ABSTRACT
The year 1914 marked a turning point in Irish housing history: Home Rule was finally agreed but not implemented, and major housing funds were earmarked by the British government for Ireland but not delivered. Tenement collapses increased and a number of residents were killed (Bannon 1985). Ireland’s housing stock had remained virtually static for over 100 years. But it was the threat of army conscription in 1915, with Ireland’s ambiguous loyalties, rather than poor housing conditions that created the impetus for the Easter Uprising of 1916. The poor housing conditions of Dublin’s population fuelled the upheaval in the capital, where in the end the Uprising was narrowly based (Lyons 1973). The Irish Engineer and Builder (F.H.A.Aalen, in Bannon 1985:181) explained the uprising in housing terms: The housing question today remains a burning one, as it was in 1866. Until it is remedied, there will be no real peace in this city, no real and enduring security for life and property.’ In practice, conditions had deteriorated dramatically through disrepair and, in many cases, dereliction. The prosperous suburbs, largely to the south of the city, contrasted starkly with the impoverished core and north side of Dublin.
