Cars, Offices, Suburbs

00 Dublin 08/08/2016 12:15 Page 1 Dublin – cars, offices, suburbs 00 Dublin 08/08/2016 12:15 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 Joseph brady, Dublin, 1950–1970: houses, flats and high rise Joseph brady, Dublin – cars, offices, suburbs: the city in the 1950s and 1960s 00 Dublin 08/08/2016 12:15 Page 3 dublin – cars, offices, suburbs the city in the 1950s and 1960s Joseph Brady fouR couRtS PReSS 00 Dublin 08/08/2016 12:15 Page 4 typeset in 11pt on 14pt 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, 2016 iSbn 978–1–84682–620-7 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 [to come]. 00 Dublin 08/08/2016 12:15 Page 5 Contents 7 acknoWledgmentS 9 SeRieS editoRS ’ intRoduction 13 the gRoWing footPRint 20 Planning foR futuRe gRoWth getting a plan – the 1957 development plan – the road network – housing – Preservation and demolition – the first development plans – Regional development – the myles Wright report – new towns – form of the new towns – comparisons with british new towns – implementation of myles Wright report 65 the uRban landScaPe – changing dynamic the ‘bowl of light’ – the civic offices – mains drainage – State projects – memory and commemoration – the State’s response – the concert hall – the commercial landscape – Skyscrapers arrive – the commercial sector – the georgian city – the urban landscape 162 the city and the motoR caR changing city structure – congestion – Parking – control of cars and pedestrians – Public transport – traffic problems – Road plans – Schaechterle report – the buchanan approach – Reaction to the Schaechterle plan – the grand canal route – myles Wright - dublin transportation Study and travers morgan – future change? 220 the SubuRban city challenges to the city centre – Retailing – What the census revealed – the centre versus the suburbs – Self-service – Supermarkets – Shopping 5 00 Dublin 08/08/2016 12:15 Page 6 contentS centres – opening hours – Rationing – car ownership – city centre redevelopment – Renewal in the city centre – the shopping experience – grafton Street – dealing with traffic – george’s Street – Westmoreland and d’olier Streets – o’connell Street – henry Street – mary and talbot Streets – a polycentric city 330 dublin foR viSitoRS Seeing dublin – dublin at the beginning of the 1950s – dublin and tourism – connectivity – Selling dublin – With the authority of dublin corporation – bord fáilte – Seven days in dublin – the end of an era of Ward lock guides – the practicalities – entertainment 406 SouRceS and bibliogRaPhy 420 liSt of illuStRationS 427 i n d e x 00 Dublin 08/08/2016 12:15 Page 7 Acknowledgments this is the seventh volume in the series the Making of Dublin City and we have now arrived at the period between 1950 and 1970. this is close to the time in which i grew up and it is interesting to revisit the period and see the extent to which my recollections are reflected in the sources. it has convinced me, if i needed convincing, that memory distorts and that memoir can only been used as seasoning on hard facts. historians in ireland used take this to an extreme and avoided studying the period in which they have lived or indeed in which their parents have lived. all that this ensured was that their connection with the time was even more tenuous than it might otherwise be and that their ability to understand the past was even more limited. having lived in the period under consideration provides a context which is not otherwise possible, as long as the author remembers not to assume that his or her experience was somehow typical of others. my sincere thanks must go to two mentors. tony Parker introduced me to retail geography and from him i learned the mysteries of consumer behaviour. it was from arnold horner that i first heard about regional planning and the implications of the myles Wright report which was being implemented as i began my undergraduate studies. my editors, Ruth mcmanus and anngret Simms, continue to do trojan work in bringing these volumes to completion. it is hard to believe that some many years have passed since the first volumes in the series appeared but it is also wonderful that the appetite to continue is still keen. my colleagues and friends in ucd have been invaluable. my thanks are due to Jim byrne, alun carr, John dunnion, bryan fanning, tom garvan, frank hayes, andreas hess, alun Jones, michael laffan, tim mooney, feargal murphy, gerald mills, niamh moore, Wolfgang marx and Ronnie moore. illustrations are a hugely important element in this series and this volume is no exception. many of them are the result of serendipitous finds on ebay and their inclusion justifies the hours that i have spent trawling through the vast array of offerings there. or at least that is what i tell myself! as a result i have a significant collection of books, pamphlets and ephemera on dublin which have proved very important. i also want to express my deep gratitude to the late frank kelly for his generosity in giving me permission to reproduce material from Dublin Opinion. this is a wonderful source of material because 7 00 Dublin 08/08/2016 12:15 Page 8 8 dublin – caRS, officeS, SubuRbS it captures so well what was bothering the chattering classes. likewise my thanks to the staff in Pearse Street library who delved into their archive to produce some wonderful materials and also provided an oasis of calm in which to work. i wish also to acknowledge the value of the crampton photo archive, now housed in ucd’s digital library. thanks also to noelle dowling, the archivist in the diocesan archives of archdiocese of dublin, for once again making me welcome and being of such great assistance. four courts Press continue to be great supporters of this series; they produce books to the highest standards and they make a vital contribution to the academic world. my deepest thanks, though, must go to anne for her continuing and unfailing encouragement and support and without whom this book or any other would not have been written. 00 Dublin 08/08/2016 12:15 Page 9 Series editors’ introduction i am delighted to welcome the latest volume in the Making of Dublin City series, which explores the everyday landscape of the 1950s and particularly the 1960s, at a time when the motor car came to dominate the city, not just affecting transportation, but also planning, shopping and commercial activities. in many ways, the increased need to accommodate the car symbolises the tension between the desire to create a modern city and the feared loss of its heritage which had become acute by the late 1960s. by the end of this period, dublin had left behind the last hangovers of wartime rationing to embrace a modern booming economy with its various pleasures and pitfalls. as the commercial sector grew, it made a dramatic mark on the landscape, as modern glass and concrete office blocks began to proliferate, particularly to the south-east of the city centre. dublin’s first ‘skyscraper’, liberty hall, along with near-neighbours hawkins house and o’connell bridge house, are now among the least loved buildings of the city. nevertheless, they have become a fundamental part of its character and fabric. this volume presents the story of how and why such a transformation was wrought on the urban landscape, dovetailing with other publications on the modernisation of the capital in the 1960s, while emphasising the geographical approach. this book shows how new pressures came to bear on the urban environment. in response, new planning mechanisms were necessary and, at last, dublin corporation produced its first formal, official plan. however, as this volume demonstrates, the process was far from uncomplicated. the work of myles Wright in planning dublin’s future development in the late 1960s, ultimately leading to the designation of the western ‘new towns’ of tallaght, lucan-clondalkin and blanchardstown, will be familiar to many readers. far less has been written about planning the city in the 1950s. in this volume, Joe brady teases out the challenging experiences of that decade, and includes a detailed examination of the 1957 draft Plan which reveals much of the official thinking about how the city should evolve. this helps to fill a void in our understanding of dublin’s planning history. Dublin in the 1960s provides a detailed exploration of the ongoing evolution of one city, but it is also clear that dublin was not isolated from wider influences. throughout the text, and particularly in discussing planning 9 00 Dublin 08/08/2016 12:15 Page 10 10 dublin – caRS, officeS, SubuRbS and development initiatives, Joe brady takes a comparative approach.

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