LEGACIES OF THE PAST

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.

Dickson’s Lane, off Marrowbone Lane, Dublin 1913. Similar laneways were found in towns across Ireland. Courtesy of Dublin City Library and Archive.

“THERE CAN BE NO MISTAKE THAT THE STATE OF THINGS WHICH NOW EXISTS IS HORRIBLE AND INTOLERABLE”*

State involvement in Irish housing began in the countryside, largely for political reasons. From 1883, British government subsidies enabled rural local authorities to build cottages for landless labourers. By 1921, almost 50,000 new labourers’ cottages had been built, and Ireland’s rural housing was considered to be well ahead of other European countries. By contrast, the severe housing problems faced by most Irish towns and cities received limited attention.

Dublin was notorious for its substandard housing, but poor conditions were widespread across urban Ireland. In 1913 a Housing Inquiry revealed that one third of Dublin’s population - 20,000 families - lived in one-room tenements. 14,000 houses were urgently required. This scale of building would require government intervention. Across Ireland’s towns and cities, high death rates reflected poor quality housing.

Between the Housing Inquiry and the foundation of the Irish Free State, little building took place due to wartime conditions, political uncertainty and post-war price inflation. There was now a shortage of housing for all classes. The new government was faced with a serious housing crisis.

Housing was frequently discussed in the Dáil. The need was great, and the housing problem was an issue of national morale. In a typical exchange, Walter Cole TD pointed out that: ‘...not alone in Dublin or Cork, but in the middle-sized cities and small towns… the slums are a scandal to our whole status as a people’.**