«Dublin Tenement Life» by Kevin C.Kearns

For nearly 150 years, the wretched, squalid tenements of Dublin were widely judged to be the worst slums in all of Europe. By the 1930s, 6,400 tenements were occupied by almost 112,000 tenants. Some districts had up to 800 people to the acre, up to 100 occupants in one building, and twenty family members crammed into a single tiny room. It was a hard world of hunger, disease, high mortality, unemployment, heavy drinking, prostitution and gang warfare. But despite their hardship, the tenement poor enjoyed an incredibly closely knit community life in which they found great security and indeed, happiness. As one policeman recalls from over half a century ago, they were ‘extraordinarily happy for people who were so savagely poor’.
Contents of Dublin Tenement Life History and Evolution of the Tenement Slum ProblemPhysical DeteriorationProfiteering Landlords and Powerless TenantsOvercrowding, Sanitation, and IllnessSocial Stigmas and StereotypesThe Press and Public EnlightenmentHousing Reform and Slum ClearanceOral History and Tenement FolkloreSocial Life in the Tenement CommunitiesCommunity Spirit and Gregarious NatureThe Home SettingEconomic StruggleSecuring Food and ClothingHealth, Sickness, and TreatmentsEntertainment and Street LifeReligion and MoralsCourting, Marriage, and ChildbirthThe Role of Men, Mothers, and GranniesDrinking, Gambling, Prostitution, and Animal GangsDeath, Superstitions, and WakesOral Testimony: The Monto and DocklandMaggie Murray—Age 80Timmy “Duckegg” Kirwan—Age 72Alice Caulfield—Age 66Chrissie Hawkins—Age 83Johnny Campbell—Age 68Mary Waldron—Age 80Billy Dunleavy—Age 86Nellie Cassidy—Age 78Elizabeth “Bluebell” Murphy—Age 75Oral Testimony: The LibertiesNancy Cullen—Age 71Paddy Mooney—Age 72Harry Mushatt—Age 83Margaret Byrne—Age 72John-Joe Kennedy—Age 75Frank Lawlor—Age 66Mary O’Neill—Age 84John O’Dwyer—Age 70Tommy Maher—Age 81Lily Foy—Age 60Senan Finucane—Age 73Christy Murray—Age 86Bridie Chambers—Age 66John Gallagher—Age 60Mickey Guy—Age 72Margaret Coyne—Age 72Patrick O’Leary—Age 70Jimmy Owens—Age 68Elizabeth “Lil” Collins—Age 91Stephen Mooney—Age 65Oral Testimony: The NorthsidePaddy Casey—Age 65Chrissie O’Hare—Age 76John V. Morgan—Age 70Peggy Pigott—Age 65Mary Chaney—Age 84Father Michael Reidy—Age 76Ellen Preston—Age 65Thomas Lyng—Age 70Una Shaw—Age 61Con Foley—Age 75Margaret Byrne—Age 81Jimmy McLoughlin—Age 50Four Tenement TalesMary Doolan of Francis StreetNoel Hughes of North King StreetMary Corbally of Corporation StreetMay Hanaphy of Golden Lane