Byrne came in to answer some questions that some of us had. He was kind and answered all the questions we had. After that we went to the steps of the National History Museum and we ate our lunch.

After we finished our lunch we split into groups and we headed into the National Museum of Ireland. We received a booklet each to fill in as we went along. The booklet told us to find certain items in the Museum. Most of them were in the same room. Some of the items we had to find and write about were a Bronze Horn, the Ardagh Chalice, an arm-shaped shrine and the Tara Brooch. The booklet asked us questions about each item and we had to examine the items. Most of the items were in the Treasury exhibition. Each one looked old and they looked like they had a lot of history. We all really enjoyed both the Leinster House and the National History Museum. It was a great day out.
By Erin Leeson