Breda McNamara: Orthopaedic Hospital

0.00.00 - 0.03.28

Earliest memories

Breda details her earliest memories. Her Maiden name was Hackett. She says her family moved to Templeacre when she was 1 or 2. There was not many houses around then. The houses were new and surrounded by lots of fields. The Orthopaedic Hospital was up the road in a field. They used to play by the shop up beside the Orthopaedic. It was called “Ann’s shop”. It was run by Ann and her husband john who lived upstairs with their family. She recalls moving from the Marsh about 65 years ago to a brand new house. She remembers they were never allowed near the Orthopaedic “the fear of God was put into them about the Orthopaedic”. She recalls there was a little house outside the gate and there would be a light on at night and it would be the only light you would see around the whole of the Orthopaedic. She says “she doesn’t know where they got the idea they were in there chopping legs and hands off. That’s what you went in there for, you went in there, you lost something, a hand or a leg, some part. It was very quiet hospital, you’d hardly see anyone going in or out there. Mostly people came from the country and they would come up on the bus and it would be a day out for them to see their person in there. Thank God we never had to go in there to see anybody for years and years”

CFP NOTE The Marsh is an area in cork also known as the middle Parish. It is located between the Coal Quay, Mercy hospital, the river and Washington St.

0.03.28 - 0.06.25

More detail about the Orthopaedic

Breda recalls that it was a very dark building with a few trees there. They always thought it was a haunted building, it looked like that. There was a family living in the house at the entrance to the hospital. She says it was “curiosity that drew them up towards the house and they would get up a bit of the way and you were hunted back down. A man would come out and hunt us away from the Orthopaedic. She clarifies the house at entrance was the Gate lodge of the Orthopaedic. The Interviewer ask about the walk up to the hospital from Bakers road which didn’t exist at that time Breda says she used to venture up towards the hospital when she was about 6 or 7. There was nothing except the shop up in the area. The credit union that is there now on Bakers road used to be in the basement of Gurranabraher church for years.

CFP NOTE:  the credit union is now Baker's Rd credit union, Gurranabraher, Cork

0.06.25 - 0.08.24

Change of perceptions of the Orthopaedic

Breda recalls that her perceptions of the Orthopaedic hospital didn’t change for a “good many years” until she had children herself and the dental hospital moved into the Orthopaedic and she used to go down to the dental hospital. She does remember one occasion when a neighbour ended up in the Orthopaedic with a few broken bones. When she heard she said “O my God, He’s down that hospital” Breda says she had never been in there but she had to go down to see him because he was a neighbour and had no one belong to him. Breda recalls going into the hospital “with the fright of God in her and she couldn’t even sit down because she was so nervous, but he seemed ok and it seemed a normal hospital. It wasn’t like what they had made it out to be”. Breda’s neighbour got on fine there and the visit had gotten rid of a bit of fear. She says she went out the gate “on air”. It was her first time coming to that that “horrible place she thought it was” After that she got married and moved to Knocknaheeny and used to bring her children down to the dental hospital

0.08.25 - 0.10.26

Different uses of the Orthopaedic hospital

The interviewer asks Breda what she knows about the different uses of the Hospital. It was known to be used as a fever hospital or for polio patients. Breda says she always knew that the fever hospital was in Blackpool in Leitrim St. Her mother talked about it for years. Breda says her and her brother were both in the fever hospital because they picked up scarlet fever. She says it wasn’t too dangerous when she got it but her mother’s sister died aged 21 from scarlet fever because they didn’t have any cures at the time. Breda she was in the fever hospital when she was 3 or 4 and her brother was only 11 months older than her. Breda says her mother always talked about having to go down to the fever hospital and having to walk up the long steps leading up to it. She says she never thought the Orthopaedic had anything to do with fever hospital. She thinks that people were in the orthopaedic with Polio but she is not too sure

0.10.26 - 0.13.02

More earlier memories

Breda says she got married in 1971 and moved from the family home in Templeacre to an apartment in Leitrim St for a number of years until she had her first two children. She got a new house in Harbour View Road in Knocknaheeny. It was surrounded by fields. “You would get up in the mornings and open the curtains and there would see a cow, so the kids were all excited about that” There was such a demand for houses they rushed people in. the pathways were not even finished. Breda says she didn’t mind waiting for a footpath or gate or railings. She was delighted to have the house. The new house was at the back of the Orthopaedic. The back of the house was the wall of the orthopaedic Breda says when her children were growing up “she still had the fear of the orthopaedic and brought it with her” and maybe gave it to her children as well. When she was getting them off their dummies (children’s soothers) she used to say the dummies had gone over the wall into the Orthopaedic and none of her children used to go near the wall. Breda says that was the end of the dummies and it “worked a treat”.

0.13.02 – 0.16.44

Closing of the Orthopaedic

Breda remembers the closing of the hospital but can’t remember what year. She says it became a very busy and open hospital. It changed from that “Haunted place” they thought it was. People started getting jobs there, in the kitchen, the laundry. It gave employment to the Northside which was very badly needed, Breda says, because it was it was very poor up there. She says there was talk about it closing down which was terrible in her opinion. She says there was protests and people were going mad. A lot of the workers lived in Churchfield. Farranree, Templeacre and Bakers road. There would be a lot of families without wages. Breda says it was the start of a lot of things shutting down on the Northside. “It was in people’s minds that they were shutting down everything. It went from the Orthopaedic to the North Infirmary which was down the road and the dental that was across the road from the North Infirmary was all shut down. There were starting to shut down things on the Northside of the city. That was horrible” The interviewer asks Breda about the sense of loss of the after the Orthopaedic was closed down and Breda replies that it is a brilliant building and that it is being used for community purposes for doctors and an A&E. She says that it should be used as a hospital because they took the North Infirmary and the Orthopaedic, there should be something for the Northside even if it was only an ambulance bay. Breda says the urgent care centre that is there now is fabulous but it will take time for people to get used to it Breda is asked do people still feel that something was taken away from them with the loss of the hospital and no matter what is there people will still feel they should have a hospital. She says she does

0.16.44 - 0.20.29

Development Of the Orthopaedic hospital

Breda is asked about she knows about the redevelopment of the Orthopaedic. She says there will be community involvement. Doctors will be moving in and not much else except that the dental will be there and it will be great when it gets up and running. She says people miss the hospital. “There is a huge lot of land there, they could have had a hospital, they could have had the health care service, they could have had the dental, they could have had a lot up here. They take one thing and give another. But I think people still feel that we were robbed”. Breda thinks the new development will be fabulous but will be mainly for younger families, where the older people will think they took our Orthopaedic. The interviewer informs Breda about new services going into the site, GP practices, Dental etc. and asks her if it will change their feeling about the Orthopaedic. Breda says “they probably will when it all start happening but you can’t blame people either, all down through the years things were taken and shut down and lost jobs and all of that and people won’t see all this till it’s up and running and its happening. It’s hard to put belief into people… There will probably be great benefit for people”. Breda recalls going into the Orthopaedic after she had an operation to get her dressing changed. It saved here having to go into town. It was a good service and nice people

0.20.29 - 0.26.25

Importance of the redevelopment

Breda says a café would be important as a meeting place for locals and they should bring the local people in and show them what is there, there should also be a big opening day. Breda says access is another important factor, there should be pedestrian access from the Knocknaheeny side. Two different access roads that they were promised are now not happening. It leaves only one access road into the Orthopaedic and after putting all that money into it people probably won’t come down. Breda believes the planners are responsible and that another information session should happen and it could be advertised at mass because churches are starting to fill up again and people that hear it could go and spread it around the community. Breda says people don’t look at notice boards or buy papers anymore because of all the negative stuff on them. She also says put a leaflet into every house and give information that way. Also a credit union should put a leaflet into your deposit book. Breda feels there are positive things happening there, but she had heard “Doubting Thomas’s” (sceptical people) saying that will never finish they will run out of money. She says “you have that in the Northside because of stuff being taken from people. I now they gave a lot as well, a lot of people wouldn’t see that if they didn’t have children in schools... schools have everything, cos I worked there myself for 20 years, they have everything there great” altogether

End of interview