In With the Poor

From posh mews to piggery, the rear of the properties changed as fast as the insides. The yards were the place for livestock, a water pipe, and a toilet. With more than a hundred occupants to one house, it takes the queue for the bathroom in the average modern home right off the list of worries.

There were different classifications of accomodation and rent varied depending on how much a family could afford. Most lived on less than 15 shillings a week.

Fourth class accomodation – consisted of 1 room and 1 window.
Third class accomodation – between 2-4 rooms with more than one window.
Second class accomodation – between 5-9 rooms and multiple windows.
First class accomodation – anything larger than those listed above.

Windows were subject to tax, according to their size. I couldn't help but imagine how that would go down in this day and age.

A tenement room cost 3 shillings a week, depending on where you lived. Rent books did exist, but more often than not the landlord or his agent would just appear randomly and demand the money. The more decent of landlords provided a rent book, and marked the payment each time.

Whilst we risk spilling coffee down a suit, which can be dry cleaned, the tenement people risked tripping on the stairs with a bucket of pee. Washing the clothes wasn't quite so simple back then, neither was a nice hot bath, something we now take for granted.

Bath night was a tin tub, once a week if lucky. As for clothes, there was a saying 'up first best dressed'. Whoever was up first got the pick of the clothes available. I read a comment somewhere whilst putting this site together, it mentioned that we would now pay a fortune for a bath in front of a fire, only now they call it a Spa! Times have certainly changed, but I wonder, are people in general, any happier?

The pressure placed upon a family each time there was a newborn was enormous, and as contraception wasn't allowed, families were never small! But there are so many happy tales to be heard from those who had great big old overcoats for blankets, and straw filled sacks for beds. Even when proper beds arrived there would often be an entire family squashed into one, but these days we are crowded if everyone doesn't have their own room. Imagine 9 in a bed, warmer but far from cosy!

Saturday night there would often be music and dancing in the tenements that went on all night, even though it was against the house rules. Music has always been a massive part of Irish life, and many a hoolie was had. As women rarely went into pubs, the tenement basements would often be the place for the drinking and dancing.

On Henrietta/Bolton Street there was a bar called Paddy O'Reillys, am given to understand this is now called the Kings Inn, but months of searching did not turn up a photograph of the old place.

The way people live has changed dramatically, but a smile is the same in any era. There are numerous photographs of very happy children, having fun in the simplest of ways. The photograph here captures just one of those moments.

Source: From the 'Darkest Dublin' photo collection housed in the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland (RSAI). Copyright remains with the RSAI.

Back