Sean Higgisson: Grattan Street, Healthcare, Working Life

0.00.00 - 0.03.24

Family and Early Memories

Born in the Bons (Bon Secours Hospital). Lived all life in Cork except 4 years. Holidays in early teens to Ardmore fishing for mackerel. Brothers Paddy & Brian. Grew up on Hartlands Road by the Lough. Played football in the field by Lough or fished. Primary school St Joseph’s on Mardyke- socially mixed school with people from Northside, Southside and the country farmers’ children. Pres (PBC Presentation Brothers College) was a paid school beside them with uniforms. Got a lift to school with dad in the morning. Hour and a half for lunch so walked home for lunch. Mother stayed at home wasn’t allowed to work in public service once married. Secondary School CSN Coláiste Spioraid Naoimh Bishopstown for 3 years. Then the Regional College for junior engineering certificate course. Went on to an electrical engineering course and qualified in the early 1980s not many jobs available. Went to England using qualifications a little. Got job as porter in Grattan Street with Southern Health Board now HSE.

0.03.24 - 0.06.08

Family House and Grandparents

Small house 2 rooms in front, 2 behind, middle bathroom and flat-roofed kitchen at the back. Shared bedroom with 2 brothers. When 13 years old his grandmother came to live with them. In his pre-teen years his grandmother knitted a lot of their jumpers “long in the backs to keep your ass warm”. Grandmother was independent woman, went to Liverpool when 16, worked as telephonist. She married teacher in Cork & lived on Redemption Road. Stocky woman. Big motherly figure. People didn’t take exercise back then. Pleasant personality. Family visited her house on Sundays and she had “curranty bread”, Lucozade or orangeade. Parents would bring grandmother to mass. Remembers grandfather as very stern and always spoke Irish.

0.06.08 - 0.08.30

Games

Football across the Lough. Describes Red Rover game. In winter played football on the road which was a steep hill. Only one car on the road picked two neighbours’ gates to play football. Broke a few windows. Good natured nothing untoward. About 12 children on the road at the time. Still living on the road he grew up on now only about 4 children. There could have been 20 children at one time. The football wasn’t taken that seriously it was only killing time.

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Women banned from Work in Public Service after Marriage

Mother took up painting with local oil painters in Cork for about 15 years. And then looked after her mother. There was no nursing homes.

0.09.30 - 0.11.23

School and Teachers

Br Albius teacher keen on science. Taught them Latin in primary school. Taught about condensation on the glass. Teacher used a sheet in the schoolyard to show how a sail on a ship works. Br John was favourite teacher because he played guitar.

Sean thinks that life puts you in a certain career and if you’re happy you stay with it. You can “what-if” your life away but there is no point.

0.11.23 - 0.13.18

Time in England

Worked in factory doing electronic assembly. Lived in flat on Eton High Street with a few lads. Went to Tottenham Hotspur matches at night with stadium lit up- magical experience.

Enjoyed England but after 2 years decided he didn’t want to grow old in England and if you stay too long you won’t be able to get away from it. Saw a generation of aunts and uncles who never came back to Ireland and regretted it.

Likes the outdoors and hillwalking. Hardest thing about England- you can’t get away from people. Population of 55 million.

0.13.18 - 0.15.20

Hillwalking Hobby through Photography

Got into hillwalking through photography and landscape photography. But hillwalking took over. Cork Backpackers hillwalking club for about 20 years. Dungarvan Comeraghs, Galtees, Carrantuohill, Beara peninsula. Can only do that in rural places of England.

Club meets on grand parade and divides into groups for different walks. Get coffee before the walk and a meal after the walk.

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What it takes to lead a walk

They wouldn’t let you lead the walks. He went on the committee in order to put himself forward for leading walks. Kevin O’Flynn and from Ken Sumtana Malaysia taught people how to lead walks. Teaching people how to navigate and read maps. Started leading as coleader, then leader with supervision and it became clear he had an aptitude for it.

Good hillwalker has a degree of fitness. Choose a leader with he same fitness level as you. The walk is only as fast as the slowest walker. About 5 hill walking clubs in Cork. Mountaineers, Cork Backpackers, Bishopstown is big club, Blarney and a few others. They dovetail into cycling as well.

0.17.46 - 0.22.50

Writing books on Hillwalking

Hill-walked on his own to research the books. Came across a slim guidebook on hillwalking and decided he could do it. So he wrote one on Mangerton. Impossible to get anyone to publish it so went to publish it himself but you end up with 3000 books in cardboard boxes. A guy in west Cork distributed small publishers’ books. Over 10 years he wrote 5 guide books. They made him a few thousand euro a year. Reeks, West Cork, County Cork.

Books included: routes, maps, route descriptions, a little bit of history. Size of a letter about 50 pages and can fit in the pocket. Books became dated because places on the routes could no longer be accessed.

“Trails Ireland” can be accessed on the internet.

In France you cannot own up to the cliff face so the whole coastal area can be walked in France. It’s not the same here in Ireland.

While in Ireland the old railway lines are being reopened more should be done to open the coastal area.

Putting up barbed wire to stop people crossing the land.

Success of Dungarvan Greenway

Westport-Achill Cycle way

Athlone to Mullingar route. Thinks we need more of that in the world we live in.

If motorways can be built requiring land being baought up then it can be done.

Mahon walk on Sundays

Success of Ballincollig park or the lough for recreation. Common ownership will be taken up

0.22.50 - 0.25.50

First impressions of Grattan Street & services over the years

26 years old when started in Grattan Street. Thought it would be a job for 6 months but stayed 35 years!

Not much happening when he started. There were Public Health Nurses and Community Welfare Officers looked after people waiting for their dole or social welfare or interim payments. Initially Community Welfare gave out beds and blankets in Grattan Street but eventually it was thought this was demeaning and gave vouchers instead.

Sean counts at least 15 different services run from Grattan Street during his time there: Public health nurses. Dental (came from City Hall), Schools Nurses (came from City Hall)

Speech therapy, Social Health Education Project (SHEP)

Psychology department, community workers, home help, podiatry, eye clinics, admin, Area medical officer

European health insurance scheme, ophthalmic department, community welfare and Public Health Nurses

At the moment [April 2019] 6 services remaining.

Speech Therapy has moved to Western Road. Psychology moved to Blackpool. Most moved to bigger premises.

Community Welfare moved to department of social welfare about 8 years ago.

Grattan Street at any one time it had about 50 staff, 50 telephone extensions. Work for about 5 years and move on. Turnover of staff. About 150 or move staff have been

Started as the youngest lemon and now is the “elder lemon”

0.25.50 - 0.27.45

Duties as the porter

Opening & closing the building. Liaise with maintenance

Male presence for security. What doesn’t come under someone else’s job description he does. Things that could never been written in a job description.

Busy in mornings, quieter in the afternoons. Doing the post.

0.27.45 - 0.30.55

Unique Atmosphere of Grattan Street

Grattan Street has so many disciplines where people interact in a “friendship kind of way”. Big enough to have heart. But not so big that it becomes impersonal. Building itself is 150 years old. Happy story attached to the building wasn’t prison or psychiatric hospital. William Penn who founded Pennsylvania allegedly stayed a night in the building.

Ghost of Grattan Street

Becky Haughton ghost is supposed to haunt the place. Supposed to see her on the stairs at dusk.

SHEP used to have meetings in Grattan Street at night. They heard a strange noise at night. Masonry had fallen onto filing cabinet in the store.

0.30.55 - 0.33.16

Grattan Street Social life and Changes

Files and vaccination records, nurses dressings kept in the stores. Grattan Street has heart, spirit and character. Happy, friendly building. Party at Christmas. 30 people. A nurse might play the violin, or poetry, or make an alcoholic punch or home baking.

When he came here first was in his 20s and the nurses were in their 30s the nurses were into home baking these days it was more shop bought.

0.33.16 - 0.34.55

Stories: Theft and Letters

Dentist in Grattan Street had an expensive “flash” car which was stolen. It had been used in robbery and recovered.

SHEP started in half the canteen

Psychologists were in Grattan Street who were sending two letters to the same address one to each of the

Once broken into and one of the doctors felt it was a reflection on the state of his room when Sean couldn’t tell whether it had been broken into or not.

0.34.55 - 0.35.20

Podiatrist Appointments

No one was turning up for podiatrist appointments. Secretary had forgot to send out appointments.

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Events in Grattan Street Medical Centre

Flooding 2013 had to move vaccines. They arrived in small car and they had to do two runs and ploughed there way through 2 and a half feet of water.

Couldn’t stand the smell of perfume. Spray their room with perfume so she wouldn’t come in.

AMO had gotten locked in by mistake by the cleaners. The fire brigade had to get her out with a ladder

European health insurance card. Someone came saying he was annoyed his name was spelled wrong. They could only put 22 characters for the surname and he had 23, his name ended in a double-Z they had dropped a single Z and he accepted their explanation.

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Unusual Incidents in Grattan Street Medical Centre

Bank robbery on North Main Street. Bad was thrown over the back gate. Sean found 2 bags of money. Guards came and replaced them with dummy bags, Roches Stores bags.

Man came into the building trying to steal things. He was confronted and left his mobile and found him through his mother’s number.

Bad weather a few years ago. All the pipes had burst when Sean turned on the boiler. Front portion of the building flooded.

Elderly man in his dressing gown and slippers outside podiatry. He had wandered down from the Mercy.

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Patients Dying in the Building

Two patients came to get their toenails done and they died. He was in his 90s and 5 years later almost to the day another man died and they cleared the building.

0.43.01 - 0.44.14

Story of child driving a car

Guy in car waiting for his dad. Spoon stuck in the ignition to start the car. Gone like a rally driver he was no more than 14.

0.44.14 - 0.44.52

Birds in Building. Arrives early

2 male blackbirds chased a female blackbird into the building. Arrives half an hour before the staff. Turned off lights and opened the big double doors.

0.44.52 - 0.47.25

Story of Heating Failure in Grattan Street & Organisational Error

Heating failed in the building. No heating for about 5 days. 5 different staff phoned 5 seniors in 5 different departments and they all authorised 6 heaters for the building so that 30 heaters arrived. Thirty separate 3 kilowatt heaters were plugged in totalling 900 kilowatts which is far more than the building could take. Awful burning smell came from the waiting area, emanating from the fuse. Sean plugged out all the heaters for safety. In response to this he thinks that: ‘People don’t understand how their decisions interact with others’.

0.47.25 - 0.49.37

Poor Maintenance of Grattan Street Building

In 34 years the building has been painted twice, three times at most. Windows are never cleaned. Rent a building in city how much would it cost and what would the maintenance for that be? You’d need to get a new car serviced. Never any more spent on the place. Plan was to install ten new windows a year. After the first ten no more were installed. Attic never insulated. Roof leaks.

0.49.37 - 0.51.00

Change to the medical services with close of Grattan Street

Services are moving out. Shame to lose a public building in the city centre. Every institution needs a city centre presence.

New primary care centre 250 staff. Like wing of CUH. It will be great when it gets going.

0.51.00 - 0.53.40

Quakers, features of the building and staff routine

Understands the Quakers gave building for use by HSE. Would like to see the building used as a city centre museum. People in wheelchairs can access the building without help. Getting a taxi for someone from the building is very fast.

Staff use local supermarket for their coffees.

Sean holds post & letters for the school during summer and Christmas.

The type of bed available from the Community Welfare was very basic back in 1984, it was like an army bed. 

0.53.40 - 0.54.12

Podiatry & Diabetes

Couldn’t tell us about nursing. Thinks the podiatrist sees more diabetics these days than previously.

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Reflection & Outlook on Life

You can “what if” your life away. Married now. 50 when he got married. His 50s are his happiest decade. Everyone needs someone to share their life with.

[interviewer states the year as 2009 but should have said 2019]

Interview Ends