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Paul McCallister: Homosexuality, Catholic Church, Decriminalisation
Paul talks about the challenges of being gay in Ireland, coming out, family reactions and the evolution of social attitudes toward homosexuality in Catholic Ireland. He talks about the club scene in late 1990s Cork and the legalisation of…
Finbarr Kiely: Loafers Bar, Homosexuality, Decriminalisation.
Finbarr Kiely describes life in Cork for a gay man through the early ‘70s, the ‘90s up to the present. He recalls first realising that he is gay and how he blends this part of his personal life with social and professional lives. He relates stories…
"Mary": Grattan Street, Healthcare, Working Life
‘Mary’ grew up on a farm in county Limerick, part of which was rented to a mental hospital to be worked by patients. By interacting with these patients she quickly learned who you could trust and who you couldn’t.
Mentions her brother’s physical and…
Tommy Lysaght: Masonry, Horticulture,
The interview begins with how Tommy got into stonemasonry. Tommy then goes on to talk about the Blackwater Valley, restoring boundary walls, Training in Dingle in stonework.
He mentions the ‘lads’ in Dingle, The west of Ireland have a special…
He mentions the ‘lads’ in Dingle, The west of Ireland have a special…
Peter Sargent: Orthopaedic Hospital, Working Life, Healthcare
Peter moved to Cork in his early twenties when he had got a job as a typewriter mechanic. The job involved a lot of travel which did not suit him once he got married.
Peter left this job for a position at St Mary's Hospital as a theatre attendant. …
Peter left this job for a position at St Mary's Hospital as a theatre attendant. …
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…
Mary O'Sullivan: Orthopaedic Hospital, Working Life, Kitchen Staff
Mary worked in the hospital kitchen for 35 years from 1973.
She describes the type of work that the kitchen staff had to preform, from cooking in the kitchen to scrubbing the walls in the corridors.
Mary says there there would be 7 staff on per…
She describes the type of work that the kitchen staff had to preform, from cooking in the kitchen to scrubbing the walls in the corridors.
Mary says there there would be 7 staff on per…
Breda McShane: Orthopaedic Hospital
Breda grew up in Dungarvan Co. Waterford. She moved to Cork in 1975 after getting a job as a clerical worker for the Southern Health Board. Breda moved to Hollyhill in 1980. Six years later she got a transfer to the Orthopedic hospital payroll…
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…
Noel Dempsey: Orthopaedic Hospital, Working Life, Healthcare
The interview explores Noel's memories of working at the Orthopaedic Hospital, nature of work, Sisters in charge, surgeons, theatre work, night shifts, carrying corpses to the mortuary, reflections on working at the hospital, new developments. …
Alice Delay: Togher, Country Life, Childhood
Alice remembers visiting her grandmother in Togher, which was the country, and eating bread and home-made butter. Her grandfather was a farm labourer. The house had an earth floor, and a ceiling made of sewn flour bags. Someone described the house as…
Tom Jones: Shandon Street, Emigration, Childhood
Tom was born circa 1950 in a building at the bottom of Shandon Street.
He remembers watching the Cork Opera House on fire in 1955. He recalls childhood games and explains the game of Kick the Can and Pitch and Toss. He talks about the nature of…
He remembers watching the Cork Opera House on fire in 1955. He recalls childhood games and explains the game of Kick the Can and Pitch and Toss. He talks about the nature of…
Mary Sheehy: Gurranabraher, Street Traders, Bonfire Night
Mary was born in Washington Street in 1948; when she was 6 her family moved to Gurranabraher. Her mother was a trader in second-hand clothes in Kyle Street and a barmaid, her father worked for Cork Harbour Commissioners.
As a child, she had to wear…
As a child, she had to wear…
Michael O’Connell: Faranree, Politics, Childhood,
Michael was born in the 1950s and grew up in Farranferris Ave below the Church of the Redemption in Farranree. He came from a family of 13 children. He was a student at the North Mon. His mother was a great GAA fan and a sporting person who played…
Kevin Leahy: Gurranabraher, Irish Army, Docklands,
Kevin was born (circa late 1930s) in Kelly’s Lane (later Boyce’s Street). His father was in the British Army and later the forces of the Irish Free State. When Kevin was 14 he went to work as a plumber.
He remembers Blarney Street, and women who…
He remembers Blarney Street, and women who…
Margaret Newman: Greenmount, Cures, Working Life,
Margaret (born circa 1920) grew up in Greenmount, near The Lough. There were 4 in the family; her father had passed away and her mother, Kate, went out to work.
She got cocoa and buns at her primary school. She tells a story about finding out that…
She got cocoa and buns at her primary school. She tells a story about finding out that…
Denis Murphy: Blackpool, Pubs, Food,
Denis was born in Dublin Street, Blackpool. [1960s.] His family owned a pub there called the Bowler’s Rest. His parents were from West Cork. He went to school in Rathpeacon.
Millfield Cottages were built near the mill houses that existed there since…
Millfield Cottages were built near the mill houses that existed there since…
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…
Barra O’Donnabhain: Homosexuality, UCC, David Norris,
Barra was born in Shannon Co. Clare but moved to Cork in the late seventies to attend UCC at a time when the first student gay society was being set up. He had experience of gay life and the emerging gay social scene in Cork and Dublin in the early…
Tony Doherty: Rainbow Ramblers, Cork Gay Mens’ Cooperative, Cruising.
Tony Doherty was interviewed as part of the LGBT project. He describes his younger days in Cork in the 1950s and 1960s. He went to England in 1968, five years after decriminalisation in the UK. His father was a Special Branch Garda who believed in…