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Dr. John Curtin: Orthopaedic Hospital, Working Life, Healthcare
John, worked at St Mary's Hospital from 1972 to 2003 when he took early retirement. Initially he worked as an orthopaedic register but from 1978 he was consultant.
He remembers thinking St. Mary’s was a very progressive hospital but the layout…
He remembers thinking St. Mary’s was a very progressive hospital but the layout…
Joesph Fahy: Masonry, Working Life, Family
Joesph starts off the interview by talking through his work history. From working for Sisks at 16 to his job as a foreman for the Cork city council. Joesph mentions some of the building projects he has been involved in, from the churched in Blackrock…
James 'Jim' McKeon: Northside, Sport, Writing,
Jim (b. 1940s) remembers that his father worked for the railways and had a tied cottage in an area known as Kilbarry Cottages, or Railway Cottages. Then the family moved to Paddock House, Fairhill. The house was at the top of Washbrew Lane, and came…
Helen Goulding: Shandon, Catholic Church, Childhood
Helen, nee Bourke was born and reared in Barrack View near the North Cathedral. Her family later moved to Leitrim Street.
She talks about her childhood. People had little but shared a lot. Boiled eggs were eaten at Easter time. Everyone was involved…
She talks about her childhood. People had little but shared a lot. Boiled eggs were eaten at Easter time. Everyone was involved…
Helen Prout: Fairhill, World War 2, Worklife,
Helen established the Cork Youth International Film, Video and Arts Festival in 1980 and has spent her life voluntarily teaching thousands of young people about film and the arts in workshops all over Cork.
In this interview, Helen recalls life in…
In this interview, Helen recalls life in…
Geraldine Healy: Children's Games, Schooldays, Western Road,
Geraldine grew up near the top of Western Road. She describes the area and comments on some changes that have taken place there over time. She talks briefly about her schooldays.
Frances McCarthy and Betty O’Mahony: The Dixies, Christy O'Mahony
Frances has always lived on the Northside. She was born in Poulraddy, went to school in North Presentation school. When she was seven she moved to Ballyvolane and went to school at St Patrick’s College, Gardiner’s Hill, and Mayfield Community School.…
Fergal Crowley: Patrick Street, Munster Arcade, Black and Tans
Fergal worked in the Munster Arcade, Patrick Street. He describes the shop. His father started work there in 1901. After the building was burned by the Black and Tans during the Burning of Cork, the British government paid to have buildings on one…
Eileen Jones: Blackpool, Shawlies, Sunbeam,
Eileen Jones (b. 1931) was born in Millfield Cottages. When she was 4 years old her family moved to Welsh’s Lane in Blackpool; members of her extended family lived nearby. Her mother was born in 1896. Her father was a builder’s labourer.
There was…
There was…
Eileen Claffey: Childhood Games, Food, Farming, Festivals, Irish Language,
Eileen grew up on a farm in Inchaclough, West Cork with one brother and four sisters. She was the third child. They had a cousin and a neighbour’s child living with them. Her parents were hardworking– her mother used to work at least 12 hours a day.…
Donnie Walsh: Gardiner's Hill, Sport, Republicanism,
Donie was born in 1948. His family lived in Stream Hill, and then in Gardiner’s Hill. He used to visit his grandmother’s house in Carrigadrohid, which had no running water nor electricity. He talks about going to the well and collecting…
Derrick Gerrety: Douglas Street, Loafers, Dublin,
Derrick was born in 1950. He grew up in St Joseph's Square, Vernon Avenue, Clontarf, in a working-class enclave within a middle-class area. He describes his childhood as idyllic. The houses in the square were rented from the Sisters of Charity;…
Denis P. Long: Working Life; Balckpool; Austrailia
Denis grew up in Blackpool. His father was a train driver.
He worked for the ESB (Electricity Supply Board) but wanted to earn better money and went to Australia in the 1950s. He tells a funny story about visiting a rocket range and meeting someone…
He worked for the ESB (Electricity Supply Board) but wanted to earn better money and went to Australia in the 1950s. He tells a funny story about visiting a rocket range and meeting someone…
Dan Jones: Stonemasons, Family Life, Poetry
Dan, who describes himself as the ‘third oldest [stone]mason left in Cork’ at the time of this interview - outlines his youth in Bandon and Cork city, family background, married life and his wife’s early death, jobs, bowl-playing, ballroom dancing,…
Creena O’Connell: Gurranabraher, Shawls, Allotments
Creena was born in 1932. Her family were one of the first to get a house in Gurranabraher, an estate built in 1934. Her father was able to get part-time employment with Cork Corporation working on the roads; he died when he was 58.
She recalls a…
She recalls a…
Pat Speight: Northside, Childhood Games, Schooldays,
Cork Storyteller Pat Speight (b. 1940s) was born near the North Cathedral, known by locals as the North Chapel. His first house in Cork he thinks was a kind of tenement, with three families living in one house; his father later bought out this…
Breda McNamara: Orthopaedic Hospital
Breda details her earliest memories. She says her family moved to Templeacre when she was 1 or 2. There were 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…
Breda Sheehan: Blackpool, Childhood Games, Slogging for Apples
Breda (born circa 1950) grew up in Spring Lane, Blackpool. It was an industrial area with Goulding’s fertilizer factory and Ellis’s quarry.
She remembers a childhood game of swinging on a rope put up an ESB electricity pole. She remembers a number…
She remembers a childhood game of swinging on a rope put up an ESB electricity pole. She remembers a number…
Breda Sheehan: Halloween Games, Childhood Games, Family
Breda (born circa 1950) grew up in Spring Lane, Blackpool. As a child she used to play in The Glen, which was then in the countryside. The neighbourhood houses were small, with an outside toilet, so that every Saturday the children were washed in a…
Billy McCarthy: Childhood, Catholicism, GAA.
Billy, a one-time Cork Folklore Project member of staff and long-term collaborator, was born in Cork in 1941 and grew up with his six siblings in Quaker Road. His mother was born in Cork and his father came from Dunmanway. Billy attended St Marie’s…