Barry Donnelly is a researcher at the Cork Folklore Project. Barry sent in some photographs to accompany his questionnaire. These pictures capture the first days of the restrictions and the changes that arose from the onset of COVID-19 in the community. All words and images by Barry Donnelly.
These photographs was taken on the second, possibly third day of lockdown. Nearly the entirety of the store front is taken up with Covid-19 safety procedures and products that help alleviate symptoms. Days earlier it was generic pharmacy and beauty products. As I was taking the photograph, one of the staff came out to me asking what I was doing, both anxious and irritated. Tensions were high during the first few days as people were adjusting to a quickly changing social landscape, so anything ‘confrontational’ could set people off. I was on edge simply walking through town. The few people around seemed so purposeful and hurried. I think everyone felt an imminent threat. This is a ‘mom and pop’ shop I used to live next to. It’s the kind of place that you go to for the milk and bread and have a chat. It’s a social hub for its area. The hastily written ‘closed’ sign, the Covid figures page ripped from a newspaper and stuck up with Sellotape and the haphazard arrangement of bottles seemed so stark. It made the store seem abandoned. There was an abject quality to the entire city the first few weeks of lockdown. Hand written signs, improvised barriers, and advertisements for events that now seemed absurd: these impermanent things lingered with no one to replace them. For me, this was the start of ‘the new normal’. The usual ritual of checking keys, wallet and cigarettes now had the addition of sanitising my hands and disinfecting the door handle.
It was fascinating to watch Bus Eireann’s changing response to the social distancing measures, as it echoes everyone else’s. New measures, updates and revisions seemed constant. First, you made do with whatever you have at hand, freak out a little bit, and then work from there.
