Lecture on ‘hovels and homes’

THE final Old Drogheda Society lecture of the year “From Hovels to Homes - Public Housing in Drogheda, 1890 - 1945” by Peter Connell will take place in the Governors House, Millmount on Wednesday December 13th at 8 pm.

In the early 20th centuryDrogheda had some of the worst housing of any urban area outside Dublin. Almost 40% of the towns population lived in overcrowded conditions. By the 1940’s the town had been transformed with hundreds of condemned houses demolished and over 1,000 new houses built by Drogheda Corporation. Among the houses built during this period are Beechgrove Tce, Boyle O’Reilly Tce, Bredin St, Congress Ave, Creveen Tce, Glenview, Halpins Tce, Hand St, Hardman’s Gardens, St Joseph’s Tce, Laburnum Square, Liam Leech Tce, Magdalene Street, Morans Tce, Mount St Oliver, North Road and Trinity Gardens

Peter Connell has recently completed a PhD on the provision of public housing in Irish towns between 1890 and 1945. A native of Navan, he is an active member of Navan and District Historical Society and he is joint editor of its journal ‘Navan its People and its Past’

There will be a book stall on the night. There is no fixed charge for this lecture but voluntary contributions will be accepted on the night.