‘The mark of polio’: The Cork survivors still living with an epidemic from 70 years ago
Survivors of the 1950s polio epidemic in Cork, Ireland, gathered to mark the 70th anniversary of the outbreak. The event highlighted the long-term health impacts of the virus, including post-polio syndrome, and the historical trauma associated with the disease.
Why it matters
It serves as a reminder of the lasting public health legacy of infectious diseases and the ongoing needs of aging survivor populations.
Special guest speakers historian and husband of Polio Survivor Vincent McDonnell, Nicola Fogarty, CEO Polio Survivors Ireland, Polio Survivor John Dolan, Board Director Polio Survivors Ireland and Polio Survivor Philip Flaherty at the 70th anniversary of the Cork Polio Epidemic hosted by the Polio Survivors Ireland in the International Hotel, Cork. Picture: Darragh Kane
‘G ETTING polio was like getting leprosy,” says Máire Ní Chorcora. “That’s what it was like before the vaccine came out, everybody was terrified that their child would get it, it was like leprosy, because it was so contagious.”
A native of Mallow, she was 16 months old when she contracted poliomyelitis in October 1954, in an isolated case, two years before an epidemic broke out in Cork.
By 1956, there were 499 cases of polio in Ireland, resulting in 20 deaths, a quarter of which occurred in Cork.
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