The City Baths
Dublin Core
Title
The City Baths
Subject
Marion O’Sullivan’s memories of Eglington Street baths.
Description
Excerpt from oral history interview where the narrator Eglington Street public baths.
Transcript
"Mostly, like all there was going to a dancehall or going to the cinema. You didn’t do anything else, there was nothing else there. Now I myself would’ve gone swimming an awful lot, there was the baths, the baths in town, they were down-- em, do you know there, is it Anglesea street down behind the city hall there? I forget the name of the street, but there were the baths there. You never needed to learn to swim cause you couldn’t, there was no room. Every-- it was the only bath or the Lee Baths, they were the only two swimming pools when we were children. They were-- you go in like, and [banging] you stand there unable to swim until you learn, when you learn to swim properly then you could go up to the deep end and you might get a swim, but otherwise they were like sardines in a can, honest to God now like, you’d jump into the water and that was it, you stood there and then I’d be frozen then you’d have to come out under the showers and I’d spend my whole time standing under the hot shower cause I was numb with the cold. People don’t realise the poverty that was there then, but there was guys went into the baths, they went in in their drawers and they came out and went home, and the drawers was wet like, twould be a beautiful summer day like, but there was children there, that was their wash, they went in there, they had their wash, they came home and they’d have the same knickers on them, you know and that was-- I mean I don’t look on this-- you know, people are inclined to look on poverty as poverty was a crime. If you were poor, it wasn’t your fault, because this was the message that was going out. If you were poor, it was your fault, you had too many children, your husband was a drinker, you didn’t-- all those factors, but this was-- the church was telling you to have the children and then condemning you for having them, you know? And this was what was happening, but there was-- there were huge degrees of poverty there, like, children were hungry, even in their homes they were hung-- even now people who-- I know for a fact did their best, there were still children h-- like you might have an apple and people would be asking for the ux. Now can you imagine a child now asking for the ux of your apple. You know, ‘Can I’ve the ux of your apple?’, or picking up chewing gum off the ground and chewing it. That just doesn’t-- children just don’t do that now. You’d see apples going into the bin now. That would never have happened in my day because there was always children that were hungry. I mean if you had 10 kids and one man’s wages coming in, you were going to be hungry like. With the best will in the world you could not manage."
Transcript
"Mostly, like all there was going to a dancehall or going to the cinema. You didn’t do anything else, there was nothing else there. Now I myself would’ve gone swimming an awful lot, there was the baths, the baths in town, they were down-- em, do you know there, is it Anglesea street down behind the city hall there? I forget the name of the street, but there were the baths there. You never needed to learn to swim cause you couldn’t, there was no room. Every-- it was the only bath or the Lee Baths, they were the only two swimming pools when we were children. They were-- you go in like, and [banging] you stand there unable to swim until you learn, when you learn to swim properly then you could go up to the deep end and you might get a swim, but otherwise they were like sardines in a can, honest to God now like, you’d jump into the water and that was it, you stood there and then I’d be frozen then you’d have to come out under the showers and I’d spend my whole time standing under the hot shower cause I was numb with the cold. People don’t realise the poverty that was there then, but there was guys went into the baths, they went in in their drawers and they came out and went home, and the drawers was wet like, twould be a beautiful summer day like, but there was children there, that was their wash, they went in there, they had their wash, they came home and they’d have the same knickers on them, you know and that was-- I mean I don’t look on this-- you know, people are inclined to look on poverty as poverty was a crime. If you were poor, it wasn’t your fault, because this was the message that was going out. If you were poor, it was your fault, you had too many children, your husband was a drinker, you didn’t-- all those factors, but this was-- the church was telling you to have the children and then condemning you for having them, you know? And this was what was happening, but there was-- there were huge degrees of poverty there, like, children were hungry, even in their homes they were hung-- even now people who-- I know for a fact did their best, there were still children h-- like you might have an apple and people would be asking for the ux. Now can you imagine a child now asking for the ux of your apple. You know, ‘Can I’ve the ux of your apple?’, or picking up chewing gum off the ground and chewing it. That just doesn’t-- children just don’t do that now. You’d see apples going into the bin now. That would never have happened in my day because there was always children that were hungry. I mean if you had 10 kids and one man’s wages coming in, you were going to be hungry like. With the best will in the world you could not manage."
Creator
Cork Folklore Project
Source
CFP_SR00528_osullivan_2014
Publisher
Cork Folklore Project
Date
18th September 2014
Contributor
Marion O'Sullivan (narrator) Robert Galligan-Long (interviewer) James Furey (editor)
Rights
Copyright Cork Folklore Project
Format
.ogg
Language
English
Type
Audio
Citation
Cork Folklore Project, “The City Baths,” Cork Memory Map, accessed May 5, 2024, https://corkfolklore.org/cmm/items/show/77.