This Victorian chemist shop has been carefully restored to last another 100 years
It’s a little treasure from Cork’s past.
A historic pharmacy in Cobh has been carefully restored to its original glory, offering customers and tourists a chance to enjoy a little nostalgia as they pick up their prescriptions.
Wilson’s Pharmacy was established in 1908 by the first female pharmacist in Ireland Christina (Jessop) Wilson and has passed down through the Wilson family for three generations.
The family business enlisted the help of restoration specialists Salvagem of MacCurtain Street in Cork City to refresh the original interiors of the chemist in Westbeach.
“It was a mammoth task, as we had to work after hours so the pharmacy could be retail ready Monday through to Saturday.” said Michael Wall of Salvagem.
“The shelving dates back to the late 19th century and had some amendments and reincarnations in its life. We discovered the pharmacy counter dated to the mid to late 19th century and was, in a previous life, a bar counter. Details of hops and grapes still adorned the carved mouldings.”
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The timbers were sympathetically cleaned, revived, polished, and hard waxed and the finishing was completed by hand, using as many traditional materials as possible.
“We worked on the old dispensary counter, a mahogany counter fitted from O’Connells in Cork in the early part of the 20th century. The piece with its gilded glass inserts was carefully revived to preserve its originality.”
Wall said the project was a joy to be part of: “It made our work so much easier seeing a genuine passion and interest for their history and a willingness to honour the Wilson name and family that went before them.”
