Chronicles of COVID-19

Title

Declan, West Cork

Contributor

Declan

Subject

COVID-19 (Disease)

Coverage

Ireland; Cork; 2020s:

Date

16 April 2020

Language

English

Creator

Cork Folklore Project

Rights

Cork Folklore Project

Description

GENERAL PHYSICAL LOCATION RIGHT NOW

Timoleague Living two-storey house, in the countryside. Large garden. Just two people, empty nesters.

USUAL LOCATION

Same

Q. 1 STAGES

First stage thought it was only China. Second stage realised this was affecting Europe. Really worried. Thought Italy, Spain and UK very slow to act in comparison to Ireland. First restriction I was scared but happy enough that we were living in a quiet area low population. Second restriction was expected and felt it is necessary. Thought government acted decisively, and spokespersons for health authorities were very calming.

Q. 2 EVERYDAY ROUTINE

I am 67 years old but I was still self-employed working part time. This is now finished. Getting state pension. My everyday activities are I try to go for a walk every day. I am doing a lot of gardening, and home decorating. I enjoy the fact that I don’t have to get all the jobs done in the weekend as before. Our family and grandchildren live close by, and had stayed with us during the early days of pandemic so they still call and we call to them. This is great. Our son is in Scotland so we or he cannot travel. We only see his family on internet. We have missed many funerals of friends. We leave our condolences on RIP.ie. We live a simple enough life similar to how we lived as children and when we got married first. We find we spend very little money, as we are not out and about.

Q. 3 GROUPS

Some of our friends miss their family and in particular their grandchildren. People do not stop to talk now in shops or on road. Elderly look very nervous and tense. Our grandchildren are happy to be off school but miss their friends. The younger people find it hard to adjust to restriction on travel. They seem happy to work from home. There seems to be very little street violence, due to pubs closed. I miss attending all GAA matches and conversations about teams.

Q. 4 WAYS WE TALK

We are all familiar with words like flattening the curve. Re agent, underlying conditions, cocooning. I now speak to friends or family on FaceTime or Zoom. We had a birthday party of grandchild in Scotland on Zoom with 4 different groups on it. That was strange. People are using Twitter and Facebook a lot now. We mostly read the newspapers on line. I think it must be very tough on people that do not have internet. Many are very worried about paying for all of compensation in the future. The most upsetting part of all of this is the enemy is unseen, we cannot cure it yet, and we don’t know the duration of all of these restrictions. The restrictions on over 70 is very severe and is isolating these people and affecting their mental health.

Q. 5 COMMUNITY RESPONSE

The community has really helped out with phone calls, shopping, and restaurants giving free meals to isolating people. Shops seem to be helpful with different hours for different age groups. Shopping is not a nice experience anymore. It is just something that has to be done. There is a general feeling of solidarity that we are all in this together.

Q. 6 THOUGHTS AND PREOCCUPATIONS

I am thinking more about my own mortality. The news is only constantly virus news. I am happy enough as long as I stay healthy, and if I have some homework to keep me busy. I worry that the world will never be the same again. Everybody says that it is all unbelievable and they never thought they would see it in their lifetime.

Q. 7 SIMILARITY TO PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE

No Response.

Q. 8 CHALLENGES AND COPING

No Response.

Q. 9 THE FUTURE

I think more people will work from home. Many small businesses will not reopen. It will mean most purchases will be online and this will damage local economies and affect part time work for students. I think the whole work scene will change. Maybe this might be better for small communities instead of too many jobs concentrated in big cities. I think marriages may be affected some in a good way many in a bad way, because of many being cooped up together. I think many will reassess their hectic lifestyle, and wonder is it all necessary.

Q. 10 IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT SPRINGS TO MIND?

None.

Q. 11 IN A NUTSHELL

As long as we stay healthy, I think this whole experience is ok. I am lucky maybe that I live in a house on its own in an area of low population. I do feel everybody will reassess their lives. I heard older people speak about the blitz in London during world war 2 and how everybody helped one another, I can understand this now; at the time I thought they were talking rubbish.

age

51-69

gender

Male