OVERVIEW

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.
One of the first acts of the Provisional Government1 in 1922 was to set aside £1,000,000 to encourage house building. This was an important signal that improving urban housing was a key priority. This allocation resulted in the construction of about 2,100 houses nationally, most within two years.
In the early twentieth century, a new way of thinking about the planning and layout of housing schemes became increasingly popular. The ‘garden suburb’ ideal promoted healthy, spacious homes in attractive green locations, away from the filth and ill-health of urban centres. Originating in England, the idea had spread to Ireland by 1910.
Marino is to this day one of the most celebrated social housing schemes in Ireland. Heralded as a successful example of garden suburb design, it was always intended to be a model of what Dublin Corporation (and the new national Government) could achieve. More importantly, it also provided quality, comfortable housing for many families.
While the ‘million pound’ scheme was an important first step, it was not until the mid-1920s that a sustained programme of house building got underway. By this time the general shortage of housing was so acute that a different approach was urgently required - one which included assisting private enterprise.
The Drumcondra scheme of the late 1920s transformed the remaining farmland in this locality into a bustling suburb. This dramatic landscape change was repeated around the country, especially when larger schemes were completed in the 1930s. These were not without their challenges. Drumcondra illustrates many of the issues facing the national housing programme in the period.
The outcome of the Free State’s efforts to improve housing during the 1920s was new high quality suburban housing for a limited number of people. In many areas this had transformed urban landscapes, creating ‘an asset of which the citizens may well feel proud.’2 However, by the end of the decade a change in policy was needed as a serious urban slum problem remained. Funding was required for the worst housing areas and those not able to provide decent housing for themselves.
Cabra was a largely rural, agricultural area until the 1920s. Market gardening provided food for the city and local farmers also provided rest stops for cattle travelling to the Dublin cattle market. As a relatively undeveloped area close to Dublin City, Cabra was identified as a potential suburban housing location from 1914, but the first Corporation houses were not completed until 1931. Decisions made here exemplify how changing priorities affected housing schemes across the country.
As the example of Cabra illustrates, housing policies and priorities were beginning to change by the early 1930s. New and ambitious Housing Acts in 1931 and 1932 promoted large-scale slum clearance and saw a marked increase in local authority house building nationwide.
By 1932 the Free State’s population was slightly under 3 million, of whom one-third lived in urban areas. In the first decade of its existence, state-aided schemes had supported the construction of 25,530 dwellings. Just over two-thirds of these (17,164) had been completed by private individuals or public utility societies, with the remaining one-third (8,376) built by local authorities. In spite of the crisis in slum accommodation, kick starting house construction across the country had been the key aim of this period.

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