Dundalk 1900-1960: an Oral History Charles Flynn
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. pp NUI MAYNOOTH Ollscoi! na h£lr«nn MA Nvad National University of Ireland Maynooth Dundalk 1900-1960: an oral history by Charles Flynn Thesis for the degree of PhD Department of Modem History National University of Ireland Maynooth HEAD OF DEPARTMENT: Professor R.V. Comerford Supervisor of Research: Dr. Jacinta Prunty November 2000 Contents Acknowledgements i List of tables iü List of figures jy List of abbreviations v Chapter I Introduction 1 Chapter 11 Housing, living conditions and 51 education 1900-45 Chapter III Work and leisure, 1900-45 88 Chapter IV War and politics, 1900-45 131 Chapter V A time of change, 1945-60 175 Chapter VI Conclusion 207 Bibliography 218 Appendices 231 \r Summary The period 1900-1960 witnessed changes in the economic, industrial, political, social, technological and everyday life of Ireland of unprecedented scale and accelerated pace. From the agriculturally-based economy of the 1900s the country was embracing industrialisation by I960.1 Dundalk was the leading provincial industrial town in Ireland over that period. This thesis sets out examines the effect successive British and Irish government economic and social policies had on the population of the town. It looks at population trends, industry, work, living conditions, class structure, education, housing, family, community and interdenominational relationships and the influence of the Roman Catholic clergy on their congregation. It also examines, at urban, county and national levels, the political and military upheavals from 1916 through to World War II, when the domination of Civil War politics began to wane. Advances in technology, from horse to bicycle to motor car, broadened the scope of social interaction. Radio, cinema and later television brought outside influences into a class conscious, inward-looldng, isolated society. As a consequence of partition in 1922 Dundalk became a ‘border town’ separated but never isolated from outside/British influences. So by the 1950s cultural norms were being challenged as exposure to ‘the social forms of advanoed capitalist consumer societies [were] raising Irish expectations and creating demand for a new economic order’.2 Neither of the above phenomenon were isolated and change in one area altered the relationship of each to the next. Thus, it can,be seen that the principal aim is to comprise a ‘total history’ or ‘micro history’ of Dundalk between 1900-1960. As the thesis is primarily concerned with people, oral history methodology has been employed to integrate the recollections of those who lived through the period with conventional written sources. A secondary function of the study is an evaluation of oral evidence as a historical source. 1 Lyons, FSL Ireland since Ae famine (Glasgow, 1986), pp. 69 and 629. 2 Brown, Terence Ireland: asocial and cultural history 1922-1985 (London, 1985), p. 225. Contents Acknowledgements i List of tables iii List of figures iv List of abbreviations v Chapter I Introduction 1 Chapter II Housing, living conditions and 51 education 1900-45 Chapter III Work and leisure, 1900-45 88 Chapter IV War and politics, 1900-45 131 Chapter V A time of change, 1945-60 175 Chapter VI Conclusion 207 Bibliography 218 Appendices 231 Acknowledgements The author would like to offer sincere gratitude to everyone who helped to see this thesis through to its conclusion. A special thanks is extended to all of the interviewees who patiently gave of their time in recollecting the pleasant and sometimes not so pleasant aspects of their history so that others might benefit from the experience. Needless to say this study would have been impossible without their co-operation. This is particularly true for seven of the interviewees who did not survive to see the project completed. In return, all that the author can humbly offer is the certainty that through the oral archive created for this study their life-stories will be preserved for posterity. A list of the people interviewed can be found in the accompanying bibliography. To Tom McCaffery and Bemie Bingham who assisted the author on some of the interviews my warmest thanks. Special mention must go to Harold O’Sullivan for allowing the author access to his research papers and for his general encouragement and advice over the past seven years. The author is also grateful to Canice O’Mahony and Noel Ross who opened their files and provided guidance and direction in tracking down additional sources; Eddie Filgate, Frank Aiken and Micheál McCartan who provided material from their private collections; Ann Ward and all of the staff at the Louth County Library; Rionach Ui Ogain of the Folklore Department UCD; Linda Ballard and Tony Buckley of the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum for supplying information on their respective institutions and promptly answering any queries the author posed. Particular acknowledgement must go to the staff at the Department of Modern History, NUI Maynooth, not alone for their endorsement of this research, but for the effort and support extended by each member of staff during this student’s undergraduate years there. Professor R.V. Comerford sat on the admission panel when the author first presented himself for interview. His kindness and courtesy on that occasion have been repeated many times over in the intervening seven years, It is no exaggeration to state that on that day the author little realised the duration of the journey he was about to embark on, nor the substantial personal rewards that were to result from it. If any credit accrues from this work much of it must go to Professor Comerford’s sound judgement, faith and willingness to extend an educational opportunity to mature students. For this I am deeply grateful. Other members of staff to be singled out for mention include Dr Mary Ann Lyons who supervised the MA portion of this thesis and Dr Jacinta Prunty who took over the reins and guided the project, and the author, to its completion as a doctoral thesis. Without her assistance, encouragement and coffee when the going got tough this thesis would have remained simply an idea and no more. Her energy, enthusiasm and dedication to the project, and her pupil, deserves the highest praise. Dr Raymond Gillespie’s wit and charm soothed many a crisis; his assistance with oral evidence in early Irish society is gratefully acknowledged. Likewise the author would like to extend his thanks to the library staff at NLJ1 Maynooth, Victor Lang and the late Peter Young at the Irish Military Archives for their assistance in the research for the project. Special thanks must also go to my fellow post-graduate students for their frank comments and continued encouragement. I would also like to extend an apology to my wife Frances and my children and grandchildren for the neglect they have had to endure over the last number of years due to the pressures of research. Without their fervent support my hectic years in college would have been an impossibility. Perhaps now we can catch up on those years and enjoy a more peaceful and sedate life. Thanks must also go to my brothers, sisters and friends for their help and understanding when I was unavailable to shoulder some of my responsibilities. Lastly, I would like to thank my mother for her active assistance and sustained encouragement over the past seven years and my dear departed father who, although never academically trained, had a deep love of history which he passed on to his family. Ill List of Tables Page Table 1.1 Political affiliations of members elected to municipal 47 authorities in county Louth in 1899. Table 1.2 Population trends in neighbouring towns 1891-1901. 48 Table 1.3 Population trends in county Louth and neighbouring 49 counties 1891-1901. Table 2.1 Changes in urban population of county Louth 1901-46 56 Table 2.2 Houses built by DUDC, 1900-41 72 Table 3,1 Occupational statistics for Dundalk, 1901-61 90 Table 3 .2 Accumulated yearly salaries for Protestant and Catholic 96 staff on the GNR Table 3.3 Wages on the GNR, 1910-43 102 Table 3.4 Imports to, employment in, and Irish production of 116 footwear 1914-45 Table 3 .5 The size of firms in the Irish footwear industry, October 120 1935 (classified according to number employed) Table 4.1 Members of Dundalk Urban District Council, 1898-1918 135 Table 4.2 Simultaneous membership of Dundalk urban and Louth 140 county councils Table 5.1 Party affiliations of Dundalk members of LCC, 1945-60 178 Table 5.2 Distribution of seats on DUDC, 1942-60 179 Table 5.3 Share of party votes in county Louth for Dâil elections 179 1944-61 Table 5.4 Houses built by Dundalk UDC, 1947-58 195 Table 5.4 Improvement in sanitation, 1946-61. 196 IV List of Figures page Figure 1.1 Location of Dundalk, County Louth 44 Figure 1.2 Dundalk c. 1860 46 Figure 2.1 Some of the areas condemned as insanitary by the DUDC, 59 1900-45 Figure 2.2 Schools and churches, Dundalk 78 Figure 3.1 Location of GNR Works, Dundalk, c. 1930s 92 Figure 3.2 Part of the GN R rail network, c. 1925 94 Figure 4.1 Map of county Louth electoral districts, 1899 139 Figure 5.1 Housing schemes built in Dundalk, 1900-60 197 Abbreviations AOH Ancient Order of Flibernians ASE Amalgamated Society of Engineers CBS Christian Brothers School C1E Coras lompair Eireann (Irish railway authority) CnaP Clann na Poblachta CnaT Clan na Talmhan CPI Consumer Price Index CRV Commercial Road Vehicles DEW Dundalk Engineering Works DLS De La Salle DUDC Dundalk Urban District Council FF Fianna Fail FG Fine Gael GAA Gaelic Athietic Association GHQ General Fleadquarters GNR Great Northern Railway