Colleen needs to go to gaol.

Written by:  Amy with an assist from Colleen in Nice watching jeans dry on the line outside the flat

Colleen has a list.  A 10 page list of places she'd like to go here in Ireland.  I'm pumped to see where this list will take us.  We've already been to Carrickfergus Castle because of her list and it was awesome.  The next on her list is Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast.  So, off to the car to take the train into the city and see the sights!

We grabbed a bus from the train station and sat in the upper deck in the front.  Those tiny Belfast streets were no match for our bus driver who navigated cars, bikes, trees, pedestrians, scooters, lorries, and other buses with enviable ease.  We got off at his suggested stop and walked the block to the gaol.  Before you see the gaol, you see the old courthouse that is no longer in use and fallen into disrepair.  We learn later that it is supposed to be turned into a boutique hotel.  I hope they restore that grand building into something that preserves its stateliness.

Belfast and Gaol June 24th, 2019

The Gaol was built in 1843 and closed in 1996.  It has seen executions, but far less than US prisons.  The tour took us through the execution process including a surprise execution room adjacent to the cell the condemned would be kept in their last week on earth.  The original hanging rope and mechanism was still in the room.  It was really creepy and I wasn't very comfortable in the execution room.  Those executed were buried in an unmarked and unconsecrated grave somewhere on the grounds.  During renovations, the remains were discovered.

After 1996, the prison stood empty but in 2010 it was restored to its Victorian era specs.  This is unfortunate as they have stripped away any and all evidence of the very real political prisoners held there during the Troubles.  There are many a story these walls could tell about that part of recent history, but the choice was made to focus exclusively on the Victorian age.  We only heard a little about the Troubles from our tour guide.

After lunch at the cafe in the gaol, we set off it find Belfast Castle, but after an hour of walking and getting off at the wrong bus stop, Colleen and I decided to hop back to downtown and see some sights.  We hit a church, but it was pay to enter, so I just hummed, took photos of the cool flags and left.  Then on to the main part of downtown to the train station, then back to the hostel.