Last night I attended the launch of a new exhibition at Kilmainham Gaol, centered around Gerry Hunt’s excellent 2009 graphic novel ‘Blood Upon The Rose’.
Of course, the title of the work came from a poem of Joseph Plunkett’s, one of the men executed for putting his name to the proclamation drafted by the leaders of the 1916 uprising.
I see his blood upon the rose
And in the stars the glory of his eyes,
His body gleams amid eternal snows,
His tears fall from the skies.
Gerry Hunt gave a brief, excellent and very modest talk on the work, noting that he wished to tell the story of the insurrection rather than get tied down with individual heroics, yet stating he was drawn to the character of Plunkett. This is evidently clear to the reader of the work. It was more than fitting that Honor O Brolchain, grand-niece of Joseph Plunkett, was also present to deliver a fine talk on Joseph Plunkett, Grace Gifford and the importance of the jail among other things. It was interesting to hear that O’Brien Press are currently working on sixteen books on the leaders of the insurrection, one looking at each of the executed men. Fittingly, O Brolchain is the author of the upcoming work on Plunkett. I remember my first visit to Kilmainham as a youngster, and being drawn to the story of Grace Gifford, a woman with a story to tell that goes on long after her tragic wedding.
The exhibition at Kilmainham is made up of large panels which show a selection of scenes from the book, ranging from the last meeting of the signatories of the proclamation at Liberty Hall to the battle of Mount Street Bridge. Along with the panels however there are many items on display which have not been on display before in the jail or elsewhere. Among the items displayed one finds a shell fired from the Helga and one of the final letters of the executed Con Colbert.
A similar exhibition around the work took place recently in the Pearse Museum, but the items displayed here are new to this presentation, meaning a visit is worthwhile even for those who visited the ‘Blood on the Rose’ exhibition at Scoil Eanna.
The launch last night was well attended, with many relatives of those featured in the work present. Be sure to get in for a look.
Click on the book for more.
Click on the book for more.
Donal
Ciarán
Sam
Come Here To Me! 
In 1964 I was one of a bunch of young volunteers who were set to work cleaning up Kilmainham Gaol for it to be turned into a museum. We were handed wire brushes and told to scrape all the rust we could see on the miles of bars and railings in the old place. God it was creepy going into those dark, musty cells that had hardly been touched since the uprising.
Over a period of a few weeks us 15 year old lads from Inchicore and Kilmainham became very well aquainted with the history of that gloomy building and I will always be proud that I had a hand in it’s renovation.