News
Local pharmacy steps 163 years back in time
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By Michelle Crean
One local business has stepped 163 years back in time this week – by digging out some very old antiques to put on public display.
Sewell’s Pharmacy on High St, Ireland’s oldest family run pharmaceutical business, has added a very unique look to their windows with the addition of some of the original equipment used over the last five generations.
Included is a prescription book from 1932, a Materia Medica book from 1935, the Sale of Poisons and the Practice of Pharmacy Acts book from 1938 and the British Pharmacopoeia from 1953. There’s also many older instruments including glass bottles and equipment which date further back. And it’s creating a very interesting talking point in the town.
However, the items can’t stay too long as they are so old that they could get damaged by the light over time.
The business was originally opened in New St in 1856, then moved to the corner of number 1 High St in 1885. Later, in 1968, it was extended into number 2 with the purchase of the premises next door, Ian Trant who now runs the pharmacy told the Killarney Advertiser.
“My great-great-grandfather John Sewell opened the business in 1856, then his son John took over, followed by his son Jack, then Jack’s son John, who died in a car crash in 1962. Then my mother Mary Sewell took over. She married my father John Trant, who was an engineer with Kerry County Council, based in Killarney.”
Ian, who is a trained pharmacist is married to pharmacist Sylvia Kelleher who also works in the shop.
In 1987, Ian returned home to Killarney from Dublin, where he had been living for some time and took over the running of the pharmacy.
“My grandfather Jack was also married to a pharmacist, Evelyn Hoy, whose 1922 certificate is in the window,” Ian explained.
All the old antiques are stored upstairs above the pharmacy, he added, and some are with Paul Curtis in Muckross House.
“Maybe in time I’ll donate them to the national museum or whoever is interested in them.”
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