Glenmore Dispensary
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Brigid Hunt née Brennan (1922-2015) of Glenmore Village & the 1965 Tramore Murder
While transcribing Danny Dowling’s Notebook 30 this week, there were two entries recorded where Danny twice interviewed Brigid Hunt née Brennan (1922-2015) who was born and reared in Glenmore Village. Danny after providing her full name in his notes thereafter referred to her a “Bridgie.” Danny’s interviews with “Bridgie” centred around her time in Glenmore, and what she remembered about her school day and her early work that led her to Tramore. However, it was only after attempting to locate an obituary for this Glenmore native that we learned of her direct link to a murder that shocked Tramore in 1965.
Early Years in Glenmore
Brigid Brennan was born on 23rd November 1922 [DD Notebook 25] to John Brennan (1872 -1957) and his wife Ellen Cahill (1876-1946). Her father was employed by the Kilkenny County Council on the roads and was paid fortnightly. Although he held a steady job, Bridgie stated, “the poverty we experienced was terrible as wages even on the Council were small.” John did odd jobs to supplement his income such as gardening for Bevan’s and Curran’s. Sometimes he also worked for Pat Hanrahan (1886-1957). [DD Notebook 30].
John Brennan (labourer) and Ellen Cahill of Ballycroney, Glenmore were married at Glenmore on 27 October 1903. John’ address at the time of the marriage was Cluan, Kilmaganny, he was 30 years of age and his father was John Brennan (labourer). Ellen was 24 years of age and was the daughter of Peter Cahill (labourer) [Civil Marriage Records].
Ellen Cahill was the daughter of Peter Cahill and his wife Mary Carty. She was born on 29 May 1876 and baptized the following day. Her godparents were James Norris and Bridget Dooling (Glenmore Parish Records).
Bridgie’s Siblings
According to Bridgie her parents, John Brennan and Ellen Brennan née Cahill had four daughters in their family. [1] Margaret “Maggie” [1905-1997] was the eldest. She was born in Kilmaganny [Birth Register: on 25 Feb. 1905] and married to Willie Brown of Tramore. They had family. [According to the marriage Register Margaret Brennan married William Browne on 25 September 1939]. [2] Bridgie married Sean Hunt (1928-1965) and lived in Tramore. [3] Mary Brennan never married and lived with Bridgie in Tramore. [4] Ellie Brennan died aged 11 of eczema in St. Patrick’s in Waterford, “in Dr. Michael Gibbon’s time in Glenmore. He made all the funeral arrangement and she is buried in Ballygurrim with the Cahills” [DD Notebook 30].
The 1911 Census shows that John, Ellen and their eldest were residing in Kilmaganny. John was working as an agricultural labourer and the couple had been married for 6 years and had two children born, but only one child was alive in 1911.
According to the death register Ellen Brennan (c. 1919-1934) died 4 December 1934 in the Co. Hospital of Waterford. She was aged 15 and died of “acute eczema of the whole body and nephritis” (12 days) (Death Register). It is likely that the renal problems she suffered caused the eczema.
Glenmore Girl’s School
Bridgie told Danny that when she was going to the girls’ school in Glenmore in the 1930’s there were about 90 girls attending the school. The teachers were Mrs. Heffernan, the principal, and Mrs. Alice Power who taught the infants and the younger girls. There were about 60 girls in Mrs. Power’s class and in Mrs. Heffernan’s class there were about 30 girls. There was religious instruction every day and the religion class started at 11 o’clock.
She said the country girls used to bring kindling for the fire. She remembers a lot of the boys were barefoot, and some of the girls in the summertime. She also remembered the children in the top seats of the chapel every Sunday before second Mass for prayers.
Danny also interviewed his sister, Mary Barron née Dowling (1928-2019) of Ballyconway concerning the girl’s school. Mary reported that when she was going to school in the 1930’s the principal teacher in the girl’s school was Teressa McGrath a native of Russellstown, Clonmel. Miss Russell came to Glenmore in the early years of the century. She then married Mikey Heffernan of Cappagh, Glenmore Village. Alice Power née Curran of Jamestown was the assistant teacher with Mrs. Heffernan. She was a native of Robinstown, Glenmore.
The school consisted of two rooms each with a fireplace. When the fire was lit in the wintertime some of the girls were sent out to collect kindling and firewood from the nearby ditches on a regular basis. Sanitary facilities consisted of dry toilets situated outside at the back of the school. There was a half hour of religious studies every morning [DD Notebook 30].
Jo Doyle née Mernagh (1932-2021) always stated that it was a wonder that children were not injured or killed on the hill behind the old schools. The dry toilets were located about a quarter way down the steep hill behind the old schools. Children would stop their rapid descent by grabbing the trees.
Glenmore Dispensary
Bridgie when working for JK’s used to tidy and clean the dispensary which was used every Tuesday when the doctor attended. She remembered well old Dr. Matt Coughlan and his son Dr. Val. The old man, she said was very lucky with his patients He used also pull teeth without an anaesthetic. She remembers Mollie Murphy of Moulerstown, to have teeth extracted by Dr. Matt Coughlan without any anaesthetic and Dick Walsh of Ballyfacey, to have a lump removed surgically from him without the aid of an anaesthetic [DD Notebook 30]. For a history of the Glenmore dispensary see our post of 25 April 2020.
Bridgie also recalled Danny’s father threshing the corn in the yard behind Patsy Ryan’s with Martin Walsh’s engine. She also said that one of the Dowling’s of Jamestown stood for her mother. A review of the baptismal record of Ellen Brennan née Cahill shows that Ellen’s godmother was Bridget Dooling [Dowling].
Glenmore Shops
The Brennan family dealt in Lizzie JK’s for their groceries and obtained their milk in Hanrahan’s. At that time Hanrahan’s and Fluskey’s, who had the Post Office, did the best business. Lizzie JK’s shop also did a reasonable trade. Bridgie said Mike Heffernan’s did the least business.
Brigid herself worked with Lizzie and said she was great to make a living. Her sister Minnie Heffernan lived with her. Their brother Fr. Tom used to spend his holidays with them in Glenmore. [DD Notebook 30] Lizzie JK Walsh née Heffernan (1884-1955) was a sister of Mike Heffernan. Mike Heffernan was the husband of Teressa Heffernan the schoolteacher.
Moved to Waterford
During the Emergency [WW II] about 1943 Lizzie got the running of one of the canteens in the Military Barracks in Barrack Street in Waterford. Bridgie worked with her as well as another girl from the City. The canteen was opened between 9 am and noon and from 6 pm until midnight. Lizzie rented a big house in Thomas Street, and it was there that they both lived. The canteen closed after the war ended in 1945.
After the War Lizzie ran a café in Tramore during the summertime. It closed during the winter. Bridgie also worked with her in Tramore. [DD Notebook 30]. On 25 September 1939 her sister Maggie married William Browne of Tramore.
Tramore, Co. Waterford
Around 1950 Bridgie married Sean Hunt and they had three children. Sean was employed with CIE as a goods porter at the Waterford north railway station. The couple had three children and resided in Ballinattin, Tramore in a Council House on Lodge Lane just off of Shrine Road. [People v. Dominic Griffin, Cr. Ct. Appeal 1965]
Bridgie told Danny that her mother went to visit her daughters in Tramore in June 1950 and died suddenly while visiting. Ellen Brennan née Cahill was in her 70’ and had been suffering with heart trouble. Ellen was buried in Tramore [DD Notebook 30]. Ellen actually died in 1946 (Death Register). John Brennan also died in Tramore in 1957 and is also buried in Tramore.
The Ballinattin, Tramore Murder 1965
There is no notation or mention in Danny’s Notebook 30 concerning the murder of Bridgie’s husband on 24 January 1965.
John Hunt was 37 and on that Sunday night he had been in Tramore at his local playing cards and enjoying a few pints with his sister and friends. He caught the bus and when he reached his stop he bid goodnight to a friend and started the mile walk home. Within 150 feet of his front door he was found by his wife Bridgie the following morning kneeling dead against the ditch. Bridgie had gone out a number of times during the night looking for him but never saw him. She only found him when she was taking her child to school. The Coroner reported that Sean had been stabbed 20 times.
The murder was widely reported in the local press. Johnny Garvey’s mother operated a guest house in Tramore and Johnny said the entire population of 4,000 were shocked and alarmed. He also said that ugly rumours circulated (Johnny Garvey, 10 Feb. 2024).
A fund was established “for the widow and young family of the late Sean Hunt, who was found stabbed to death in the vicinity of his home at Ballinattin, Tramore… The widow, Mrs. Brigid Hunt, is daughter of the late John and Mrs. Brennan, Glenmore Village” (Munter Express, Fri 12 Feb. 1965, p. 4).
Arrests & Conviction
Eventually, Dominic Griffin [Jr.], a 24 year old married panel beater from 12 Mall Lane in Waterford City was charged with the murder (Munster Express, Fri. 19 March 1965, p. 1). The ugly rumours that Johnny recalled may have been due to the fact that Dominic Griffin, Jr. was charged with raping a 17- year-old Tipperary girl at Ballinattin between November 1963 and April 1964 (Munster Express, Fri. 19 Feb. 1965, p. 1).
It is not clear what happened in the rape case, but Dominic Griffin was sentenced to “penal servitude” for life by Justice Teevan in the Central Criminal Court on 30 June 1965. The jury returned after 90 minutes finding Griffin guilty of the murder of Sean Hunt (Irish Independent Thur. 1 July 1965, p. 5).
The Appeal
Dominic Griffin appealed and his appeal was dismissed (Irish Press, Sat. 6 Nov. 1965, p. 13; (People v. Dominic Griffin, Docket 34-1965, delivered 5 Nov. 1965). The Appeals Court outlined the facts before dismissing the appeal. Dominic Griffin married on 1 August 1964 and he and wife lived in a seaside hut on Shrine Road, Tramore. On the night of 3 January 1965 a man shouted offensive remarks about he and his wife. Griffin was concerned because they were expecting their first child shortly. He suspected 3 men and the deceased was one of his suspects.
On 16 January he took his wife to the nursing home where she gave birth. On the 24th he drove to the hut to tidy it for the homecoming of his wife and child. He heard a man outside addressing offensive remarks to him. Arming himself with a bicycle lamp, shovel handle, and a knucleduster with an attached knife, he went out to search.
At the intersection of Shrine Road and Lodge’s Lane he heard the shuffling of feet on the Lane. He ran up the lane and claimed that he was attacked by the deceased. The jury and the court of appeal rejected that he had acted in self defence. The State argued that the physical evidence supported that the killer lay in wait. The Appeals court was not persuaded that the physical evidence matched the defendant’s version of events. Further the State effectively argued that “in considering self-defence, the jury would be entitled to take into account that the deceased was in his own laneway, where he had a right to be and that Griffin was in a laneway where he had no business.”
Widowhood
Bridgie appears to have remained a widow from 1965 to her death in 2015. If Brigid spoke to Danny concerning her husband’s murder Danny either did not record it or perhaps it was recorded in a notebook yet to be transcribed.
Please send any corrections, further information or photos to glenmore.history@gmail.com
See our post of 9 April 2020 regarding Glenmore Village in the 1930’s.
For a few interesting Tramore historical facts see the Tramore Surf School’s webpage.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh
The Glenmore Dispensary
Prior to the Poor Law Act of 1838, a dispensary doctor could be employed for the giving of medicine and advice free to the poor. However, to pay for the service local donations were collected and the grand jury, which today would be similar to a County Council, was required to match the donations with local taxes. In general, there were few dispensaries and they were unevenly spread across pre-famine Ireland. The Poor Law Act of 1838 divided Ireland into 130 administrative units called Poor Law Unions. This Act is often cited as the first real effort to put in place a public health system. Each Union had its own workhouse governed by the Poor Law Guardians who were elected by the rate payers. The existing dispensaries were now run by the Guardians and new dispensaries were established.
The dispensary system generated a substantial amount of criticism. Although the Guardians were elected they were all men and came from the upper classes. As highlighted in our last post, the Guardians “elected” the medical staff to treat the poor within their districts. The newspapers are full of reports of conflicts between Guardians over these “elections.” Other controversies arose around decisions regarding the award of contracts as well as to who was eligible for free services, and the nature of the free services.
In general, for medical treatment a ticket system was utilised. The Guardians were each issued with a ticket book. The Guardian would scrutinise the request for services and issue a ticket if he deemed it appropriate. In many cases the persons seeking medical services had to ask their landlord for a ticket. A black ticket entitled the recipient to see the doctor in the dispensary, and a red ticket entitled the recipient to have the doctor call to the recipient’s home. The red ticket was meant to convey urgency, and the doctor would be required to attend the patient as soon as able.
There are numerous complaints of favourtism and graft surrounding the dispensary ticket system. Around the turn of the 20th Century due to the ongoing abuse of the system auditors were appointed by the Government. Any Poor Law Guardian wrongfully providing “outdoor relief” or dispensary tickets to a person not eligible was made to bear the cost of the support wrongly provided. Outdoor relief was support provided without requiring the person to enter the workhouse. Due to the stigma attached to entering the workhouse outdoor relief was preferred by the poor and discouraged by the authorities. The workhouse and Poor Law Union system were not abolished until after Irish Independence in 1922. The dispensary system, for the provision of medical services, continued until 1972 when the medical card was introduced. Today, Danny Dowling related that when he was about 13 (around 1940) he was asked to take a ticket to Rosbercon to get Dr. Fitzgerald for an elderly neighbour. The Greens, of Jamestown, were in charge of the tickets, and Danny rode his bicycle to Rosbercon.
In terms of the parish of Glenmore during the Poor Law Union it was in the Kilmakevogue Dispensary District which fell under the control of the Waterford Poor Law Union. The workhouses of the Waterford Union were all located in Waterford. A description of the vastness of the Kilmakevogue Dispensary District was articulated by the Glenmore Parish Priest, Rev. Robert Phelan, in 1912 when he was seeking a fairer proportion of medical services for the poor of Slieverue and Glenmore.
“It is 18 Irish miles long, extending from a point near Harristown; five miles north of Mullinavat village to the Barrow; 13 Irish miles south of Mullinavat, and varies in breadth from Lukeswell to Kilmacow village, from the bounds of New Ross to Slieverue village and from Ballyverneen Pill to Ballinlaw Ferry. It includes the greater part of the parish of Glenmore, a part of Slieverue and Kilmacow parishes, and all Mullinavat parish, and is intersected by the Bishop’s Mountain, which forms a natural barrier dividing Glenmore parish from Mullinavat parish, thus cutting off all traffic between the parishes. The extent and general hilly formation of the district make it impossible for one doctor to work it without very great hardship to his patients and himself and at a cost for car hire almost equal to his salary. The roads are soft and bad, and after heavy rain almost dangerous to traffic…” (New Ross Standard—Friday, 13 Dec. 1912).
Today, Danny stated that he believes that there was no dispensary in Glenmore until the 1840’s. A newspaper article in 1846 supports this observation as a Glenmore district was formed when the Guardians agreed to appoint Dr. Boyd to the Kilcolum, Kilbride and Rathpatrick electoral divisions within the Kilmakevogue Dispensary district (Waterford Chronicle, 27 May 1846). On 14 October 1853, an advertisement appeared in the Waterford News seeking a medical officer for the Kilmackevogue Dispensary District. The salary was £80 a year and the area to be covered was 30,000 acres, with a population of 8,000. The election for the post was to take place at Glenmore on the 1st of November 1853. Candidates were instructed to send their qualifications to Robert Grant, Honorary Secretary, of Haggard, Glenmore.
Danny believes that the first dispensary was located in attached premises adjoining the Gaffney shop and currently the end of Danny’s house in the Village. However, Danny stated that an old man years ago told him that the dispensary was once located in an outbuilding near where the current Glenmore Pub is located. The Waterford News of 18 September 1857 provides an account of the report of Dr. Purcell, the medical inspector. When Dr. Purcell went to visit the Glenmore dispensary he found that it had been converted into a public house, by the owner and caretaker. Unfortunately, the owner is not identified. The room where the committee held their meetings was converted to a whiskey shop and the patients’ room was a drinking room. This conversion had been done with the “approbation of the managing committee.” The Guardians were requested to immediately provide other and more suitable premises for a Glenmore dispensary.
Whether the Gaffney dispensary was the first or second dispensary is not known, however, by 1874 Gaffney was reported in the newspapers as being the caretaker of the Glenmore dispensary. Mr. Duggan, the Guardian, proposed that the salary of Nicholas Gaffney, the caretaker of the Glenmore dispensary, be raised from 9d a month to 16d per month. Dr. Mackesy, of Waterford, seconded the motion and it passed with one dissenting vote.
Eventually, due to the fact that the Kilmakevogue Dispensary district was so large dispensary buildings were established at Mullinavat, Slieverue and Glenmore. The doctor established hours at the various dispensaries and did his best to respond to the needs of the poor in the district. The dispensary doctor was required to provide and pay for his own horse and car. Danny does not believe that a dispensary doctor ever lived in Glenmore. The doctors were generally based in Mullinavat, and over the years much has been written about the poor quality of the house provided to the dispensary doctor in Mullinavat. The work of the dispensary doctor has been described as a hopeless and thankless job (John Dorney, A Hopeless and Thankless Job: The Dispensary Doctor in Ireland (2017) available at https://www.theirishstory.com/2019/12/13/a-hopeless-and-thankless-job-the-dispensary-doctor-in-ireland/#.XqQyCGhKhPY. ) The next post will highlight the trials and tribulations of Dr. James Butler Norris Cane who for 38 years was the dispensary doctor of Glenmore.
In 1906 P.N. O’Gorman & Co., of New Ross, purchased the premises of Nicholas Gaffney and was prepared to take over the Glenmore dispensary and caretaking on the same terms. This was accepted by the Guardians. (Waterford Standard, 31 March 1906). In June 1908 the medical inspector issued a report concerning the poor condition of the Slieverue and Glenmore dispensaries. Repairs were immediately commenced in both dispensaries and it was reported that the Glenmore dispensary was temporarily moved to allow for the repairs.
By August there was an open and very public dispute with the newspaper labelling the meeting of the Guardians as heated. The dispute centred on whether the dispensary should remain where it had been or move. It was agreed to put in place a Glenmore Committee to review and make recommendations. Only after the committee was agreed was a letter from Robert Fluskey provided to the Guardians. Fluskey offered a detached house with sanitary accommodation and stabling for the doctor’s horse at the rent of £3, 17s., 6d.. P.N. O’Gorman was getting £13. Various Guardians expressed outrage that the letter was withheld and the arguments erupted again. (Waterford Standard, 22 August 1908). Eventually the Glenmore committee met and more battles took place until it was agreed to recommend to the Guardians that the dispensary stay in the P.N. O’Gorman building with extensive repairs and improvements being carried out at the landlord’s expense. (Waterford Standard, 19 September 1908). This dispensary was later incorporated into the end of Danny’s house.
Danny believes that the last dispensary that was built on the hill (just above the barracks) in the late 1940’s. Prior to it being built a temporary dispensary was on that spot until the new one was built. After 1974 the last dispensary was used infrequently by the public health nurse until it was eventually sold around 2000 and became a house.
The featured photo is a Google Earth view of Glenmore Village.
Further reading: Brian Donnelly, “The Historical Development of Irish Hospitals and the Importance of their Records,” in National Archives, Survey of Hospital Archives in Ireland (2016) p. 5-10 available at https://www.nationalarchives.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/PRF_106780_SURVEY_OF_HOSPITAL_BOOK_V7.pdf
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh