Public housing in Urban Ireland 1932-1946:

A success for an impoverished new State

Following some limited house-building at Marino & Cabra by the new Irish State it was realised by the late 1920s that a radical policy change was required; the first of the “Housing for the Working Classes” acts of 1931 & 1932 followed. Ninety years on from that transformative legislation several expert speakers will address the political impetus, practical progress, and overall success of these schemes throughout urban & rural Ireland.

The legacy of this significant social policy by a native Irish government at a time of widespread economic crises and war, will be addressed. Some contrast with the housing crises of modern times will also be considered.

Public housing in Urban Ireland: 1931-1946
A success for an impoverished new State

Saturday, 18th November

09.15:  Registration & Tea or Coffee

09.45:  Welcome address:
James Foran, President, Sligo Field Club

10.00: Setting the Scene: Housing in the first decade of the new State
Dr. Ruth McManus, School of History & Geography, Dublin City University

10.45:  “The solution of our greatest evil in site” – Re-housing Sligo’s urban poor, 1880-1947
Dr. Fióna Gallagher, Dublin City University

11.30:  Tea & Coffee

11.45:  “The Government wants a terrible lot of light”: Clearing the ‘slums’ in Irish towns in the 1930s
Peter Connell, Dept. of Modern History, Trinity College Dublin

12.30:  Questions & Answers 

12.45:  Lunch  

13.45:”Public Housing post-World War II: from ideology to inertia”
Dr. Lorcan Sirr, Dept. of Surveying & Construction Innovation, Technological University Dublin

14.30:  “History matters! Learning from a century of Housing Crises”
Paul Umfreville, MSc. MRTPI, Technological University Dublin

15.15: Housing incentives and Urban Renewal in the 1980s and 1990s
Dr. Joe Brady, Associate Professor, Geography Department, University College Dublin     

16.00:  Questions & Answers  

16.30:  Close of Proceedings