A great-aunt's sanctuary in St Kevin's Hospital in Cork... For Sunday Miscellany on RTÉ Radio 1, listen to The White Raffia Handbag, by Mary Hassett above.
I feel guilty whenever I think of that white raffia handbag with its gold clasp and matching chain. My great -Aunt Katie had asked a fellow patient to make it for me for my Confirmation.
I tried to look pleased but later told Mam that there was no way I was going to wear a handbag that looked like it was made of straw. The fact that my great- Aunt was a patient in St.Kevin's Psychiatric Hospital on Cork’s Lee Road, made the gift all the more significant, and my response all the more shameful...
Listen to more from Sunday Miscellany here.
