Features
British government to blame for high rents and lack of housing
Dublin, 4 February 1920 - The cost of rent has skyrocketed since the end of the war in 1918, and the scarcity of houses has reached crisis levels bordering on a ‘famine’, according to the Irish Times. One reason for the lack of new building projects is that the cost has...
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Dublin slums a disgrace to UK, House of Lords is told
London, 25 July 1919 - The House of Lords has been told that before the government introduced an Irish housing bill, it should first have brought forward a bill dealing specifically with Dublin, as its slums were ‘a disgrace to the United Kingdom’. That is the view of Lord Mayo...
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Housing 'famine' is helping profiteering landlords
Dublin, 25 February 1919 - The Chief Secretary of Ireland, Ian Macpherson, has said that discussions with the Treasury over potential solutions to Ireland’s housing problem were ‘very far advanced’. Mr Macpherson made the remark after meeting with a deputation from the Association of Municipal Authorities in Ireland,...
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Ambitious plan for Dublin housing announced
Dublin, 14 August 1918 - A major new housing initiative, which will cost £8,640,000 and deliver at least 16,500 additional dwellings for workers, is to be implemented in the city of Dublin. The plan, which was devised by P.C. Cowan, Chief Engineering Inspector with the Local Government Board and submitted to the...
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Dublin town planning prize awarded
Dublin, 26 January 1917 - A special prize of £500 in respect of the planning of Dublin, donated by then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Aberdeen, has been won by Prof. Abercrombie from Liverpool. The winner explained that his plan was commenced before the war when there was an expectation that Home...
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Ruins of Dublin to be rebuilt
Westminster, 11 January 1917 - The British Government has confirmed that it intends to offer full compensation to people whose property was damaged during Easter week, 1916. Rumours had recently gathered momentum to the effect that the government intended to walk away from commitments previously issued in terms of reparations for damages....
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Transport problems central to Dublin's housing crisis
Dublin, 21 November 1916 - The failure to develop a suitable transport system is at the heart of Dublin’s ongoing housing crisis, according to Prof. Patrick Abercrombie of Liverpool University. He was addressing the Dublin Rotary Club and in the course of his speech he said that Dublin's ...
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Dublin Housing schemes stall due to lack of investment
Dublin, 21 October 1916 - Seven housing schemes planned for Dublin have been stalled due to the inability of Dublin Corporation to provide adequate funding. In an attempt to resolve the problem, the Corporation is in negotiations for a loan of up to £2 million with the National Bank of New York. ...
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New housing scheme for Dublin’s poor
Pembroke, 14 September 1916 - A new housing scheme in the Dublin suburb of Pembroke was opened today. The scheme cost £125,000 and will provide accommodation for 579 working-class families. Chief Secretary Duke spoke at the opening ceremony - his first time addressing an Irish audience in Ireland. He stated that the housing...
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Plans for the reconstruction of Dublin postponed
Westminster, 10 August 1916 - The Dublin Reconstruction Bill which was supposed to be passed by the House of Commons in London yesterday was withdrawn after a lengthy discussion. The Bill was opposed by Sir Edward Carson, who said that there had been inappropriate consideration of the fact that new powers were...
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Rebuilding Dublin
A letter of recommendation for an architect appointed as part of a team to rebuild Dublin after the damage done during Easter week 1916, along with a sample drawing. (Image: National Archives of Ireland, CSO RP 1916 9228 1) (Image: National Archive of Ireland, CSO RP 1916 9228 2)
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The Destruction of Dublin
The 1916 Easter Rising damaged a variety of public and professional buildings and spaces in Dublin. Much of this destruction followed from rebels’ use of civic buildings as defensive positions, as well as the efforts of British forces to dislodge them. The centrality of the rebellion, which was concentrated on...
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Funerals of the victims of the Church Street tenement collapse held
This morning, masses at 8 o'clock and 10 o'clock were celebrated for the dead at St Michan's Church in the presence of large congregations. Afterwards, with the priests in tears, the remains were taken from the church and transported in hearses through the streets of the city, the procession...
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Tragedy in Dublin as tenements collapse
There were horrific scenes on Dublin’s Church Street last night as bodies – injured, maimed and deceased - were picked from the rubble of two collapsed tenement buildings. The houses, numbers 66 and 67, came crashing down at 8.30 p.m. and by the early hours of the morning, following...
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Landlady says collapsed houses were ‘perfectly safe’
The inquest into the deaths of the six people who died in the tenement collapse at 66 and 67 Church Street opened yesterday at the City Coroner’s Court. In response to questioning on whether her houses were in a dangerous condition, Margaret Ryan, the landlady of the properties, told the...
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Church Street tenement collapse remembered
Dublin, 14 December 1915 - The Church Street Disaster Committee has completed the distribution of funds subscribed for the relief of sufferers. In the disaster, seven people lost their lives and two others were seriously injured when two tenements on Church Street in Dublin collapsed in November 1913. Two children who were orphaned...
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Arthur Griffith slams Dublin Housing Inquiry
Dublin, 22 November 1913 - Arthur Griffith has launched a scathing attack on the Dublin Housing Inquiry, saying that he hoped ‘no sensible citizen of Dublin will be deluded by the bogus Housing Inquiry. It will sit for a number of days, continue not to put the essential questions, and report...
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Government rejects Commission of Inquiry over Irish housing
The British government has rejected demands that a Viceregal Commission be established to inquire into the issue of housing in Ireland. Resisting appeals from a range of deputations to open a high-level investigation of the causes, scale and potential solution of the crisis, the government instead announced that a smaller...
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Church Street compensation claims
Hearings into the proposed clearance of houses in the Church Street and Beresford Street area of Dublin continued today at the Four Courts. The collapse of two tenements buildings in the area six weeks ago – causing the death of seven people – has brought a new urgency to plans...
READ THIS FEATUREInquest opens into the seven deaths on Church Street
An inquest has been opened into the seven deaths on Church Street. The deceased were named as: Hugh Salmon (17 years), Elizabeth Salmon (4), Nicholas Fitzpatrick (40), Elizabeth Fagan (50), John Shiels (3), Peter Crowley (6) and Margaret Rourke (55). Mrs Bridget Ryan, the owner of the tenements appeared at the Inquest, and told how Dublin Corporation...
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‘The head and face was flattened out and the body was bruised, squashed...'
It has left bodies broken, families fractured and a community in shock. But last night’s tragedy on Church Street, and the rescue effort that followed it, has also produced stories of uncommon heroism, tales of valour in the face adversity. Patrick Carberry and John Carney, both members of...
READ THIS FEATURE- British government to blame for high rents and lack of housing
- Dublin slums a disgrace to UK, House of Lords is told
- Housing ‘famine’ is helping profiteering landlords
- Ambitious plan for Dublin housing announced
- Dublin town planning prize awarded
- Ruins of Dublin to be rebuilt
- Transport problems central to Dublin's housing crisis
- Dublin Housing schemes stall due to lack of investment
- New housing scheme for Dublin’s poor
- Plans for the reconstruction of Dublin postponed
- Rebuilding Dublin
- The Destruction of Dublin
- Funerals of the victims of the Church Street tenement collapse held
- Tragedy in Dublin as tenements collapse
- Landlady says collapsed houses were ‘perfectly safe’
- Church Street tenement collapse remembered
- Arthur Griffith slams Dublin Housing Inquiry
- Government rejects Commission of Inquiry over Irish housing
- Church Street compensation claims
- Inquest opens into the seven deaths on Church Street
- ‘The head and face was flattened out and the body was bruised, squashed...'
- British government to blame for high rents and lack of housing
- Dublin slums a disgrace to UK, House of Lords is told
- Housing ‘famine’ is helping profiteering landlords
- Ambitious plan for Dublin housing announced
- Dublin town planning prize awarded
- Ruins of Dublin to be rebuilt
- Transport problems central to Dublin's housing crisis
- Dublin Housing schemes stall due to lack of investment
- New housing scheme for Dublin’s poor
- Plans for the reconstruction of Dublin postponed
- Rebuilding Dublin
- The Destruction of Dublin
- Funerals of the victims of the Church Street tenement collapse held
- Tragedy in Dublin as tenements collapse
- Landlady says collapsed houses were ‘perfectly safe’
- Church Street tenement collapse remembered
- Arthur Griffith slams Dublin Housing Inquiry
- Government rejects Commission of Inquiry over Irish housing
- Church Street compensation claims
- Inquest opens into the seven deaths on Church Street
- ‘The head and face was flattened out and the body was bruised, squashed...'
Film
More Film
'A Disaster Waiting to Happen' - The Church Street Tenement Collapse
The Dublin Housing Report 1914
Tenement Collapse Commemoration
Henrietta Street: The Dublin Tenement Experience
Century Ireland
The Century Ireland project is an online historical newspaper that tells the story of the events of Irish life a century ago.