Urban History, 46, 1 (2019) © Cambridge University Press 2018 doi:10.1017/S0963926818000214 First published online 26 February 2018 Tackling the urban housing problem in the Irish Free State, 1922–1940 RUTH MCMANUS School of History and Geography, Dublin City University, St Patrick’s Campus, Drumcondra, Dublin 9, Ireland abstract: At its inception, the Irish Free State faced an apparently intractable housing problem that required immediate action. This article examines the legislation enacted in the 1920s and 1930s, focusing on its impact on local authority housing in Ireland’s provincial towns. Whereas the 1932 Housing Act has generally been heralded as the start of a concerted attack on the slums, this assertion is re- evaluated in the context of the debates of the 1920s. Following an overview of the national situation, a case-study of Ballina, Co. Mayo, explores the impacts of the housing drive. State-aided housing schemes made a signifcant contribution to the housing stock between 1923 and 1940. Although characterized by contemporary media as a triumph, however, the housing drive raised many issues including build quality, costs, opposition and social segregation. The article considers some of these challenges and raises a number of questions for future consideration. Introduction The scourge of poor housing conditions was a persistent issue in Irish political discourse prior to independence, and housing issues, including mortgage debt and homelessness, continue to be politically charged to the present day. 1 This article focuses on the period immediately following the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922 until the start of World War II, at a time when the new state was fnding its feet and implementing strategies to tackle the ongoing slum problem. 2 Poor urban housing conditions had been attributed a role in politicizing elements of the population, including suggestions that neither the 1913 Lockout nor the 1916 Rising might 1 As Aalen has noted, however, prior to the twentieth century, the emphasis was on rural housing. F.H.A. Aalen, ‘Public housing in Ireland, 1880–1921’, Planning Perspectives, 2 (1987), 175–93; F.H.A. Aalen, ‘Ireland’, in C.G. Pooley (ed.), Housing Strategies in Europe (Leicester, 1992), 132–63. 2 The Irish Free State or Saorstát Éireann came into existence in 1922 following the Anglo-Irish Treaty and was renamed Ireland or Éire following the adoption of the 1937 constitution. It was offcially declared a republic in 1949. Where ‘Ireland’ is used in this article it refers to this entity, rather than the entire island which also includes Northern Ireland. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0963926818000214 Published online by Cambridge University Press