CABRA: AN INDICATION OF
CHANGING PRIORITIES

Chapter 8

An Chabrach: comhartha d’athrú ar thosaíochtaí

Nuair a bunaíodh Saorstát Éireann bhí géarchéim shuntasach thithíochta ar cheann de na dúshláin mhóra a bhí os a chomhair. Bhí an ghéarchéim tithíochta seo mar thoradh ar an bhfadhb sheanbhunaithe sluma, fadhb a chuaigh in olcas agus a chuir stad iomlán leis an tógáil de dheasca beagnach deich mbliana de chogadh agus cúrsaí polaitíochta míshocair.

When the Irish Free State came into existence, one of the major challenges it faced was a significant housing crisis. This housing crisis was the legacy of a longstanding slum problem exacerbated by almost a decade of war and unsettled political conditions which had brought construction to a standstill.

Tenant purchase houses at Quarry Road, Cabra, built by G. & T. Crampton for Dublin Corporation, 1930-31. The houses are very similar to those completed by Messrs. Kenny at Donnycarney in 1929, including the treatment of corner sites. Courtesy of G. & T. Crampton Archive / Joe Brady.

Cabra West houses with rare original windows.
Courtesy of Mandy O’Neill.

In August 1928, plans were underway to use compulsory purchase powers to acquire a 46-acre greenfield site at Cabra for housing, as well as lands at Marrowbone Lane (11 acres) and Donnycarney (31 acres). Roads and sewers were installed, and development began in three phases from 1929: Fassaugh Lane (641 houses), Beggsboro (684 houses) and Annamoe Road (311 houses). Cabra West (2,251 houses) followed in 1942.

The four-roomed cottages completed at Fassaugh Lane in 1931 were the last tenant purchase houses built in Dublin until the 1950s. As with Marino and Drumcondra, applications were sought for occupiers and applicants were required to have at least four children under the age of 21. The street names at Fassaugh Lane were inspired by lands of old Irish clans (e.g. Leix, Dunmanus etc). Construction at Beggsboro coincided with the 1932 Eucharistic Congress, likely influencing the choice of saint’s names here.

Unlike Fassaugh Lane, the Beggsboro houses were all for rental. The houses were also smaller than originally intended. Initially, 610 four-roomed cottages were planned, similar to the type built at Fassaugh Lane. However, the scheme eventually approved by the Minister for Local Government and Public Health was for 678 cottages, of which the majority were three-roomed. Only 84 had four rooms. The third section, at Annamoe Road, also provided rental houses.

This move to rental housing at Cabra reflected the changing national focus on the importance of slum clearance and the need for greater affordability in the 1931 and 1932 Housing Acts. Yet, otherdevelopment was also underway at Cabra in the 1930s. Dublin Corporation still made ‘reserved sites’ available to private builders, while the Irish Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Land Trust also built three distinctive culs-de-sac off Quarry Road for ex-servicemen between 1932 and 1934.