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THIS WEEK, our Voices section is dedicated to the men, women and children whose first-hand experiences contributed to the rich patchwork of testimony that chronicles the events of 1916.
This first-hand testimony, recorded in the Bureau of Military History’s collection of eyewitnesses to the Rising, comes from an unnamed member of the Sisters of Mercy who was a nurse at the Mater hospital at that time.
As well as tending to the wounded and dying delivered to the hospital, she later looked after hunger strikers of 1917, including Thomas Ashe who she saw die in hospital following his move there from Mountjoy, where he had been forcefed.
She went on to nurse thousands of Dubliners afflicted by the so-called Spanish flu epidemic of 1918.
Here she describes the abysmal conditions under which hospital staff laboured in 1916 – and details sights which would stay with her for the rest of her life:
During Easter Week, Mr Alexander Blayney (Surgeon) was on duty in the hospital. He never left it that whole week. He was operating day and night.
There was neither gas nor electricity and he had to operate by the light of candles brought from the sacristy. There was no sterilisation of instruments or dressings as there was no boiling water at hand, yet there was no case of sepsis following any of the operations.
We were instructed that patients with abdominal wounds should be brought straight to the theatre without waiting to remove any clothes except the shoes and stockings.
Tuesday was the first day that any wounded were brought. Nine of these were detained and the rest were treated and discharged. One of the badly wounded, Margaret Nolan who was a forewoman in Jacob’s factory died that day, as did also James Kelly – a schoolboy who was shot through the skull.
Another schoolboy John (Seán) Healy aged 14, a member of the Fianna whose brain was hanging all over his forehead when he was brought in, died after two days. Another man, Patrick Harris, died also on Tuesday of laceration of the brain.
[The story of John Healy is recounted in more detail in Joe Duffy's Children of the Rising. John lived with his nine siblings, mother Helena and father Christopher - a plumber - on Phibsborough Road. He had already left school to become an apprentice with his father when the Rising broke out.
John tried to join the rebels in the Jacob biscuit factory just off present-day Aungier Street but was apparently sent away by Thomas MacDonagh as he deemed him too young.
His family believes though that MacDonagh gave John a message to deliver regarding an ambush at the bridge in Phibsborough but he was shot near there, and a plaque in his name can be seen at what is now Doyle’s corner, off the North Circular Road, just a short distance from John’s family home.]
In the next excerpt in the nurse’s testimony, she hints that her and other medics’ sympathies lay with those they saw injured in the conflict, not just civilian casualties but also wounded Volunteers:
Another wounded man that was brought in on the Wednesday was Patrick McCrea. He was suffering from pellet wounds in the hand, backside and leg which he told me he got in the Post office fighting. His wounds being slight, he was sent out of the GPO with a despatch.
He then got shelter somewhere and was brought to the hospital for treatment covered up in a load of cabbage.
(The following is an excerpt from McCrea, visible in his witness statement here.)
Almost immediately a G man called McIntyre came to the hospital. He identified McCrea and took up his position on the corridor outside the ward to keep him under observation.
He did not even go out to get his meals and I was unwilling to supply him with any. One of the nuns thought it a pity not to give him something to eat and brought him to the pantry. The students made various suggestions for dealing with McIntyre, including chloroforming him.
In spite of McIntyre’s vigilance McCrea managed to get away safely on the 4th May. While McIntyre was in the pantry having his dinner, one of the sisters who had made all the necessary preparations beforehand, got the key leading from the Pathological Department to the street. She took a nurse, a very fine girl, called Máire O’Connor from Ballybunion into her confidence. The latter brought McCrea along the corridor through the mortuary to the exit door, let him out and locked the door behind him.
The whole thing did not take five minutes and the sister replaced the key in its lock without its having been missed. McCrea was afterwards an active Volunteer and I heard he was in the armoured car that tried to rescue Seán MacEoin from gaol.
(McCrea confirms the nurses’ help in his escape here):
On Wednesday the numbers of wounded increased, 21 being detained. Two of them were already dead when brought in and six died in the course of the day. Twenty-one wounded were detained for treatment on Thursday. Seven of them died within a week and another on the 14th May.
Eight of the nine wounded brought in on the Friday and who were detained for treatment, died in the hospital. Only eight were detained on the Saturday. One of these was already dead and another insane. The latter was removed to the Richmond Lunatic Asylum after a few days.
Only one wounded man was detained for treatment on Sunday.
Practically all the wounded men who were brought in were Volunteers, but very few of them were in uniform. There was at least one looter brought in. He was very drunk and was found wearing a couple of suits of clothes and was in possession of many other accessories including a toy revolver which was large enough to be taken for a real one.
Find more extraordinary eyewitness accounts like this in the Bureau of Military History archives here.
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A 20-30% drop? From what I’ve seen it’s more like 20-30% are still using public transport.
@Lurfic: it’s badly written. It says it has fallen TO between 25% and 30%.
I would read that as a 70% – 75% fall
@Lurfic: How can you keep apart on public transport…..you would want to be insane to use it but some have no choice.
@Lurfic: 400,000 people used Dublin bus a day last week, 80,000 to 120,000 now if your numbers are correct. This virus commonly spreads by touching contaminated surfaces.
There’s a famous case of a Dr who visited Hong Kong during the SARS outbreak in 2002-03. Stayed at a hotel, 11 people on the same floor got sick because they touched the same lift buttons.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/14/hong-kong-hotel-hosted-super-spreader-in-the-2003-sars-outbreak.html
“Whenever an individual makes contact with a surface, there is an exchange of microbial life, including a transfer of viruses from the individual to the surface and vice-versa.” Dietz et al., 2020
Public transport, especially Buses, are potentially a huge cause of infection because so many people touch the same surfaces each day.
I also say wrong advice given about dentists by the government today.
Ref.:
Dietz, L., Horve, P.F., Coil, D., Fretz, M. & Wymelenberg, K.V.D. 2020. 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak: A Review of the Current Literature and Built Environment (BE) Considerations to Reduce Transmission, https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202003.0197.v1
Jan. 23: Public transport on buses, trains and ferries in Wuhan are suspended from 10 a.m. local time to help prevent the spread of the virus.
Good! less amount of people in close contact on public transport the better!
@Bobby wilson: And so they should continue! Most people are continuing. And there the ones who plan on cutting down historic trees and robbing peoples front gardens
@Whoswho:
Let’s get a grip here. In the last 2 weeks more people have been killed in traffic accidents than from COVID19. If we’re talking respiratory issues, there’s a direct correlation between the number of cars in Dublin and the number of children with asthma, other respiratory issues have been on the rise for quite some time too.
Fewer cars on the roads is better for us overall, buses aren’t the enemy here.
COVID19 is serious, and avoiding public transport right now is sensible, but this isn’t a normal situation and basing our transport policy purely on the events of these months is foolish.
@: OK you hop on a bus without a mask that actually works and see how you get on……this is only starting when it gets going it will be carnage.
@Peter Hughes:
Lad, I literally just said avoiding public transport right now is sensible. I’m saying we shouldn’t base our future transport policy on a once-a-century event.
U really have some sort of anti car agenda dont u. I’ve seen u on other posts and it always the same copy and paste remark.
The last post I read ur comments was where a young lad had died in a car in Clare. U turned that into a rant about jailing drivers who are polluting Dublin. Go away will ya, people like u with their little agendas, ur transparent.
@Sam Greene:
Opinions? In the comments section? Inconceivable!
And no the comment was that people who kill people with their cars should be jailed. Not exactly a radical idea.
Probably because most of Dublin is closed down & also good to see people are keeping their distance when they can!
Surely running a full service puts transport workers health at risk ?
Less transport would mean more people in the one bus/tram/train.
Particulary those with underlying health conditions.
@Ashling Fenton: Exactly – running fewer buses and trains would be ridiculous at this stage.
in other news…. when the sun goes down….. it gets dark
@thomas patrick: not if you turn the lights on
Portlaoise to Heuston train this week has been nearly empty in mornings. Some people still managed to be less than 2 metres away, with plenty of seats available.
All public transport should have hand sanitizer on them. I saw a Dublin bus today and people on it and NO social distancing. We need to temperley suspend public transport otherwise this will spread like wildfire.
@alan scott: How exactly are people to get to clinics, hospitals and their necessary services without public transport? It could well come down to walking because people don’t have the fare, but if they have no choices, and need to buy food, or medicines, that is what public transport is for.
@Fiona Fitzgerald: well i don’t see many people using public transport do you? and what is wrong with cars, don’t say people dont have cars, (neighbor’s can help out also that is looking out for the elderly message is for) a lot of volunteer organisations for which I’m part of are standing by FOR THIS REASON!!!!. You make yourself look silly with your comment goodbye. Stay safe
@alan scott: Yeah, good idea. You can fit at least 4 people in to a car!!!!
@alan scott: and please explain to me how you’re supposed to keep 2 metres away from your neighbour/family member/friend if they give you a lift? Hop in the boot?? Cop on will ya, not everyone has the luxury of having someone that can help like that at a moments notice.
@alan scott: we all don’t have cars some of us depend on public transport..
@Mark Mulligan: there is lots of frontline and volunteer organisations the irish red cross, st John’s, order of malta are standing by to help those in need, getting groceries, prescriptions, hospital visit etc. They are standing by to help free of charge. We will have face mask, gloves, face shield, and apron so the risk is low for us to get infected or likewise for them. Its better then been on Dublin bus where every day a junkie is injecting themselves or snorting something.
@Fr. Fintan Stack: according to rte news 75% in drop on public transport. I dont mean to across as been insensitive but people are been selfish by going on public transport where they are sitting in close proximity to each other when they know the risk is to high to travel on public transport. I dont think I have to get to work or il get sacked if I dont turn up is going to work with this virus. Many people are working from home including me, this is not going to easy but my health and others is more important.
@alan scott: People working on the front line in supermarkets, hospitals, surgeries, haulage, maintenance teams, etc. can’t work from home. The 25% still need to get to work or society will completely shut down. We cant just pack them off in to car sharing for obvious reasons. Public transport isn’t ideal but its better than the alternative.
@alan scott: OK, so how many staff have they got versus how many people require their assistance?? There’s not enough to help everyone and that’s why we still need a transport system in place for those who are mobile and still able to use it! As a bus driver I’d love to know what bus or busses you get that you see masses of drug taking. Have you reported it to the driver? The guards? Or do you pretend it doesn’t happen and hopefully it’ll go away
@Mark Mulligan: you have a point not all the time but it does happen. And I have reported it to both guards and the driver. I drive also so 85% of times I have to go somewhere I drive, maybe i dont see it from the point of view of people who use public transport as a necessity but from a hygiene point of view public transport in ireland and esp Dublin leaves much to be desired. Good day
@alan scott: now ur just being silly. Those services couldnt possibly cover all the people who would need their support if buses were not running. But people should defo be sitting apart and wear gloves so as not to touch the surfaces, poles ect on buses.
@alan scott: That goes against all the best advice worldwide. Some people must use public transport.
@alan scott: You can drive not all of us can for various reasons. Some people need to travel and you are ignoring that.
No implementation of social distancing on transport yet.
@Mark: my husband is a transport worker. They’ve only been given hand sanitizer. He is asking passengers to board at the front door only and disembark by centre doors. He said there are very few using public transport, but as long as people are working the NTA will provide a service. He also has an underlying health condition, I’m worried he might bring this virus into our home.
@Nicola McClurg: A Bus Eireann driver i know told me all they were given were baby wipes no hand sanatizer no gloves.. Crazy way for frontline staff to be treated
@Nicola McClurg: the Employers have a duty of care to their staff. Ur husband should be issued with gloves and hand sanitizer. Thats disgraceful.
Buses are normally filthy but no way in hell will I be using a bus or train during this pandemic.
@Lisa: I had no alternative but to get the bus today when going food shopping, as I don’t drive and the nearest supermarket is too far away to carry several, heavy bag-loads from. A woman – with a young boy beside her! – was close to coughing up her lungs. (I guess that she missed all those media notices about Self-Isolating if you think you might be infected.) Thankfully she was at the far end of the bus and well away from me. Don’t know what I’m going to do now as regards getting in vital provisions, but there’s no way I’m using public transport anymore while this crisis goes on.
@Sean May: she should have been arrested
@Sean May: time to get a bike with panniers buddy. No better time – quiet roads now and everything.
Kill two birds with one stone – virus free transport plus get your exercise in.
Cycling increasing in cities all over right now for those reasons
@Jazz Buckler: A nice suggestion, Jazz and appreciated. Alas, I have COPD, so while I can manage the walk to the supermarket okay, by the time I got back from there on a bike with a gonkey-load of shopping, I wouldn’t be needing to wait for Corona to finish me off, lol. I should add that I live alone and am socially isolated, so the option of having someone to drive me back does not exist either. Thanks for your comment though, and I hope that you and yours will all be okay. Cheers!
@Sean May: taxi is safer in this situation and drivers are voluntary ring your local one for assistance next time
@Sean May: are stores still doing home deliveries? I dont know if theyvare , but might help u if they are.
@Tony O Neill: Arrested for coughing. Great idea.
@Jazz Buckler: I was waiting for the bike says the day post
Not everyone in Dublin drives and there are people who still have to get to work to keep things going. Public transport has been a life saver for me.
Will only be using buses for hospital appointments from now on
@David Jordan Dr Who is a fictional character. He certainly did not appear in Hong Cong.
Any chance that the (few) bus drivers that love to jam on their brakes sharply (even with less traffic about!!) would calm their driving down? This seems like a sport to a rare few drivers – to jam on and cause passengers to lurch forward forcing them to grab onto the virus-laden handrails. Please, please drive a little more smoothly.
Also agree strongly that all drivers be supplied with masks, gloves and hand sanitiser – even the few brake-jammers out there!
have your say