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00 Dublin1930 21/10/2014 13:26 Page 1 Dublin, 1930–1950 00 Dublin1930 21/10/2014 13:26 Page 2 the making of dublin city Series editors Joseph brady, anngret Simms and Ruth mcmanus Joseph brady and anngret Simms (eds), Dublin through space and time, c.900‒1900 Ruth mcmanus, Dublin, 1910‒1940: shaping the city and suburbs gary a. boyd, Dublin, 1745‒1922: hospitals, spectacle and vice niamh moore, Dublin docklands reinvented: the post-industrial regeneration of a European city quarter Joseph brady, Dublin, 1930–1950: the emergence of the modern city 00 Dublin1930 21/10/2014 13:26 Page 3 dublin, 1930–1950 the emeRgence of the modeRn city Joseph Brady fouR couRtS PReSS 00 Dublin1930 21/10/2014 13:26 Page 4 typeset in 11 pt on 14 pt garamond by carrigboy typesetting Services, for fouR couRtS PReSS ltd 7 malpas Street, dublin 8, ireland www.fourcourtspress.ie and in North America for fouR couRtS PReSS c/o iSbS, 920 ne 58th avenue, Suite 300, Portland, oR 97213. © Joseph brady, the editors and four courts Press, 2014 iSbn 978–1–84682–519–4 hbk iSbn 978–1–84682–520–0 pbk a catalogue record for this title is available from the british library. all rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved alone, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and publisher of this book. Printed in england by antony Rowe ltd., chippenham, Wilts. 00 Dublin1930 21/10/2014 13:26 Page 5 Contents 7 acknoWledgmentS 9 SeRieS editoRS ’ intRoduction 13 the city emeRgeS 16 a PRofile of the city the 1930s – What the census said – the people – industries and occupations – detail of population distributions – Population change – migration – housing – density of occupation – Single family dwellings – housing services and conditions – facilities – Religion – Summing up the city 69 managing a gRoWing city urban governance – Pembroke and Rathmines – local government tribunal – dublin metropolitan corporation – the case of howth – the outcome – managing growth – town planning – dún laoghaire – towards a plan? 104 civic imPRovement the golden age – Suggestions for civic improvements – a Roman catholic cathedral for dublin – mountjoy Square – the bus station – a municipal airport? – choosing collinstown – moving victoria – the end of ambition? 148 keePing the city moving bridges and the river – o’connell bridge – the transporter bridge – the changing road network – managing traffic – Parking – the problem solved? 201 SubuRban gRoWth and develoPment Social housing in the 1930s – Public utility societies – the market for rental properties – dublin corporation’s projects – cabra West – donnycarney – Review 5 00 Dublin1930 21/10/2014 13:26 Page 6 6 contentS and refocus – Re-conditioning – large-scale flat development – Rents – Social mix – housing the middle classes – Where and from whom to buy – Some examples of housing schemes – developments in settled areas – coastal living – the later 1930s – on the northside – housing and the ‘emergency’ – mount merrion – fitting out the middle-class house in the 1930s – heading towards the 1950s 296 the ShoPPing exPeRience dublin’s shopping cores – Shopping – Profile of the main shopping streets – grafton Street – South great george’s Street – o’connell Street – henry Street – other shopping streets – Westmoreland and d’olier Street – the 1940s – a findlater’s christmas – drink – Smoking – Shortages and recovery – Prices and quality – health and living – future signs 388 viSiting and enJoying the city visiting dublin – dublin from tourist guides – official guides to the city – What the visitor saw – forward looking – the commercial guides to the city – their routes – venturing further afield – connections to dublin – travelling in dublin – Where to stay – entertainment – getting a drink – how dublin was perceived – Personal accounts – What to see – culture and entertainment – Rich and poor 442 e Pi lo g u e : i n to t h e 1950s the emergence of the modern city 449 a P Pe n d i x Selected aspects of the city from the censuses of population 462 SouRceS and bibliogRaPhy 477 liSt of illuStRationS 483 i n d e x 00 Dublin1930 21/10/2014 13:26 Page 7 Acknowledgments this book is part of what has turned out to be a long journey towards an understanding of the city of dublin, the city in which i was born and in which i live. it is a fascinating place and to the extent that i can claim to know the city it is because of the formal and informal encounters, the chance occurrences, getting lost down strange streets, showing the city to visitors and really seeing a place for a first time – the myriad experiences of living in a city. there are also particular people who have been vital guides along the way. my editors, Ruth mcmanus and anngret Simms have been great friends and tough critics. they are both superb scholars with a deep knowledge of this city and this work has benefitted enormously from the long hours that they have put into improving this text. i count myself lucky to have them as colleagues, but more importantly, as friends. the faults that remain in the book are my own. my colleagues and friends in ucd have been wonderful. i have valued the many discussions we have had, their generosity in sharing information and sources but most of all, the serendipity that accompanies regular wide ranging academic discussion. i cannot count the number of times that i have been sent off in new directions or have had misconceptions corrected because of everything from listening to a learned paper to a chance remark. my deep thanks are due to John dunnion, arnold horner, gerald mills, tony Parker and niamh moore for their support and friendship. many thanks are also due to Jim byrne, alun carr, bryan fanning, tom garvin, frank hayes, andreas hess, alun Jones, michael laffan, Wolfgang marx, tim mooney, Ronnie moore and feargal murphy for many useful and fascinating conversations. illustrations are a hugely important element in this volume and the others in the series. from the outset it was our intention to try and communicate the visual aspect of the city’s geography. most come from my own extensive collection of maps, images and ephemera relating to the city but i owe a debt to Paul ferguson and i wish to acknowledge the value of the g.t. crampton photo archive, now available in ucd’s digital library. i also want to thank most sincerely frank kelly for his generosity in giving me permission to reproduce material from Dublin Opinion. this is a wonderful source of material because it provides a window into what was topical and what was amusing and annoying people. noelle dowling, the archivist in the diocesan archives of the archdiocese of dublin, went out of her way to help me find 7 00 Dublin1930 21/10/2014 13:26 Page 8 8 dublin, 1930–1950 the material i needed and i am most grateful. likewise my thanks to the staff in Pearse Street library who provided me not only with crucial material but also provided an oasis of calm in which to work. una Scott’s recent mlitt on the roman catholic archbishops of dublin and the cathedral project provided me with the stimulus to seek my own answer to an intriguing aspect of the story and i am thankful to her for some interesting discussions. i am very grateful to martin fanning, senior editor at four courts Press, for his continued help and support. lucy hogan did an excellent job in producing the index against a very tight deadline. i deeply appreciate all my friends and colleagues who encouraged me with questions as to ‘when will we see the book?’ the prodding was seriously needed! my mother was a great source of practical information because the city of which i write was her city. my deepest thanks, though, must go to anne for her unfailing encouragement and support and without whom this book would not have been written. 00 Dublin1930 21/10/2014 13:26 Page 9 Series editors’ introduction Dublin, 1930–1950: the emergence of the modern city is the fifth volume of a series of books entitled The Making of Dublin City, which sets out to examine the development of dublin from its origins to the present day. all of the books in the series share a geographical perspective, which sees the city in a holistic way, exploring the evolution of dublin’s streetscapes and attempting to understand the complex variety of actors and processes which brought about these changes. in Dublin through space and time, the first book of the series, key phases in the evolution of the city from its viking origins to the start of the twentieth century were uncovered. many of the issues raised there, from patterns of poverty and affluence, to considerations of planning, infrastructure and social provision, have been touched upon in different ways in the subsequent volumes. the discussion which followed in Dublin, 1910–1940: shaping the city and suburbs took as its emphasis the specific ways in which the city tackled its early twentieth-century housing problems, exploring how public and private housing existed within a broad spectrum which also included intermediate forms, represented by the public utility society concept, and other forms of what the state termed ‘assisted private enterprise’. this book showed how the now-familiar suburban landscape became established as the low density ‘garden suburb’ model was preferred for all classes, while the ideological roots of owner occupation also took hold. following the chronological approach of these first two books, the series turned to thematic explorations for its two subsequent volumes.