Pat Phelan  on January 17, 2009

I have a very vague recollection of visiting a grand Aunt who had TB,I think it was Sarsfield Court

Conor O'Neill  on January 17, 2009

I always remember our Irish teacher, Peadar Barrett, telling us about the poet Seán Ó Ríordáin living in a shed in the garden of his parents house in Ballyvourney because he had TB.

jtcurragh  on January 17, 2009

My father-in-law (now deceased) was sent to TB hospital in Limerick in 50s when he was 8 or 9 on suspicion of having symptoms – climbed out the back window and went home that evening. Smart boy, he felt he was more likely to catch TB than have it already.

The fever hospital steps up out of Leitrim St in Cork were I always presumed to do with pneumonia or TB.

Conor O'Neill  on January 19, 2009

Great email from regular reader Brid:

As far as I can remember, and depending totally on memory, TB hospitals were built initially, from the early 20th century onwards. There was no cure then, prior to penicillin becoming widely available. The idea behind TB sanitoria then was to contend with the various strands , some of which did actaully respond the the strict regime imposed therein. No physical activity, total bed rest, two pints of guinness daily, healthy, organic food,(even though the term had not been invented), During the daytime, their beds were wheeled out to sunny verandas regardless of season. Penicillin was available on the continent before WW11, but mainly in Germany. French and English medicos rejected this development. It was not generally accepted that TB could be cured by antibiotics until after the war. After the war, in Ireland, TB spread disastrously through the population, at a frightening rate, caused mainly by ill health, desperately sub standard housing, diet, poverty, etc. …..also, of course, by person to person contact, coughing, spitting, etc. Dr. Noel Browne then came on the scene, especially as Min of Health1948. He undertook a major building programme of TB sanitoria, all more or less following the same template, at least one in every county. Peamount, Newcastle, Brownswood, Kilcreene, and loads more, largely funded by use of Hospital Sweepstake money. The use of antibiotics gradually led to these buildings becoming redundant, but they saved thousand upon thousands of lives.I lived through the fifties and sixties, when TB was becoming a memory, but we were regularly lined up for the mass xray public health programme for the elimination of TB. It still freaks me out when I see adults spitting on the street, or coughing without using a tissue. The schools were part of a mass education health programme, also. I can remember the films being shown when I was in primary school, explaining about hygiene practises, home nursing, diet, etc. …all done, as I learned later, at Noel Browne’s instigation.TB was regarded as a huge family shame, and not always acknowledged openly, believe it or not. Wealthy people, of course, went abroad to the Alps, from the 1900’s.I hope this information is of some benefit to your enquiry.

kcrockland  on January 31, 2009

in the late 1930s, if you lived in monaghan where would you go for tb treatment?

Marian  on May 22, 2009

I remember going into a TB hospital when I was only 2 years old. I remember it as it was very difficult to see my mother walking out the door and leaving me there. This hospital was in Dublin and was full of children. My mother told me later she was only allowed to visit me every 6 to 8 weeks and it broke her heart as I was her first child. I went from being a chatty two year old to a very silent child. I am not sure where this hospital was – perhaps goatstown but I am not sure. My father was in peamount at the time and we paid him a visit on my way to the hospital. I was lifted up to a window so that he could give me a hug. I was 3 years in this dublin hospital. I was five years old when I left and could only speak irish – my family in Co. Louth spoke english. It was a very difficult time and I must try to find out where I was and try to lay some ghost memories to rest.

Conor O'Neill  on May 22, 2009

Thanks for sharing that with us Marian, it sounds horrific. I shudder to think of my youngest daughter being in that situation.

Let’s hope nothing like that ever happens again. These flu pandemics worry me from that perspective just as much as the diseases themselves.

With this week’s terrible report, we perhaps forget that horrible consequences occurred even when the authorities were trying to “do the right thing”.

michelle  on August 23, 2009

I have a recollection of a childrens’ hospital in dublin during the 1950s – called Ballyrowan – does this sound correct or familiar to anyone.

Thank you.

Derry  on November 15, 2009

I had a grandfather who enlisted in the Dublin Fusiliers in 1916. He ended up with TB and I am led to believe was in a Hospital called Marina in Dublin. Did such a hospital exist ?

Thanks