Romancing The Past

BY MARIE MALONEY

Marie Moloney (who died in early April 2020) was a loved figure in the Irish community and many will mourn her passing. A gifted story-teller, she shared many beautifully written and wonderful memories with Irish Scene readers. In this reprinted story, Marie reminded us of a different era in medical treatment for sick kids in her native Dublin. Many TV programs and stories can make the past seem like a wonderful place. Whenever I see pictures of Temple Bar as it is today my mind flashes back to the Temple Bar of the 1940’s with rows of washing hanging across the street. Life in inner city Dublin during my childhood was hard for many. Large families living in cramped conditions in a couple of rooms in grand old houses which were originally intended for one family. These properties were frequently badly in need of repair and lacked the facilities required for communal living. It was common to have as many as fifty human beings living in a house with one toilet and no bathroom. Infections were rampant and treatment sometimes interesting. One practice I remember was children who had whooping cough were taken to breathe in tar fumes from roadworks. News of current roadworks was shared by word of mouth and mothers pushing prams would take the sick children to the site. I have only one memory of been taken to see a doctor once during my childhood. With large families being normal and incomes low, there never was any money left after the bare essentials were provided. I was a fairly healthy child with just the usual childhood ailments. There certainly were quite a lot of those and on these occasions my mother would take me to see Mr Mushatt at his chemist shop in Francis Street. These visits were dreaded experiences for me as Mr Mushatt always recommended Senna tea. He was tall, thin and had a lot of white hair, he also had a very kindly manner. But, without fail, regardless of what my ailment was, he insisted what I needed was more Senna tea, even now the mere thought of this liquid makes me shudder. However the Mushatts were known all over Dublin for their wisdom in health issues. People came in droves from all directions to seek help. Indeed, without this establishment, many people would not have had any access to health information. The Mushatt brothers ran their business in the Liberties area in Dublin for over forty years. They made their own medicines in the back room of the premises and the poor of Dublin believed in them. Frequently the shop was full of mothers with their sick children, and the queue spilled out on to Francis Street. Often walking along the streets of the city people could be overheard discussing the benefits of Mushatt products and eagerly recommending a visit to the establishment if any mention was made of feeling unwell. The inexpensive medicines and caring attitudes offered during so many years, to the poor in Dublin, is a part of the social history of the city. There is now a website offering Mushatt’s no 9 products, it is also on facebook. [Editor: I too remember the Senna Tea Marie Ugh!!! I saw the following extract on the web: Harry Mushatt set up his “chemist” shop in Dublin’s poorest tenement district, known as the Liberties in the 1920’s. An excerpt from “Dublin Tenement Life” helps explain what the times were like back then: “You never saw doctors. You could go to a chemist and even if your throat was cut, he’d give you a cure for it. He’d put a dressing on it. Mr. Mushatt was in Francis Street - he was the masterpiece, for a bad chest, bad back… from north, south, east and west, people’d come for them. People trusted him as he concocted his own old fashioned medicines in the rear compounding room. His lotions, potions, and tablets were thought to be the purest medicines. People really believed in them, swore by them.”]