C O C: How did kick the can work?
T J: Kick the can was a – I believe someone threw the can and whoever called out the name, he had to stand there with the can and guard it and then everybody hid and he had to go looking for them. So if somebody – if he didn’t find somebody closer that were closer and they ran and kicked the can I guess he had to do it all over again. It was something like that, I’m not sure if I remember eh perfectly.
C O C: We used to do something called like called tip the can but we used to use a lamp post as the can and again it was you had to run in and if you tipped it while they were gone again, it started all over again or something.
T J: I’m sure somebody else mentioned it was the gambling game it was eh playing feck. where you throw h’appennies.
C O C: Oh, no I don’t know that.
T J: Well what it was was that you know first of all the eh – to determine who tossed first, meaning toss was to flip them in the air, there was a jack meaning a piece of a stick or a stone and you pitched and the nearest, the nearer one to that stone got there between the two.
C O C: And what were you throwing to the stone?
T J: Again, it would be I think it was eh I think H’appennies were still around. The farthings were gone in my time but the h’appennies were still there and it would be h’appennies that you pitched towards this eh stone or whatever and then the first one who – the nearest to that, what was called a jack em had a choice to pitch and how a winner was was that you had eh flick them in the ear and it had to come up two heads. If it came up two tails or two harps you eh lost, if it was a head and a harp or a head and tails then of course it was null and void. So then the other kids would, would bet again on his heads or his tails.
C O C: Right.
T J: Because when was the tails we were betting on – and of course that created some troubles throughout that. I’m sure there’s other people that have told you what the ways; when somebody dived in and grabbed the pot. If there was money on the ground and somebody was losing he would shout ‘all away’ and I think that was the word, which encouraged everybody to jump in, maybe grab what was there at their own, at their own risk obviously because at that time there was [word unintelligible] legs, everything else you know you just kick the thing and got a bit wild. But they were the basic things you know..
BS: Would there be any stories now, connected, say with any part of Blackpool, that you’d know of? Say for example now, you know - - scary stories or ghost stories or any - -
PS: Oh yeah. Long ago we used go to the October Devotions in the convent. We used be afraid of our life going down there. There was a narrow bank - - the river and then the bank and there was a big, big wall and nobody wanted to walk in front ‘cause there was kind of - - dark corners and there was kind of nooks and crannies on the way down and then they’d be always saying ‘Oh there’s someone standing there. We’re not going down there at all.’ And then there was another one of the houses in Welsh’s Avenue, there was an old, old lady lived in there and we used to be afraid to pass her house. I’d go around Bird’s Quay, I could go up Bird’s Quay and come back into my place ‘cause Bird’s Quay goes into the quarry also, where the Harrier Club was. So instead of going up my lane, if I thought that she was around, I’d go up Bird’s Quay and come back down the other end. But eh, going to the October Devotions we used to have good laughs, but we also had scary moments, like a fella would jump out in front of ya - - he might have moved away before you, and he’d hear you coming and he’d stand in the nook and he’d - - just as you’d come up to him, he’d jump out in front of you. There was many a young fella fell into the river over it. Our parents would [be with us] sometimes. But there was many a young fella fell into the water over it. He got such a fright he’d fall off the bank into the water. But that - - this old lady that was - - she was a lovely old lady in the end, once I got older and we kinda - - we weren’t afraid of her any more. She was a lovely old lady and she wouldn’t do no harm to anybody, you know? It was just that we had - - someone would come up with a story, ‘oh, the house is haunted’ or something like that, you know.
SH: Can you remember any things done on big festivals like Halloween or Midsummer’s Eve, stuff like that, people lighting bonfires or playing games?
MM: Well, of course, the longest day of the year now is next Monday, the 21st of June. I remember up here on Broad Lane, we’ll always have Bonfire night and we’ll have our cakes and we’ll have Chester cake and we’ll have razza. A small drop of razza with loads of water inside in it, but of course we’ll be carrying trees and sticks and tyres for weeks and weeks and weeks, and no one could touch the place. Nobody would even dream of lighting the fire until bonfire night. But then again our parents were there and they were observing the whole situation as regards bonfire night.
SH: Was this out in Ballincollig?
MM: This was here.
SH: Can you remember anything about that in Ballincollig?
MM: No. No, I wouldn’t remember that much of it now, it was - - there was a bit of it in Ballincollig alright but I suppose there was a lot more of it than I would’ve realised.
SH: Around here, where did they have the fires?
MM: Up in Broad Lane. We used have it in Broad Lane at the time, but of course, there was different gangs. We had the Broad Lane gang and we had the Hattons Alley gang
SH: I’ve heard about them.
MM: Yeah, so we had some great times, you know. Actually, the very funny thing about the Broad Lane gang Steven, and the Hattons Alley gang was this; we’d walk all the ways out to the Gouldings Glen, which is now built up as a corporation estate, and there could be about eighteen of us walk out, nine aside, you know? Or you might have ten and nine or maybe - - there might be an odd one you know, on one side, one too many. And we’d go out there and we’d fight away, and then we’d come back again because we couldn’t have a fight in our own area because our parents would come out and give us a hiding, you know. We’d go out and we’d have a good fight and we’d walk back the road again together, which was great, you know, it was all over. That’s it.
SH: Liam Foley, he told me - - he came from up that way - -
MM: That’s right Liam was from Broad Lane.
SH: Slightly older generation - - back then, the Broad Lane and the Hatton’s Alley, and he was involved in that himself as a teenager. Or not even as such a teenager, I think around eleven, twelve, that sort of age.
MM: Oh, we went a bit older than that. We did yeah, oh we did, we went out to Goulding’s Glen and I tell you something - - I remember then we had the Lido cinema here at the back, you know and we used to have Batman and Robin. I remember a guy called John Hennessy, and he dressed up as Batman, and he made me dress up as Robin. And where the parish priest houses are over, didn’t he jump out the window. It was an old derelict building. Jeez, there was a poor woman going down the road, she nearly lost her life over it. Course we got hauled in over it.
SH: Who was going down the road?
MM: One of the old ladies around the corner. Around the street, and he shouting ‘here comes Batman’, you know. I tell you something, we got Batman and Robin for about two weeks, we weren’t left outside the door. We went up to school and that was it, end of story. But they were great days.
B S: I only want you to think about this now but is there any chance that you could sing that song for me, because I’d say your father is the only person that would have passed down that song to our generation and the generation coming after us who’d have never heard of it, and your father memorised that ballad about Scoura Hill. You don’t have to do it. You can do it later.
M M: Well, Scoura Hill now was the old Ballyvolane Road and when I was a child there were a couple of houses still there. Quinna now lived in one and his brother. The rest would have been ruins and they’d have been at the side of what were known as the Glen and he used to sing that on a Sunday night, Scoura Hill, and we’d have great fun singing it. If I can remember it Breda, I might get mixed up.
B S: It doesn’t matter if you get it mixed up, you know. It’ll just give a general idea.
M M: Oh the Jew and plough, a lively trade up in Scoura Hill
For all have bought but few have paid up in Scoura Hill
And when the Jew men come each day
They’re paid their debts in the quickest way
There’ll be a couple of the houses burned each day up in Scoura Hill
A policeman he came up last night up to Scoura Hill
He swore to teach us to do what’s right up in Scoura Hill
But when the officer began to roar
The officer shouted ‘Get inside doors’
He was struck on the nose with a stale back bone up in Scoura Hill
Oh the military they came up last night up to Scoura Hill
They swore -- Oh I’m wrong -- to teach us to do what’s right up in Scoura Hill
But when the officer began to -- I’m mixed up Breda. I have to go back to when the policeman came up. [Pause] I’ll sing it another time for ya.
B S: Polly Riordan and the rent
M M: Oh Polly Riordan never gets her rent up in Scoura Hill
For when she calls, the money is spent up in Scoura Hill
Polly Riordan says she won’t call again
She’ll fetch the military tonight at ten
There’ll be a couple of the houses burned down then up in Scoura Hill
Oh the military they came up last night up to Scoura Hill
They swore to teach us to do what’s right up in Scoura Hill
But when the officer began to roar --
He was struck on the nose with a stale back bone up in Scoura Hill
Interviews with Margaret Newman:
CFP00407; CFP00411; CFP00412:
M N: My husband's uncle married us because he was a priest. He was in Rome all the time and eh he came home. He was belong to the Rosminian’s order, and he came home and he married us in the Lough Church. And the only thing that we never thought of was my husband, as I told ya was a painter and he was working on houses that were on eh were being built excuse me and were suppose to be getting one of the new houses. Where were we going to stay because we had no apartment to stay. We couldn’t stay with his mother his mother had a shop and then eh my mother had no room for an extra person coming in. So my mother in law had a first cousin living in Thomas Davis Avenue in Blackpool, and he had three bedrooms and then like a kitchen you know and a hall to go out to the back garden. An eh she said wouldn’t ye go down and stay there until em until the ,the your houses that are ready like there only on the plan now like when you go out. But eh ten months after I had my oldest son. I got married on the 3rd of August and he got married eh or sorry he was born on the last day of May the following year. So and so when he saved my name by fours weeks so all my children were born in my mother's house they were all born on the Southside of the city. I wouldn’t go in didn’t go into any hospital or anything. I had a doctor and I had a nurse. I had the nurses from the lying in they used to call it in western road ‘tis closed now. Twas a maternity hospital so they shifted it all them up to the CUH.
S. H: Did you ever hear the phrase ‘‘ lime burners '' applied to the people around Millfield, the Millfield Cottages?
L. F: No.
S. H: I only mentioned that because somebody told me that, that was a name in the twenties and thirties sometimes applied half-jokingly later to people from around that area because apparently
A lot of, quite a few people from that area joined the British forces in the First World War.
L. F: Is that right?
S H: And, yeah so the story went, and then after independence people didn't want much to do
With them, you see because they were “lime burners”, and if somebody's been burning lime there's a horrible stench from them.
L. F: I don't know?
S. H: No I just thought that you know, perhaps you had heard the phrases, it's interesting to see how far these phrases carry.
L. F: The only things I can tell you about the British thing right is, that em, my own mum was nearly killed by a hand grenade in the buildings down here you know Maddens buildings down here, she had just eh, she was in the shop getting messages…
S. H: What shop would that be?
L. F: That would have been, do you know it could have been Murnane’s, just one of the shops down the street here right, it had to have been right, and she had just got in the door right, and there was this unmerciful bang right, just right where she is and it damaged the door even right ...so.
S. H: What happened?
L. F: Somebody threw a hand grenade, at one of the Brits I think, maybe one of the rebels, threw it.
S. H: Was anyone hurt?
L. F: No, no one hurt.
S. H: You, can't, she wouldn't remember the year, it would have been 1919 or 1920...
L. F: Well she was living in the buildings at that time so, she wasn't married right so she must have been only a teenager, she must have been em, probably around fourteen or fifteen, but I remember her telling me that story.
S. H: Did she also tell you something about hearing the shots that killed Thomas MacCurtain?
L. F: She did, yeah...
S. H: What could she remember about that?
L. F: The shots, remember, em, remember hearing the bangs at the time of the, and, I, I'm not absolutely sure of the story but I think at the time, she might have been in somebody else’s house near at hand when it happened, and these bangs went around the place, and nobody, people are used to hearing bangs around then as well of course right ... and, or I said there's some shots gone off right, and it's only then did it come out that they were after being shot you know. So she did hear the shots, yeah.
S. H: Did any of them have sort of Nationalist or Republican leanings, your family, or did events more or less pass them by?
L. F: They did pass them by but there was always a close, like that thing like about the bomb now going off right, something similar happened to my father because he was a barber first, right, in his young days, when the British people were ruling completely, right, and they used have these sort of eh, I don't know what you'd call them, I suppose eh, this thing that they'd come in with their guns and search every place, do you know what I mean? So they came into the Barbershop and all hand up in the air immediately right and they searched the place and they gave it a real gruelling over, I mean right down into the pots and pans and whatever it was that they had in the thing looking for bombs and he was only a young fella at the time serving his time, he told me this and em, he eh, he was scared out of his livings, because they'd put the gun in your face and that was it right, and when they went away the guys that were, the other two barbers that were there were laughing about the whole thing, and they put their hand up the chimney and pulled down this box full of soot and opened it and here's two guns inside in it, the box right...
S. H: You could have all been shot maybe yeah...
L. F: Oh, no problem, you know, and he said that was the closest brush that he ever came across.
S. H: Were they Black and Tans or Auxiliaries or Regulars or could he remember?
L. F: The guys that came in were the Black and Tans, right, and the guys that were the rebels, or what we used to call em in those days, what were they? The IRA I suppose, the Old IRA I suppose, you know...
S. H: That's very interesting.
JCK: Well now, there was a substantial population in a very, very small area. Because of small houses, up a laneway, you could have thirty, forty or fifty houses. So with big families in small houses, you had a sizeable population and taking up very little area. Now, the people that lived there -- you had a variety. The variety in the sense you had poor people, but you had people who would be considered very well off. And the reason for it was -- as an example, Corbett’s Lane. If you walked up Corbett’s Lane, the first four houses would be small houses with ordinary people, working class people, in them. When you came to the fifth house, it would be a two-story farmhouse with a big black gate, tarred gate, above it, and a big yard at the back of the house. Now, at the back of that house, the people who lived in that house had cattle and sheep. Now, you could -- you could have the same thing in another couple of houses and then a big double storey house, and you could continue up the lane at both sides with that situation. So you had poor, and people who would be considered fairly well off for the times, all living in the one lane. Now at the top of the lane, my grandmother, Polly Kelleher, lived, my father’s mother, and across the way from their house was two tripe houses, Welsh’s and Reilly’s, and around the corner, you had another tripe house, Dylan’s. So you had three tripe, drisheen places at the top of Corbett’s lane, at the junction of Corbett’s -- top of Corbett’s Lane and Kearney’s Lane. And at one -- at one o’clock in the day the hooter would go in those places and a lot of women would come out with their rubber aprons and their clogs for their dinner break, and they all lived in the laneways around. So you had plenty -- you had a lot of work going on in those places because you -- as well as tripe and drisheen houses you had slaughter-houses. And to go back to those days, we weren’t far from the countryside, so you could understand that a lot of the men that lived in the area were butchers, and predominantly the butchers came from the north side of the city rather than the south side, because of the area that they were, you had the slaughter-houses. Now, as well as that then, you had families who, their father reared them, and they earned their wages by being cattle-drovers. They’d go up -- the men’d go up Fairhill at two or three o’clock in the morning, round up cattle belonging to the farmers and hunt the cattle from there down to Midleton, or to Carrigaline, or out to Macroom for the fairs at seven o’clock. As a matter of fact, there was one fair held every Saturday morning right over off Anglesea Street, across from the Garda Station, in that little square there across from the Garda Station. Every Saturday morning you had a fair there, and there’d be sheep and pigs on sale there. And those two pubs, one -- the two of them are there but one is idle at the moment -- and eh twas -- they were farmers’ pubs.
E J: The Thirties. Now I was born in ’31 and we’ll say that was all through the thirties now. The war started in ’39 and things were very bad, we were very poor like, but we didn’t know it. I mean in relative to today now we were very poor but ya see everybody was the same, so you didn’t realise you were poor. ’Tis only if you -- by comparison, that you realise you’re poor. If everybody is the same it doesn’t make any difference ya see. But the war came then and shortages like I mean, the rationing and everything and I was only thinking there now last week something struck me. Em, I love, I’d love now a heel of bread, a crusty heel of a skull and put loads of butter on it. And I did that last week and I was there on me own and I had a grand crusty heel and I was -- and I just thought, I remember, going back now, I’m going back to the time of the war. We had only an ounce, two ounces of butter or something that’s all you’d get. And I loved butter and I hated margarine. Couldn’t oh, I couldn’t stick the taste of the margarine. My mother used to scrape the margarine on the bread the way that I wouldn’t get the taste of it but I could taste it like. And em, I remember one time she was so mad at me now giving out about the margarine she gave me me own two ounces of butter for to manage meself for the week. Ya see she cut a bit of butter and she gave it to me on the small plate and she said, ‘There now,’ she said. ‘Eat that now or you can, you can eat it all today but you’ll have nothing for the week.’ And I got the butter anyway and I was being very careful and next thing now like that I got a heel and I decided put it, what I had left on top of the heel. And I sat down and ate it and me mother totally told my father and all when he came in from work, ‘Never believe what she’s after doing. The only bit of butter she have left for the week she’s after eating it on a crust of bread.’ So that was like, but I enjoyed it and I loved it d’ya know now what I? Now I didn’t do it anymore because I found having margarine for the rest of the week wasn’t great like but I enjoyed it. But isn’t it funny how things would remind ya? Last week now that reminded me of -- you know?
DM: When I was growing up it would in latter years would always be Blackpool, Dublin Hill looking down on the city. A sense of my own place there like you know what I mean walking through it but I have to say since I’ve been involved in the Cork Foyer Project in the Assumption, sit down there, have your cup of coffee, look down over Blackpool, rained like last winter, last Christmas there when the snow, sit down enjoy inside in the glass house looking out, Jesus ‘twas a piece of heaven, you know what I mean that would be, I’d have to say that scene is good enough for me at the moment anyway.
B StL: And then when the – when the gas man -- everybody had a gas meter for their gas and you’d have to put money in, you know. Your gas would go if the money went down, like petrol in your car and you’d have to top it up, put money in and the gas would be on again. But every -- I don’t know how often it would have been, the gas man would come and you’d nearly always, your mother would nearly always get money back. But I don’t think it was the fact that my mother was getting money, I was always fascinated at how quickly the gas men could count the money. I used be foolish and they’d be putting it into the bags, and tying the bags and into their bag then, you know, and then your mother would get a receipt for how much gas was used and what money was over then, she’d get back. And he might only do half the lane. They’d be all ‘the gas man is coming, the gas man will be here’ you know and whoever -- like supposing you lived across the road -- the – the lane from me an he came to me an I maybe got four pound back, but he’d be coming to you tomorrow but you’d have no money. So like you’d – you’d get money from me until he gave you yours tomorrow, do you know. When the gas man came ‘twas like Santa, that they got money back [laugh]. Those kinds of memories really are what you’d have, do you know.
Recalls her first holy communion where one girl arrived late and had to experience the ceremony on her own.
Speaks of some childhood games and playing and picnicking by the sea.
Enjoyed school at Loreto Convent Balbriggan even though the nuns were strict. English was her favourite subject.
Talks about her desire to become a nurse and her experiences in Dublin hospitals. Describes the strict discipline and hierarchy in hospitals including the way superiors exercised power over how nurses were required to dress and commented on their physical appearance with impunity. Jane outlines the negative impacts of this culture including fear of making a mistake and the incentive to cover up of mistakes. Outlines a rare challenge to authority when nurses boycotted a graduation ceremony. Mentions the role of religion in hospitals.
Outlines her time spend nursing in USA, a romantic relationship and her emigrant experience there before returning to Ireland to pursue Public Health Nursing (PHN), which she prefers as it feels she is making a difference.
Discusses moving to Cork and her early positive impressions of Grattan Street Medical Centre and its staff. Speaks about the Grattan Street building itself, including its sense of history, graffiti on its outside walls, and its convenient location in the city centre and proximity to other services. Describes the problems with car parking and the resulting tensions with neighbours.
Jane speaks of her PHN work in Blackpool and a court case involving a child and social worker. Outlines the characteristic of a good PHN, and how much of the role is learned through experience. Regrets the turn her career has taken towards management and away from dealing with patients.
Discusses the 1999 nursing strike which lead to a new role for an immunisation specialist which she was hired for. Describes how colleagues insisted on referring to her by her previous title, refusing to acknowledge her promotion and equal status. Describes her role including overseeing Swine Flu vaccinations.
Explains the vaccine cold storage system, the sense of responsibility for ordering them and overseeing them. Tells stories of when vaccines were relocated during a flood to protect them, and when the electricity was monitored during a storm in case the power was cut to the vaccine fridges. Mentions vaccine policies, myths and technological developments.
Outlines her preferred time to move services from Grattan Street to St Mary’s Primary Healthcare Centre Gurranabraher.
]]>Jane grew up in Balbriggan and Skerries County Dublin. Describes her love of the Georgian house her family lived in and her love of old buildings and antiques before they moved to a smaller home.
Recalls her first holy communion where one girl arrived late and had to experience the ceremony on her own.
Speaks of some childhood games and playing and picnicking by the sea.
Enjoyed school at Loreto Convent Balbriggan even though the nuns were strict. English was her favourite subject.
Talks about her desire to become a nurse and her experiences in Dublin hospitals. Describes the strict discipline and hierarchy in hospitals including the way superiors exercised power over how nurses were required to dress and commented on their physical appearance with impunity. Jane outlines the negative impacts of this culture including fear of making a mistake and the incentive to cover up of mistakes. Outlines a rare challenge to authority when nurses boycotted a graduation ceremony. Mentions the role of religion in hospitals.
Outlines her time spend nursing in USA, a romantic relationship and her emigrant experience there before returning to Ireland to pursue Public Health Nursing (PHN), which she prefers as it feels she is making a difference.
Discusses moving to Cork and her early positive impressions of Grattan Street Medical Centre and its staff. Speaks about the Grattan Street building itself, including its sense of history, graffiti on its outside walls, and its convenient location in the city centre and proximity to other services. Describes the problems with car parking and the resulting tensions with neighbours.
Jane speaks of her PHN work in Blackpool and a court case involving a child and social worker. Outlines the characteristic of a good PHN, and how much of the role is learned through experience. Regrets the turn her career has taken towards management and away from dealing with patients.
Discusses the 1999 nursing strike which lead to a new role for an immunisation specialist which she was hired for. Describes how colleagues insisted on referring to her by her previous title, refusing to acknowledge her promotion and equal status. Describes her role including overseeing Swine Flu vaccinations.
Explains the vaccine cold storage system, the sense of responsibility for ordering them and overseeing them. Tells stories of when vaccines were relocated during a flood to protect them, and when the electricity was monitored during a storm in case the power was cut to the vaccine fridges. Mentions vaccine policies, myths and technological developments.
Outlines her preferred time to move services from Grattan Street to St Mary’s Primary Healthcare Centre Gurranabraher.
0.00.00 - 0.00.28 |
intro |
0.00.28 - 0.02.41 |
Growing Up in County Dublin Grew up in Balbriggan County Dublin, seaside town between Dublin and Drogheda. When growing up she was allowed to Drogheda to shop by herself but not to Dublin because Drogheda was considered a safer town. [Jane mentions that Drogheda is not considered safe at present this is an allusion to drug gang related violence in Drogheda which was in the news around the time of the interview.] Also mentions Skerries as a seaside town in County Dublin. Went to school in Loreto Convent in Balbriggan at 4 and finished when 17 and refused the nuns’ offer to stay another year. Stayed in the same school for primary and secondary school, the benefit of which is having the same people with you. Had a school reunion about a year previously. Some of her classmates she didn’t recognise, but some of their names she also didn’t recognise. Says she loves Balbriggan. |
0.02.41 - 0.04.28 |
Moving House as Child Balbriggan and Skerries were just 4 miles apart, moved to Skerries when a teenager but considers herself to be from Balbriggan. Rivalry between the two towns and Skerries is considered to be nicer. Balbriggan was more “Wavin pipes”, more industry, Skerries was more for tourists. There was a holiday camp called Red Island that people in Dublin used to go to in Skerries. It was like the holiday camp in Dirty Dancing. [3:27-3:33 Aoife O’Brien who had been interviewed for the Grattan Street Project previously walks into the room at this point.] Skerries would have considered itself snobby as it has a rugby and sailing club. Even though she moved to Skerries she still went to school in Ballbriggan which was “not the done thing”. Her brothers went to school in Skerries and are married and live in Skerries. Bracken Court Hotel in Balbriggan which has been there forever and she remembers going there for her Holy Communion breakfast. |
0.04.28 - 0.07.13 |
Holy Communion Day It was a small group making their holy communion in the convent church rather than the town church. It was special in the sense that there were few children making their communion. Kathleen Gavin was given the wrong time for the communion and turned up an hour late and “the nuns ate her” and the nuns wouldn’t admit that they gave her the wrong time and she had to bring it in the next day to prove it to them. Kathleen still tells that story and is traumatised by it. She had to make her first holy communion by herself. It was a lovely sunny day and they all stood on the steps of the convent for a photograph. Confirmation was made in town. Now people will have a meal out after a communion or confirmation but in Jane’s time that was not always the case. But her aunt who lived next door brought her to the Grand Hotel (now the Bracken Court Hotel Balbriggan) for a lunch/brunch after the ceremony. And this was “a huge deal” because it was not a common occurrence at the time. For confirmation there were a few schools being confirmed at once. And there was a line of boys and a line of girls being confirmed at the same time in the church. All the girls wanted to be kneeling beside John Conway a boy who everyone fancied. |
0.07.13 - 0.10.15 |
Games when growing up She wasn’t big into sport. Lived in a big old haunted house which her grandmother left to her mother. It was near the sea. As children they were allowed onto the rocks by themselves. She played basketball in school but was not very good at it. Didn’t like that kind of confrontation. Played by the sea, it wasn’t a beach but rocks. Picnics and playing. Her dad built a ship in the garden, with a deck and sails. She was a big fan of Enid Blyton books as a child, especially the Secret Seven and the ‘Famous Five’ books. Her dad build them a Secret Seven type hut in the garden. As children they “went on mysteries”. They followed one man in imitation of the Enid Blyton books and decided that he was a smuggler. And they followed him up to a Martello Tower where he happened to be going to urinate. They had more freedom then, allowed to leave in the morning and return in the evening. That was the norm and there wasn’t the supervision that is present today. |
0.10.15 - 0.16.01 |
Old Family House Fancourt: big Georgian house. She hated leaving the house as a child. It was very expensive to keep the house and there were also rates to pay. In addition there were fees to pay for the convent school and there was five children going to school. So they moved to a smaller house in Skerries. Fancourt: Three storey, basement and land attached to it but there was more but it was sold to try to keep the house. Discusses the house and its jointly owned green area with the neighbouring houses. Haunted house: where priests were staying which was her sister’s bedroom- she saw a ghost of a monk. Other stories of ghosts including knocking on doors and foxhunters. Regrets the old furniture was sold, including servants bells. Jane is interested in auctions. |
0.16.01- 0.17.08 |
House in Skerries Small, terrace house. Skerries nice place to live by sea. Brother lived in Brambles estate and bought new house on the skerries terrace. |
0.17.08 - 0.23.13 |
Secondary School Loved school. Regrets being too good and not being bold. Wore green uniform. No street lights and was too far from town to meet friends after school at Loreto Convent. Loved the nuns though they were tough. Grateful to her parents for her education. Loved her friends, the school and its old building. Felt safe. Describes herself as average student not into sports. Few jobs for women when they finished school. English was her favourite subject. Would love to be librarian. Prefers physical books to E-books/Kindle. Pressure on students today at exam time. Criticises the Leaving Certificate points system where students opt for high points courses rather than one they are interested in. Importance of working at something you like: “Hard work won’t kill you but work you hate will” |
0.23.13- 0.26.36 |
Nursing Training & Hunger Strike Incident Jane’s mother had been a nurse. When she finished school there was a shortage of nurses. The applied directly to hospitals for nursing. But hospitals wanted trained staff rather than students. Trained in Jervis Street Hospital where the shopping centre is in Dublin now was a general hospital. Saying about nurses and Dublin hospitals: “Vincent’s snobs, Mater ladies and Jervis Nurses” Recalls riots due to Hunger Strikes. A man pulled a gun on her on O’Connell Street. Night duty on ward on her own, 20-25 beds. 24 rioters and 1 Garda were in the same ward. |
0.26.36 - 0.31.48 |
Wanting to be a Nurse & Early Nursing Experience Played hospital as a child. Always wanted to work in nursing. Has enjoyed much of it. Would not advise anyone to do nursing. Recalls seeing a confused naked man on her first day. Worried crying about giving the wrong medication to patient. Nurse students were also staff. Loved Irish nurses in America when she was their because their training was very practical. Enjoyed her time in St Mary’s Hospital New Jersey USA. Film “FX Murder by Illusion” features the hospital she worked in. |
0.31.48 - 0.34.50 |
Hospital in USA and Differences in Immigrants’ Intention AIDS was a big issue in the hospital in USA Observes that most immigrant groups in USA wanted to stay there but Irish people wanted to return to Ireland. Impact of Irish on the world St Patrick’s Day Parade. Thinks Irish people are patriotic abroad and keen to return home. |
0.34.50 - 0.37.43 |
Discipline in Hospital Difficult senior nurses. The sense of hierarchy. Demeaning and mocking way junior nurses were spoken to was accepted. Jane was referred to as an “anencephalic”, a baby born without part of its head which will soon die. When you knelt down your uniform had to touch the ground. Ward sister demanded to see under Jane’s uniform to see she was wearing a slip under her uniform. Nurses were allowed to wear a cardigan at night but had to take it off in the morning. A nurse went to Saudi Arabia where she was murdered. Thinks they were strict about stupid things. Discipline was important. No one thought to question it. |
0.37.43 - 0.40.58 |
Story of nurses boycotting nursing event Did midwifery in Rotunda. The Scottish matron didn’t hire any of the students but hired Scottish nurses. Jane & fellow midwifery students boycotted the graduation event in protest at this. Matron spoke to them individually. A brave nurse refused to answer any questions unless her union representative. Jane’s class is the only one not to have a group photo because of the boycott. People didn’t defy superiors at the time. |
0.40.58 - 0.42.32 |
Effect of the Strict Discipline Some staff were panicky and nervous about making a mistake. May have incentivised people to cover up mistakes to avoid the repercussions instead of working something out. Matron could make personal remarks about nurses without repercussions: telling a nurse to fix her crooked teeth. |
0.42.32 - 0.44.22 |
Religion in Hospitals No MRSA in those days. Nuns ran a very clean and efficient hospital. Jervis was a Catholic hospital. Rotunda was a Protestant hospital, most of the staff were Catholic and they went to mass, then the Protestants went to service and were given tea and biscuits. |
0.44.22 - 0.50.00 |
Working as a Nurse in USA: differences to Irish system Had to sit an exam before working as a nurse in USA. VISA dependant on passing the exam. Irish nurses were not used to multiple choice exams at the time. They were also required to sit an English language examination to work as a nurse in the USA. Rented houses were arranged for the nurses. Jane had a car and dated a man in Washington at the time. An exciting time. Maximum was 2 patients to a room in USA vs larger wards in Ireland. In USA their reports were taken on a tape recorder rather than written. Patient’s doctor would still be their doctor once they went to hospital. DRG Diagnostic Related Grouping which was related to how many days insurance would be paid per patient per illness. Good life and money in USA which allowed Jane to do the Public Health course in UCD. |
0.50.00 - 0.56.20 |
Public Health Nursing Desire to come home. Discusses her relationship with a reporter/journalist in USA which ended when she returned to Ireland. Began work in Ballyfermot - highlight in public health career. Started a needle exchange for drug addiction. Dynamic and progressive area. Rough area but felt you were making a difference. Didn’t feel the same way when she moved to Cork. Public Health vs Hospital: In hospital you pass the patient to the next shift, but in Public Health you are responsible for all of your cases. Once her camera was stolen from her car when visiting a patient. |
0.56.20 - 1.00.49 |
Coming to Cork Came to Cork because husband was working there. Had to do an Irish oral exam to get the Public Health job in Cork. November 1992 got job in Grattan Street Health Centre. Got married January 1993. Staff had a lunch and cake in before her wedding, and a present even though she was only there for a month. Admires architecture of Queens University Belfast, where she could have gone to work in the 1980s. Remarks on the small decisions than influence one’s life and career. |
1.00.49 - 1.06.59 |
Impressions of Grattan Street Health Centre Work as Public Health Nurse Parking problems in Grattan Street. Met director in base Abbey Court House. “The one thing you learn in Grattan Street is how to park!” There was more space before the school [Educate Together] Grattan Street was a welcoming place. Public Health Nurse in Blackpool flats now demolished. There was a brothel in one. Fantastic people. Once left handbag behind in Blackpool. Mixed work in Ballyfermot but all child welfare in Cork- visiting houses. Discusses one case of child with broken leg where mother hadn’t done anything about it. So a social worker and Garda were needed to get the child to hospital. Jane had to go to court. The child was returned to the mother. Jane then had to still work with that mother subsequently. |
1.06.59 - 1.09.02 |
Impression of Danger in Some Areas Worked with St Vincent de Paul in Knocknaheeny. Never felt threatened. Privileged to get into flats that people would let no one else into. If she saw suspected stolen goods she and they knew that she was not interested in anything other than child welfare. |
1.09.02 - 1.11.35 |
Story of very Difficult Patient Hospitals can discharge patients but as PHN the patient can live in your area for decades. Nurses shared a rota to look after this man because the heavy workload. Digression to story about writing wrong date in calligraphy on a colleague’s wedding album. |
1.11.35 - 1.15.30 |
What makes a Good Public Health Nurse Get on with people. Make people relaxed. People need to trust you. Have to be honest. Not trying to be someone’s friend. Assessment of patient is important. Patients can become dependent on a particular PHN. Privilege to enter other people’s homes, especially when they won’t let other people into their homes eg social workers or Gardaí |
1.15.30 - 1.19.30 |
Training and Meaning from Job Training didn’t prepare her for PHN. Compares it to jumping off a chair to train for parachute jump. End of career now. Disappointed at choices she made. She is now doing more management and less hands-on. Recalls times she felt she made a difference: making a joke with a terminal patient, assisting a family who had brought their father home to die to care for him when they were overwhelmed. Doesn’t feel like she is making a difference any more. |
1.19.30 - 1.21.20 |
Regrets the Management side of the Job As she was promoted she was had to do more management which she regrets. Is considering retiring or changing career. Would love to be a librarian or work with antiques or books. Discounts it as silly at this stage of her life. Is unhappy with her current work. Her staff say she makes a difference but she is not sure. She took a career break and her staff missed her. Feels too far away from where she started. |
1.21.20 - 1.26.40 |
Promotion to Vaccine and Management Role 1999 nursing strike. Jane was on strike committee. Picketed Abbey Court House on Sulllivan’s Quay. Meeting with management to decide whether the strikers could use the toilets and canteen. Outcome of the strike was that new job for a specialist in immunisation, vaccine. Jane was stabbed by a syringe by accident one day. Overnight Jane became Assistant Director, and colleagues at same grade insisted on calling her Senior Public Health Nurse which was the previous title. Recalls an Assistant Director who was victimised in a more severe way to Jane which went to mediation. It went away but it was nasty at the time Jane says. Jane was never invited to the Assistant Director Christmas lunch for years |
1.26.40 - 1.29.26 |
Change from Clinical to Managerial Role Her role was a clinical role with no staff, vaccines following up on defaulters. Croke Park and Haddington Road agreements changed her role. Swine Flu vaccinating 1000 people a day in Neptune Stadium. School public health nurses were backbone of system. And the management system was at cross purposes. These nurses eventually came under her remit. Realised that she didn’t like management- doesn’t like taking responsibility for the mistake of others. Describes her management style as “Do it, do it, do it!” and she shouldn’t have to give a reason. |
1.29.26 - 1.33.20 |
Building in Grattan Street compared to Gurranabraher Loves the building. Old Quaker Meeting House. Graffiti of penis and scrotum that her elderly aunt was trying to figure out. Would have preferred to stay in Grattan Street. Recalls the old ventilation holes where pigeon droppings would land on your desk. Location of Grattan Street is good for the public and services. Grattan Street building requires work to maintain it. Unsure if it’s a positive move for services to Gurranabraher. Useful to be near Edel House [women’s shelter] and the Share Houses. She has 7 staff but the new office is for 4 people which she thinks is insulting. Doesn’t believe hot desking works. They are on a “room allocation review list” |
1.33.20 - 1.35.09 |
Benefits of Grattan Street Health Centre Close to town- shops and the bank. Part of the community in Grattan Street. Close to Mercy Hospital. Building has a good feel. Felt at home there. Lots of history. The only thing people don’t miss in Grattan Street is the parking. Everyone went to the Grattan Street Christmas party. |
1.35.09 - 1.40.06 |
Relationship with community in Grattan Street Animosity is with neighbours regarding parking. Story about getting kitchen done by a man from Grattan Street and being concerned about parking. School next door- issue with parking- children don’t live in the area. Tricky relationship with the school. Story of previous principal of the school trying to get clampers to clamp all the cars belonging Grattan Street staff. Other stories about the difficulties caused by parking and the uneasy relationship with the school. |
1.40.06 - 1.40.55 |
Other Stories Mentions that there are stories about affairs in Grattan Street but doesn’t want to tell them. Says Grattan Street was a good place to work. |
1.40.55 - 1.44.55 |
Vaccine Storage Fridges Temperature Control Vaccines have to be kept in fridges between 2 degrees and 8 degrees. The Cold Chain- ensures that the vaccines are at the right temperature including when transported. Vaccines have to be monitored and recorded twice a day. Some people think Jane is over the top with her care of vaccines. She doesn’t think so. Vaccines are very expensive and important when going to school. Found it hard being responsible for the vaccines even when not at work. Story that she called about the vaccines from a Gondola in Venice is not true! Hundreds and thousands of euro worth of vaccines at a time when Order through United Drug. She sees the price every time that she orders which is stressful to see the cost. |
1.44.55 - 1.44.55 |
Difficulties Moving Vaccines to Gurranbraher Dreaded moving the vaccine in Grattan Street because there’s no lift. Complications of moving vaccine fridges and the required procedure. |
1.44.55 - 1.44.55 |
Funny story about Monitoring Electricity for Vaccine Fridges during Storm Electricity was to be cut off due to replacing telegraph poles. Needed generator to keep electricity on for the vaccine fridges. Jane had asked many times for a back-up generator but never received one. Was asked by superior to protect the vaccine fridges from a storm, which had never been asked before. Generator set up in Grattan Street yard. Jane inquired how the back-up would be physically changed if the power goes out? The solution was that the toilet light was to be left on and the electricity workers would see driving past if the power failed. |
1.49.55 - 1.51.51 |
Moving Vaccines during Floods Older man told Jane that Grattan Street is in a depression and so there are never any power cuts. One problem during big floods in Grattan Street when wall near Mercy broke. Jane was doing vaccines for Swine Flu in Neptune at the time. With steps up to Grattan Street Health Centre and vaccines on top floor Jane thought they were safe. She was informed an amphibious craft was to come to move the vaccines. A Ford Fiesta arrived. They were put in St. Finbarr’s Hospital for the night. |
1.51.51 - 1.54.25 |
Future of Vaccines Takes the vaccine care very seriously so that it’s both safe and effective. In third world vaccine storage is more complicated. Tyndall Institute is developing a patch that will deliver vaccines rather than needles. Makes comparison to Star Trek. |
1.54.25 - 2.01.07 |
Vaccine Take Up and vaccination policies Is very pro-vaccine Mentions problem with social media spreading misinformation about vaccines. And the damage that can cause. Doesn’t argue with vaccines with friends and family. Following up with child who had only received some of the required vaccine, the mother brought the child to an area with a measles epidemic. Thinks more education is needed and PHNs need to be very positive about vaccines. Thinks the HPV vaccine is a no-brainer. Need to dispel vaccine myths. Approximately 1500 euro to vaccinate a child fully. Wonders whether the fact the vaccination schemes are free of charge makes some people take it for granted and not value it. Some countries have a no vaccination no school policy. Minister for Health at the time Simon Harris had been discussing a similar policy in Ireland. In some countries there are penalties for not getting vaccinations eg withdrawal of Child Benefit. In Ireland the decision is left to the individual. Some parents think that because all other children are vaccinated that their child will be safe. Story of an unvaccinated child whose mother with only let the child play with vaccinated children! “Every vaccine is a little victory” |
2.01.07 - 2.01.54 |
Opportunity for Interviewee to say anything not yet mentioned Describes the interview as better than a counselling session. Reiterates that she has gone far away from where she started out in her career and it may be time to step back. |
2.01.54 - 2.05.57 |
Hopes for Future of Grattan Street Doesn’t believe Grattan Street can be sold. There was lots of pressure on them to move, which Jane felt was unnecessary. Jane’s preference was to move in the summer when the schools are closed because there would be no need to do vaccinations, but they were forced to move during term time. Is not sure what services are remaining in Grattan Street. Mentions a piece of furniture that she would love to have from Grattan Street. Hopes the future of Grattan Street will benefit the community. Discussion about Grattan Street being opened for heritage week or an open day but it never happened. |
2.05.57 - 2.06.10 |
Outro. Interview Ends. |