New book captures legacy of Galway Institution

Lifestyles – A once-great Georgian house renowned for its partying was demolished to make way for a TB Sanitorium. Norbert Sheerin captures this and a whole lot more in his new history of Merlin Park

For people of a certain generation, the mention of Merlin Park Hospital will evoke memories of TB, the dreaded disease that ravaged Ireland in the early and middle years of the 20th Century, knowing no boundaries of class or creed.  Opened in 1952 as a sanatorium under a Government scheme spearheaded by Dr Noel Browne to deal with this epidemic, Merlin Park’s design echoed the best healthcare practices of the time.

The single-storey buildings were spaced out over a large area and all had verandas. These allowed patients to take fresh air, which aided their recovery, while the well-spaced buildings helped prevent the disease from spreading.

But, if the Redemptorists and Éamon de Valera’s half-brother had not intervened, it’s highly likely that Galway’s TB sanatorium would have been based in Mervue, on a then 60-acre estate where Tara House now stands.  This fascinating detail is one of many in a new book about Merlin Park written by retired HSE worker and local historian Norbert Sheerin, which has just been published.

A Georgian Memory: A Brief History of Merlin Park House and Estate explains how Merlin Park was purchased by the State from its owners, Wyndham and Eileen Waithman, in 1948 after which the Georgian house was demolished to make way for a sanitorium.

To modern eyes, destroying such a beautiful and historically Georgian rich house seems like an act of destruction. Norbert accepts this, but says its demolition must be understood in the context of the time.

Wiping out TB was the priority and, to do that, the authorities believed that starting off with a green-field, bacteria-free site was the best way.

And so, in 1948, bulldozers moved in on the property that had originally been built in the early 1800s by a scion of the Blake family, one of the Tribes of Galway.

Norbert’s fascination with Merlin Park began many years ago and it grew during the time he spent working there working for the local health authority.

Born in Sligo, Norbert moved to Galway in 1960, when his father got a job as accounts manager with the city’s first supermarket.

He went to school in St Mary’s College, after which he worked in McDonogh’s and then as a barman in Ely House before moving to what was then the Western Health Board, now HSE West. He had various roles in the organisation, and worked in Consumer Affairs prior to his retirement.

Norbert had developed a keen interest in history and English as a student at St Mary’s – influenced by two excellent teachers, he explains – and that has remained with him all his life.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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