A new book gives first hand accounts from Dubliners who lived in what were among the worst slums in Europe.
An oral history offers a sense of life in the past in Dublin city in the book 'Dublin Tenement Life'.
By the 1930s, poverty and illness were widespread in the city. Many people were living in cramped and unhygienic conditions. The Coombe, the docklands and the north inner city were some of the areas worst affected.
American author Kevin C Kearns has put together and oral history of life in the tenements by collectiing stories from people who were in Dublin at the time. Publisher Fergal Tobin describes 'Dublin Tenement Life' as unique in that it gives a voice to people who had no voice before. This is an oral history of what life was actually like for many people.
It is their own words.
Two contributors to the book are Stephen and Paddy Mooney who grew up in the Pimlico area of Dublin during the 1920s. While they grew up in poverty, they say that the community and neighbours helped each other. Senan Finnucane was a Garda in the Liberties during the hard times but says that despite the poverty, people were quite happy, generous and hardworking.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 28 September 1994. The reporter is Gareth O'Connor.
