Alison Morley, who was interviewed by Lorraine Cahalane in 1998, grew up on the Northside of Cork City. At the very beginning of the interview, she is asked about her earliest memory, and she recalls getting her sight for the first time at the age of…
Joe Scanlon, who grew up near the Grattan Street Medical Centre in Cork City, remembers the centre, and describes receiving the Tuberculosis vaccination at the age of eight. It was nicknamed ‘The Branding Iron’ among the children, and Joe gives a…
Pauline Matthews was born in 1950 in the Ballintemple area of Cork city. When she was an infant her mother contracted tuberculosis and was confined to the chest hospital in Mallow. Shortly afterwards Pauline too contracted the disease leading her to…
John was born in 1929 in Fair Lane, later called Wolfe Tone Street. His mother, Mary Margaret Kelleher (1901 - 1970) was married twice; her first husband died of Tuberculosis in 1924. In this excerpt, Johnny tells of his mother being widowed and…
Mary was born in West Cork near Kilmichael in 1922, her parents were small farmers. Their house and that of her grandmothers were ‘safehouses’ during the war of independence and civil war. In this excerpt, Mary describes how her parents contracted…
Liam Ó hUigín grew up on Henry Street in the vicinity of North and South Main Streets in the 1940s and 1950s. In this excerpt, Liam describes his trip to Grattan Street dispensary to get vaccinated.
Imelda Cunning, originally from Glasgow, Scotland. Trained as a podiatrist. Imelda moved to Ireland in 1999. Upon taking her position a podiatrist in Grattan Street medical centre she noticed the difference between her patients in Glasgow and those…
Michael and Theresa are husband and wife and live on Fairhill on the north side of Cork city. Michael is 87 years old and Theresa is 85 years old. In this interview they both talk about their experiences of TB in Cork during the 1940s and the 1950s.…