Fear and Fever: Dublin's Struggle with Typhoid

About this tour

Fear and Fever: Dublin's Struggle with Typhoid is a free, self guided historical walking tour which dives into Dublin City's contagious past. Created by research and public engagement project Typhoidland, which explores the past and present of typhoid, this audio narration along with key historic visual material brings to life the Dear Dirty Dublin of circa 1900.

Roughly 100 years ago, Dublin City had a deadly reputation. Poverty, overcrowding and bad sanitation made the city a breeding ground of infectious disease, with typhoid being one of the most notorious. Join Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Byrne, Dublin Corporation's second female sanitary officer and narrator of this downloadable, self guided walking tour of disease and public health in Edwardian Dublin. Learn about the everyday tragedies connected to typhoid, the factors that enabled its spread and how Dublin City authorities tried to stop it. Finally, discover the connection between typhoid and Dublin City's famous daughter, Molly Malone.