Michael O'Sullivan and Theresa O’Sullivan
Title
Subject
Description
Date
Identifier
Source
Rights
Language
Format
Interviewee
Interviewer
Duration
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Time Summary
Start Time |
Question/General Theme |
Topics in Summary |
*1:15 |
Intro to family history |
Brother and sisters in sanatoriums for TB. Brother for 7 years, sisters for circa 2-4 years. Michael was told about 2 years ago after a chest x-ray that he probably had TB, but he was not aware of it. |
3:00 |
Cont. |
Visiting sister in sanatorium on interviewees wedding day |
4:50 |
What ages were brother and sisters when they had TB |
Brother 17, sisters in 20s, 30s. |
5:47 |
What symptoms? |
Coughing up blood, constant cough |
6:20 |
How was TB diagnosed? |
Doctor and x-ray |
6:45 |
What hospital? |
North Infirmary |
*6:50 |
What Medications? |
Bottle with pink/purple liquid, used for everything. |
7:45 |
How were they transferred to sanatorium |
Ambulance |
*8:40 |
Did you know how TB was transmitted? |
No, was told it wasn’t contagious. |
*8:50 |
Did family talk about TB? |
No too embarrassed, shame, linked to poverty |
11:00 |
Were you aware of others in community with TB? |
No there was a stigma surrounding it. |
12:09 |
Did you wear masks, or clean the house? |
No masks, but lots of scrubbing with ‘Jeyes Fluid’ |
13:10 |
What sounds would be heard in the house? |
Coughing, wheezing. |
13:30 |
Did people with TB look different? |
Ghastly, Lethargic |
14:10 |
|
Brother would go hunting ferrets, get cold and wet, maybe made him susceptible to TB. |
14:50 |
Did doctors visit house? |
Yes, didn’t wear masks |
*15:00 |
Would people have gathered in groups outside, inside? |
Yes churches, cinemas and sporting events would be packed. |
16:10 |
Did priests talk about TB at mass? |
No never mentioned it, maybe out of fear. |
16:30 |
What about the radio? |
Yes, Noel Browne TD minister for health. Brother had great respect for him and all that he did. |
17:40 |
Was visiting allowed at sanatorium? |
Yes, but only outside. Interviewees remember visiting sister on their wedding day |
18:20 |
Did your parents visit? |
Yes, regularly, by taxi. |
*18:44 |
Cont. |
When interviewees visited on their wedding day, the car broke down on the way. |
18:55 |
Cont. |
They had photographs taken on their wedding say at the sanatorium. |
19:12 |
Did you visit your brother? |
No too far away (Doneraile). |
*19:30 |
What did you see at the sanatoriums? |
People sitting about talking, in their night gowns, dressing gowns, seemed happy, some played Pitch and Putt |
* |
Cont. |
The patients were involved in craft making, dolls, leather objects. Interviewee still has leather wallet that his brother made him at Heatherside Sanatorium |
20:00 |
Did someone teach them these crafts? |
Not sure, but think someone came to sanatoriums to teach them. |
21:27 |
Cont. |
All the windows were open, lots of fresh air |
22:00 |
Do you have an idea of how many patients were at sanatorium? |
No but both genders, no children. |
22:38 |
Was there a special diet? |
No but they were well fed |
23:11 |
It must have been difficult for parents with children at sanatorium? |
Yes |
23:35 |
Did parents ever talk about it? |
No, they never talked, we were not told anything. |
*25:47 |
Do you remember the day your brother came home? |
Yes remember him coming through the door, he had put on a lot of weight, didn’t recognise him, everyone was nervous. |
27:40 |
Was he different? |
yes |
28:05 |
Did your brother go back to work? |
Yes as chef in Savoy Cinema Cork, and also worked in a confectioners in Gerald Griffin Street Cork |
30:00 |
Are there similarities with Covid 19? |
Yes, people are scared and avoiding each other |
31:24 |
|
Reminded of Polio in 1950s |
*31:50 |
Theresa what are your experiences of TB? |
Cousin Elsie was in Mount Desert Sanatorium. Theresa’s father would take her to visit Elsie, talks about country girls dying of TB at sanatorium. Elsie worked in mortuary, she was then transferred to St. Finbarr’s hospital |
34:45 |
Cont. |
Theresa’s friend brother John was in Sarsfield’s Court sanatorium for 2 years. He never worked again after he came home, was weak and had bad chest. |
35:59 |
What ages were they? |
Elsie was 18, John in his 30s. |
36:11 |
What do you mean by country girls? |
Farmers daughters, usually from Cork and Kerry |
36:40 |
Do you remember how the buildings looked? |
There were wards and the main hospital, lots of fresh air, open windows, people sitting around talking. |
37:35 |
Did they ever talk about the food? |
No they never discussed food. |
38:05 |
How long were they there? |
About 2 years |
38:16 |
Did Elsie lay out/prepare the dead of her own accord? |
Yes of her own accord. |
38:50 |
Do you remember anything about the wards, rooms? |
Some patients were in rooms of 2 beds, some in ward with 4-6 beds. |
39:20 |
Did your parents ever talk about TB? |
No never |
39:45 |
Do you see a comparison with Covid 19? (Theresa). |
There were no masks, but you did avoid people if they coughed, you got out of the way fast, but we were told it wasn’t contagious. Sensitisation was never mentioned. |
40:33 |
Did people cover their mouths when they coughed? |
No |
40:50 |
Were patients allowed to leave the sanatorium? |
No, they were confined to the grounds, a lot of the time they were dressed, in suits and ties etc. Reading books |
41:30 |
What about exercise? |
There was no talk of exercise. |
42:50 |
Cont. |
Interviewees mention a pink ointment that was often used for various illnesses, but can’t recall its name. |
43:00 |
Were there any visible markings caused by TB? |
Could be hunched up from coughing. |
*44:30 |
Did you see nurses at the sanatoriums? |
Yes, dressed in white, no masks, gloves or aprons. |
45:00 |
Was music played? |
Yes people came in to play music, but can’t remember who. |
45:56 |
Any advice for younger people today and Covid 19? |
Not to smoke. Everybody smoked in 1940’s and 50s, no warnings of danger. Woodbines cigarettes. |
47:00 |
Did they smoke in the sanatoriums? |
Outside |
*47:30 |
Cont. |
People got relief from smoking. There were very few that didn’t smoke, Theresa’s father smoked to get relief from dust inhaled in his job as a shoemaker. Michael’s father worked in a flour mill and he would get relief from the inhaled flour by smoking. |
49:00 |
Did the sisters that had TB smoke? |
No another sister did and she never contracted TB |
*49:30 |
When did you find out that you might have had TB as a child? (Michael). |
2 years ago. I was spitting up blood, had x-ray and doctor said lungs were scarred from TB. But I didn’t know I had TB. I had Pleurisy in the 1950s with the same symptoms. |
*50:20 |
Do you think people had TB and didn’t know it? |
Yes, some were afraid to go to the doctor, others didn’t wasn’t to go to doctor because they could end up in a sanatorium |
51:00 |
Cont. |
I wonder what bloated my brother in the sanatorium. He was very heavy when he came out. |
51:30 |
Maybe because he wasn’t very active there? |
|
*52:00 |
Is there anything that comes to mind before we finish the interview? |
We are lucky to have survived this long, I haven’t been sick a day in my life (Michael jokingly). We are after our Covid vaccine now and we are not doing too badly. |
53: 34 |
Thank you for doing this interview |
Thank You, we didn’t get your name (Michael jokingly). |