Making of Molly Walking Tour
5th Class Making of Molly walking tour.
On Thursday April 29th, 5th Class escaped the four walls of the classroom to visit some of the places mentioned in our novel the Making of Molly. The weather forecast wasn’t very promising but that didn’t deter the eager participants.
Our first stopping point was the peaceful Blessington Basin. We stopped briefly at the former site of Eccle St School, which provided a lot of the backdrop for the novel.
We proceeded to what was once called Rutland Square, now Parnell Square and re-enacted a scene from the book where Molly wrote out her protest slogan in chalk. The children chose their own slogans and wrote them in chalk on the pavement outside the Hugh Lane Gallery much to the dismay of the gallery porter who expressed his displeasure at our wanton vandalism.
A torrential hail shower failed to dampen the spirits and we continued our journey into the Garden of Remembrance where we visited the Children of Lear statue and slid along the icy tiles. Moving along we stopped at the GPO to inspect the bullet holes in the columns and wondered how tall the Spire might be.
Next stop was at the site of the Irish Farm Produce Café on Henry Street, one of the first vegetarian cafes in Dublin and it was also the location for the signing of the Proclamation on Easter Week. A plaque on the wall commemorates its historic past.
We finished up at Halston Street, this is the site of the old Newgate Prison, where the gallows got plenty of activity during the revolutionary years. It also is the site of one of the only existing Handball Alleys in Dublin. Backing onto the old Green Street Court, used in many movie recreations.
