DRUMCONDRA: A REFLECTION
OF NATIONAL ISSUES

Rinneadh bruachbhaile gnóthach den talamh feirme a bhí fágtha sa cheantar seo de dheasca scéim Droim Conrach ag deireadh na 1920idí. Tharla an t-athrú tírdhreach suntasach seo arís is arís timpeall na tíre, go háirithe nuair a cuireadh scéimeanna níos mó i gcrích sna 1930idí. Ní raibh siad seo gan a gcuid dúshlán féin. Léiríonn Droim Conrach formhór de na ceisteanna a bhí os comhair an chlár náisiúnta tithíochta le linn an ré seo.

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.

Children playing in O’Daly Road pause to watch the scissors grinder at work. National Folklore Collection, University College Dublin.

The recently-completed scheme at Drumcondra, junction of Walsh Road and Hardiman Road. Courtesy of G. & T. Crampton Archive / Joe Brady.

Plans for the site at Millbourne Avenue had been drawn up in 1915 and again in 1920. Finally in September 1925 Dublin City Commissioners sought approval for a loan to begin building housing. Legal delays followed, but road and sewer construction began in summer 1926, and the houses followed in 1927. The houses were built in two sections, by G. & T. Crampton and H. & J. Martin. Just five months after the tenders were received, the houses were nearing completion.

22,000 families were living in the city’s single-room tenements, many with low and irregular incomes, but there were also higher income families who had nowhere else to go. By building houses for tenant purchase where a weekly income of £8 was needed, the Corporation was aware that it was providing for the lower middle classes rather than those in greatest need. It argued that providing these would free up dwellings for those on lower incomes. A similar argument was made to justify the thrust of national housing policy.

Unlike Marino, where all houses had five rooms, the Drumcondra houses were mostly smaller. Of the 532 houses, 215 had only three rooms - the smallest tenant purchase houses built to date. There were also 143 four-roomed and 176 five-roomed houses. The layout included culs-de-sac, setbacks and varied house groupings, giving a sense of unity without monotony. The Irish Times described ‘a brand new town on the slopes near Marlborough Hall. Fields had become streets, complete with electric light standards, tiny front-gardens and frolicking children’.*

Demand was high. Over 3,000 applications were received, including from families with up to ten children. Prices ranged from £230 for the smallest mid-terrace houses to £460 for five-roomed semi-detached houses. Additional plots in a 100 acre ‘reserved area’ were leased to private builders and public utility societies, who developed a separate residential area with more expensive private housing on the higher ground. Why this was decided is unclear, but Dáil debates suggested encouraging private building would make limited government funds go further than costly public housing.

Saorstát Civil Service Public Utility Society houses on the Drumcondra ‘reserved area’, Home Farm Road, 1928, costing £1,000. They also built houses in Milltown, on the Kimmage Road and at Harold’s Cross.
Courtesy of G. & T. Crampton Archive / Joe Brady.