Public Health and Housing in Limerick City, 1850-1935 A Geographical Analysis M.A. Historical Geography 2013 Submitted to Mary Immaculate College, July 2013 Student: Ruth Guiry Supervisor: Dr. Hélène Bradley Davies Table of Contents Abstract Declaration Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations List of Tables List of Figures List of Appendices Chapter One: Introduction to the study of Limerick City, 1850-1930 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Key research themes 2 1.2.1 Aim and objectives 2 1.2.2 Social and housing conditions 3 1.2.3 Housing and the emergence of the tenement system 7 1.3 Chapter outlines 8 Chapter Two: The study area and the historical evolution of the city 2.1 The study area 10 2.1.1 The spatial extent of the city 12 2.1.2 Administrative divisions within the city 12 2.1.3 Research time frame 21 2.2 The spatial evolution of the city of Limerick – A historical 21 introduction 2.2.1 Introduction 21 2.2.2 Viking town 24 2.2.3 Anglo-Norman town 24 2.2.4 16th & 17th century town 27 2.2.5 18th century town 30 2.2.6 19th century town 38 2.2.7 Economic activities in the city 39 2.3 Changing demography 42 2.3.1 Population density by parish 46 2.4 Conclusion 48 Chapter Three: Methodologies and sources 3.1 Introduction 49 3.2 Primary sources 49 3.2.1 National and local sources 50 3.2.2 Cartographic sources 50 3.3 Documentary sources 56 3.3.1 State records 56 3.3.2 The Censuses of Population 59 3.3.3 The Primary Valuation of Ireland 64 3.3.4 The Primary Valuation of Ireland House Books 68 3.3.5 Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages 71 3.4 Local sources 71 3.4.1 Introduction 71 3.4.2 Local corporation records 72 3.4.3 Public health committee diary book, 1910-1911 75 3.4.4 Annual reports on the health and sanitary conditions of the 76 city of Limerick, 1912-1930 3.4.5 Mount St Lawrence burial registers 77 3.4.6 The 1907 ‘Sale of Limerick’ catalogue 78 3.4.7 Limerick city General Valuation Rate Book (1893-1971) 79 3.4.8 Trade directories 81 3.5 Conclusion 82 Chapter Four: Literature review 4.1 Introduction 83 4.1.1 Population trends 83 4.2 Urban development and layout 86 4.3 Society and being poor 90 4.3.1 Perspectives on defining poverty 90 4.3.2 The problem of poverty 92 4.3.3 Poverty and nineteenth century society 94 4.3.4 Social segregation and marginalisation 96 4.4 Housing 98 4.4.1 Introduction 98 4.4.2 Crowded living conditions 99 4.4.3 The slums and the tenement system 100 4.4.4 Suburban migration and suburban growth 103 4.5 Health 106 4.5.1 Introduction 106 4.5.2 Health issues 107 4.5.3 Water / sanitation 109 4.5.4 Medicine, disease and doctors 112 4.5.5 Disease reports 114 4.5.6 Health and society 119 4.6 Conclusion 121 Chapter Five: Housing as an indicator of poverty in Limerick city, 1850- 1935 5.1 Housing and population in Limerick 122 5.1.1 Housing valuations in Limerick from c. 1848 122 5.1.2 Valuations of £5 and under in Limerick 126 5..1.3 St Mary’s parish 128 5.1.4 St John’s parish 131 5.1.5 St Michael’s parish 135 5.2 Limerick city Rate Valuation Books 1893-1930 139 5.2.1 St Mary’s parish, c.1900 141 5.2.2 St John’s parish, c.1900 143 5.2.3 St Michael’s parish, c.1900 145 5.3 Conclusion 147 5.4 Housing quality 147 5.4.1 Housing quality in Limerick in the mid-nineteenth century 152 5.4.2 Conclusion 154 5.5 Class of housing 155 5.6 Conclusion 159 5.7 Families by household category 160 5.7.1 Overcrowding in St Mary’s parish 165 5.7.2 Overcrowding in St John’s parish 165 5.7.3 Overcrowding in St Michael’s parish 166 5.8 Conclusion 166 5.9 Location of lodging houses 168 5.9.1 Lodging houses in Limerick c.1850 171 5.9.1.1 Lodging houses in St Mary’s parish, c.1850 172 5.9.1.2 Lodging houses in St John’s parish, c.1850 172 5.9.1.3 Lodging houses in St Michael’s parish, c.1850 172 5.9.2 Lodging houses in Limerick, c.1893-1930 175 5.9.2.1 Lodging houses in St Mary’s parish, c.1893-1930 176 5.9.2.2 Lodging houses in St John’s parish, c.1893-1930 179 5.9.2.3 Lodging houses in St Michael’s parish, c.1893-1930 181 5.10 Obnoxious activities in Limerick, 1850-1938 182 5.10.1.1 Obnoxious activities in St Mary’s parish, c.1850 187 5.10.1.2 Obnoxious activities in St John’s parish, c.1850 188 5.10.1.3 Obnoxious activities in St Michael’s parish, c.1850 189 5.10.2 Obnoxious activities in Limerick, c.1893-1938 191 5.10.2.1 Obnoxious activities in St Mary’s parish, c.1900 192 5.10.2.2 Obnoxious activities in St John’s parish, c.1900 192 5.10.2.3 Obnoxious activities in St. Michael’s parish, c.1900 192 5.11 Conclusion 193 Chapter Six: Health conditions of the poor in Limerick city 1850-1930 6.1 Introduction 194 6.1.1 Key indicators of poor health 194 6.2 Health conditions in Limerick city 196 6.3 Sanitary conditions in the city 199 6.4 Cleaning of the streets 208 6.5 Provision of a water supply 211 6.6 Obnoxious and offensive activities 214 6.7 Occurrence of disease - spatial and temporal patterns 218 6.8 Major causes of disease and death in Limerick city from 224 1800-1930 6.8.1 Disease and the 1851 census 225 6.8.2 Disease in Limerick 1900-1930 228 6.9 Conclusion 241 Chapter Seven: Solutions to the poor public health and housing conditions 7 Introduction 242 7.1 Solutions 242 7.1.1 The Limerick workhouse, 1841 243 7.1.2 St John’s Fever and Lock Hospital 247 7.1.3 Barrington’s Hospital 248 7.1.4 Bedford Row Lying-In Hospital 249 7.2 Conclusion 252 7.3 Public/Social housing and slum clearance 252 7.3.1 Housing acts 253 7.4 Providing public housing in Limerick 255 7.4.1 Examples of effective clearances 266 7.5 Conclusion 271 Chapter Eight: Discussion 8 Introduction 272 8.1 Location of houses associated with poverty 272 8.2 Temporal patterns associated with poverty 272 8.3 Health conditions associated with houses in Limerick 273 8.4 Cluster variables used to determine poverty in Limerick 273 8.4.1 The grouping of poverty clusters into typologies 279 8.5 Conditions of the poverty clusters 280 8.5.1 Cluster one 283 8.5.2 Cluster two 290 8.5.3 Cluster three 301 8.5.4 Cluster four 308 8.5.5 Cluster five 315 8.5.6 Cluster six 325 8.6 Conclusion 333 Chapter Nine: Conclusion 9.1 Findings 334 9.2 Causes and consequences 337 9.3 Conclusion 339 9.4 Future work 340 Bibliography Appendix ‘…in a larger sense the past never wholly dies: it lives on buried in the minds of men and in the landscapes they have fashioned.’ E. Evans, Irish Folk Ways, 1957 Abstract While the industrial era was underway in Europe during the nineteenth century, Ireland was also faced with the issues of epidemic disease and slum housing. Most of the research undertaken to date has focused on the urbanisation of major towns in Europe on themes such as health, housing and social conditions. In Ireland, research on the same topic has concentrated primarily on Dublin but relatively little has been done to date on the other cities and smaller towns. This thesis hopes to contribute to the small but growing volume of research on Limerick city, while also providing a reference point for the development of other Irish cities during the nineteenth century. This thesis aims to examine the extent of poor health and poor housing in Limerick city during the nineteenth and into the twentieth century and also aims to highlight the response of the local government in alleviating the situation. Overall, this research aims to provide a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the changing urban geography of residential areas in Limerick city from 1850-1935. Declaration I declare that this thesis has not been submitted as an exercise for a degree at this or any other university and it is entirely my own work. Signed: _____________________________ Acknowledgments Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Hélène Bradley Davies for her help, guidance and interest while undertaking this thesis. I would also like to thank the Department of Geography, Mary Immaculate College for their assistance and support, for providing me with my teaching assistantship and conference funding throughout my postgraduate studies. Thank you also to my postgraduate colleagues, Shane O’Sullivan, Enda Keenan, Darren Barry, Bernie McCarthy, Grainne Dwyer, Margaret Browne, Joyce Novak for their support. Thank you to the Limerick City Archives (especially Jacqui Hayes and Grainne Higgins) for their patience and guidance when searching through local historical documents.