On Friday 19th October, Dr Juliana Adelman gave a fascinating talk on the history of disease and public health in Dublin and its impact on the 19th century population. 

Dr Adelman looked at how “dear, dirty Dublin” coped with the diseases that stalked its streets, and how sanitation and public health played a critical role in the life expectancy and quality of life of past generations. Charting the rise of the public health inspectorate, delving into drains, privies, ashpits and other unsavoury sources of disease, the workshop introduced us to this underexplored aspect of Dublin's past, and raised questions about public health that are still relevant today.

Juliana Adelman is Assistant Professor of History at Dublin City University. She has published widely on the history of science and medicine during the nineteenth century and is currently completing a book on human-animal relationships in nineteenth-century Dublin.

For those who were not able to make it, we have made the talk available as a podcast. 

We thank Juliana Adelman for her brilliant talk on the history of 'dirty' Dublin's public health.