Drumcondra, Dublin

Ireland as a whole yet specifically Dublin, was experiencing a large housing crisis during the 19th century. However, it was only in the late 19th and early 20th century that local authorities began to take action to fix the issues. The Irish Sailors and Soldiers Land Trust (ISSLT) was created originally in order to generate housing for ex-servicemen however due to WWI and war veterans now a factor, its priorities changed. The ISSLT was established in 1923 after the Land Trust Act was passed and was set up as an imperial trust working across Ireland. After a statement made by the Minister for Finance at the time Ernest Blythe, it was declared that there would be no contribution to the trust from the Free State and that the entire cost must be covered by the British government. Although this led to issues with the trust obtaining land, the ISSLT continued to construct houses across the Free State. They surpassed their targets and went on to build 2,720 cottages by 1930 across Dublin. They focused on creating housing for war veterans and focused on moving outside of Dublin's city centre. Once the Trust completed its main building there were 20 separate housing schemes across the county of Dublin. Drumcondra was one of the top 3 major schemes they took on with 66 dwellings as part of the scheme. Although the size does not compare to that of Killester, its housing scheme was better integrated into the neighbouring development projects.[5]

The housing built by the ISSLT in Drumcondra was constructed on land provided and serviced by Dublin Corporation, forming part of a 'Reserved Area' north of Dublin Corporation's housing scheme. The ISSLT purchased four and a half acres of the Drumcondra Reserved Area for its housing scheme. These houses built along what is now known as Lambay Road are conventional in design and built in blocks of four with some semi-detached cottages. These houses have extensive gardens in the front and back of each and look similar and therefore blend in with those of the Reserved Area scheme already set out by the Corporation. The ISSLT's identity is clearly marked in Drumcondra by plaques displayed on houses through Lambay Road.[5]

The Drumcondra, Clonliffe, and Glasnevin Township Act 1878 was a local act of the Westminster Parliament, sponsored by businessmen in Drumcondra, and created a township called Drumcondra, Clonliffe and Glasnevin, encompassing Drumcondra and the neighbouring districts of Clonliffe and Glasnevin, governed by a body of town commissioners.[6] The portion of the district electoral division of Drumcondra outside the township was renamed Drumcondra Rural. The Dublin Corporation Act 1900 absorbed the township into the county borough of Dublin as the wards of Drumcondra and Glasnevin.[7][8] Part of Drumcondra Rural district electoral division was transferred to the city in 1931.[9] The remainder was split into Drumcondra Rural Number One and Drumcondra Rural Number Two in 1971.[10]

Formerly the home of the Coghill family, this late 17th-century building became the residence of the Superior General of the Irish Christian Brothers, and a training centre for the order, in 1874. The house was bought by the Coghills in the early 1700s when the house was known as Drishogue.[3] In 1881, the Congregation bought and moved to Marino House, and sold Belvedere House to Cardinal Cullen. St Patrick's College, Dublin which had been founded in 1875 at 2 Drumcondra Road Lower, relocated to Belvedere House in 1883. New college buildings were constructed, while the house became the residence of the Vincentian Fathers who ran the college. It now provides offices and meeting rooms for the St. Patrick's Campus of Dublin City University, into which the former college was incorporated in 2016.[15]

Clonturk House on Ormond Road was built prior to 1820, although its current appearance owes much to its renovation in 1880, at which time the stone balustrades from James Gandon's Carlisle Bridge (O'Connell Bridge) were moved to Clonturk by its owner.[3][16] In the early twentieth century it moved from private residential to institutional use, initially as the Ormond Commercial School for Boys and subsequently as a female orphanage run by the Presbyterian Church. In 1959 it was purchased by the Rosminian Fathers as a home for blind men. Well-known Dublin character Thomas Dudley ("Bang Bang") was a resident until his death in 1980.[14]

Originally the site of an Elizabethan castle built circa 1560, the castle was built by Meath man James Bathe on ecclesiastical land (belonging to the Priory of the Holy Trinity), granted to him. It was owned for many years by the Bathe family. In 1591, when the Castle was the residence of Sir William Warren, who had married the widow of John Bathe, thus acquiring the lands in Drumcondra for his lifetime. Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone married his third wife Mabel Bagenal here after he had eloped with her.[17]

In 1677, James II granted the Drumcondra property to a Giles Martin and in 1703 it was purchased by Captain Chichester Philips. In 1870 it became St. Joseph's Asylum for the Male Blind when the Carmelites bought the lands of Drumcondra Castle.[18][19] The Rosminians were appointed by the Archbishop of Dublin to run services for the Blind in St. Joseph's, Drumcondra, Dublin in 1955, the School, and since 2012, it is known as ChildVision, in 2014 the Rosminian order sold the lands in St. Joseph's, but took out a 25-year lease on the houses and buildings which it will use for ChildVision.[20] The Grace Park Woods housing estate is being built on the former St. Joseph's lands.

Drumcondra House was purchased by Rev. John Hand and in 1842 All Hallows College was established.[19] Daniel O'Connell played a part in the purchase of Drumcondra House for All Hallows, from Dublin Corporation. Designed by the architect Sir Edward Lovett Pearce and was built in 1726 for Sir Marmaduke Coghill, from the nearby Belvedere House. The Coghills rented out the house for a time.[3] All Hallows was sold to Dublin City University by the Vincentian Order in 2016.

For 150 years Hampton House and its lands held the Carmelite Monastery of the Incarnation on Grace Park Road, housing members of this enclosed order of nuns. The order, which had been based in Blanchardstown, purchased Hampton House and moved in during 1858.[21] Prior to it being a convent, Hampton Lodge was the residence of Thomas Williams, the first secretary of the Bank of Ireland, and his wife Mary Ann Williams; their son Richard Williams lived in Drumcondra Castle. The land and buildings were sold by the order in 2016 and were redeveloped as houses and a nursing home.

A distillery, the Dublin Whiskey Distillers (D.W.D.), was founded in the 1870s on the banks of the River Tolka, and known as the Jones Road Distillery (Distillery Road is a continuation of Jones Road). The distillery closed in 1946 and the property was sold. A number of buildings were built and are still standing and a number of buildings although redeveloped retain the names connected with the distillery such as The Corn Mill, The Granary, The Grainstore and Distillery Lofts.

• Drumcondra N.S. (for boys and girls), Church Avenue, Church Of Ireland.
• St Patrick's N.S. (for boys), Roman Catholic, parish of Drumcondra.
• Corpus Christi N.S. (for girls), Home Farm Road, Roman Catholic, parish of Drumcondra.
• St. Joseph's School For Children with a Visual Impairment, (for boys and girls), Roman Catholic, parish of Drumcondra.[22]

• Dominican College Griffith Avenue (Girls)
• PobalScoil Rosmini (mixed)
• Maryfield College (Girls)

Two campuses of Dublin City University are located in Drumcondra:

• All Hallows College
• St Patrick's College, Dublin