In the early 1900s, TB or consumption was the scourge of the rich and poor in Ireland, responsible for the death of at least 12,000 young people on the island in 1904.

The Irish Red Cross estimates the disease claimed the lives of more Irish people than those who died in warfare.

The cost of food was up to 50% of an average person’s income at the time and the food market was unregulated, with milk watered down with chalk, “dead” meat from animals that had died of disease and milk from cattle infected with TB.

There were a number of city dairies, where cattle could be kept in cellars or byres, but they could be unsanitary, with people milking cows with dirty hands and no way to refrigerate milk or store meat that needed to be transported.

Those most vulnerable, such as the poor in Dublin tenements, were most likely to buy cheaper food from suspect sources and risk further spread of disease.

Local authorities realised that the situation needed to be remedied and, in 1900, a veterinary surgeon called Andrew Watson was appointed to the borough of Dublin to inspect milk, meat and fish products.

This is why 35 veterinary officers are still attached to local authorities today to inspect small-scale abattoirs, food producers and oversee the control of horses.