Mr O’Brien’s TY history class went to Richmond Barracks Museum in Inchicore on the 28th of March 2017. Richmond Barracks was built between 1810 to 1814 and it was originally used as a station for the British Regiments. The Barracks was originally 14 acres in size, now however only 3 buildings remain.
It was a very interesting day, were we learned about how Richmond Barracks was used after the Irish rebels had surrendered at the end of the 1916 Rising, and were all brought to the Barracks, before the leaders were handpicked, and marched up to Kilmainham Gaol for execution. Our tour guide, Aideen explained how the barracks was extremely overcrowded at the time and how 77 women from the rising were also held there in very cramped conditions. We were shown videos of witness letters of prisoners held captive there at the end of the rising, which really painted a clear picture of conditions in the barracks in 1916.
The barracks was officially handed over to the Free State army in 1922 when the British forces withdrew their troops from Ireland. The state then handed it over to Dublin Corporation in 1924, which used it for housing as there was a housing shortage at the time. Part of the barracks was also used as a school when it became St. Michaels CBS in the 1930s.
Leaving Richmond Barracks we made the short walk over to Goldenbridge Cemetery which was founded by Daniel O’Connell in 1828. This was so Catholics could have a Catholic funeral and burial. We looked at different graves here including the grave of W.T Cosgrave who was the first Taoiseach of The Irish Free State in 1922. The graveyard is currently getting renovated and will be reopened in May 2017. It was a great day and we really enjoyed it.
Eve Keegan & Niamh Gannon
TY Students