HISTORY
Dundalk was a very different place in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, this period was one of constant anxiety and frustration for the town council and its health officials. Inadequate sanitation, lack of a proper sewerage system and many unfit overcrowded houses were leading to outbreaks of serious illnesses. New homes would have to be built to meet the demands and needs of the people who required housing.
The Demesne lands, some 130 acres in extent, were acquired by the council in 1914 under “The Housing of the Working Class Act”. Bounded on the north by the Castletown Road, on the west by The Great Northern Railways main line and on the east and south by Dundalk’s principle streets. These lands were to provide for the housing needs of Dundalk for the next 100 years. With the appointment in 1925 in each county of a county medical officer, who could report on the conditions that the people were living under, these reports helped push through legislation in 1931 and expanded on in 1932 that set the clearance of unhealthy areas in motion.
Above to the left of the town, Lord Rodens Demesne which was purchased by Dundalk Council.
Survey of Medical Officers of Health March 1934
The above report clearly shows the scale of demolition and rebuilding that faced the council at this time, in total 308 houses have been reported unfit for human habitation. The council having already rehoused 39 families under the 1932 Act with 217 houses are still to be dealt with as at October 1935.
| Ward | No. of Houses |
|---|---|
| Middle Ward | 113 Houses |
| North Ward | 121 Houses |
| Seatown Ward | 73 Houses |
| South Ward | 1 House |
Where did they go?
From 1922 to 1941 twenty-one new housing schemes were undertaken to meet demand.
| Date | Housing Scheme | No. of Houses |
|---|---|---|
| 1922 | Thomas Street | 27 |
| 1933 | Market Street | 10 |
| 1933 | Dublin Street | 12 |
| 1934 | Oliver Plunkett Park | 46 |
| 1934 | McSwiney Street | 70 |
| 1935 | Mary Street North | 12 |
| 1935 | O'Hanlon Park | 108 |
| 1935 | St. Gerard's Square | 16 |
| 1936 | Culhane Street | 24 |
| 1936 | Patrick Street | 25 |
| 1936 | St. Nicholas Avenue | 116 |
| 1937 | St. Alphonsus Villas | 48 |
| 1937 | The Laurels | 37 |
| 1937 | St. Joseph's Park | 23 |
| 1937 | Hughes Park | 34 |
| 1938 | Hyde Park | 56 |
| 1938 | St. Clements Park | 42 |
| 1940 | Pearse park | 112 |
| 1940 | St. Malachy's Villas | 36 |
| 1940 | De La Salle Terrace | 11 |
| 1941 | Fr. Murray Park | 84 |
The Building of O'Hanlon Park
Here we see residents of Casey’s Place and Dublin Street been informed that the first phase of 46 houses in the Demesne is complete and ready for occupation. They are also asked to call to the Town Hall to pick up the keys for their new homes. Note that they are also asked to have a week’s rent (4/3d) with them. The five families that are been moved from Dublin Street (Dardis Yard) are only moving temporarily and later move back when their homes that were demolished as part of the clearance orders are rebuilt. O'Hanlon Park (not yet named) is built in three phases.
| Year | Phases | cost | Builder |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1933 | 46 Houses | £14,300 | P. McKenna & Sons |
| 1935 | 50 Houses | £14,600 | P. McKenna & Sons |
| 1937 | 12 Houses | £3,871 | P. McKenna & Sons |
Who was the street named after; sadly even now that question cannot be confidently answered. Two names are mentioned, Redmond O'Hanlon and Bernard O’Hanlon.
Redmond O'Hanlon Descendant of the great O’'Hanlon Gaelic clan of Orier (12th-17th centuries),
present day Armagh. O'Hanlon’s response to the earlier plantation of Ulster and later the
Cromwellian confiscations a time of great wrong doings on the Irish people put him in conflict
with the authorities of his time. Outlaw to crown, hero to the native people, his first recorded
incident took place in 1674. Many stories and songs have been written about him; sadly he was
betrayed and killed by a relation Art O’Hanlon near Hilltown Co Down on the 25th April 1681.
Bernard O'Hanlon IRA Volunteer 3rd Battalion C Company Dublin Brigade.
From Dundalk he was killed when two lorry loads of auxiliaries accompanied
by an armour car attempted to raid the Battalion HQ at 144 Brunswick Street, Dublin
(now Pearse Street) on the 14th March 1921. His comrade Volunteer, Leo Fitzgerald,
was also killed; two other IRA men, Tom Traynor and Jack Donnelly, were arrested.
Tom was executed in Mountjoy Jail and Jack owing to an injury was saved by the
truce of June 1921.
What we do know for certain is that the name was given by the residents of the first 46 houses that were built; this is recorded in the minutes of the council.
The actual letter sent in and signed by thirty-one residents asking for the houses to be called O’Hanlon Park. Some of those who signed this letter were originally from Casey’s Place. Which one of the O'Hanlon’s is the street most likely named after, if we take into consideration that other streets close by where been after IRA Volunteers, it is most likely that the residents probably wanted it named after Bernard O’Hanlon.
- Culhane Street
- IRA volunteer, Patsy Culhane
- McSwiney Street
- IRA Volunteer, Cork Hunger Striker 1921
- Mulholland Avenue
- IRA Volunteer, Killed Bridge Street, Dundalk
In 1920 there had been no Municipal, Rural or County Council Elections for about 6 years and Sinn Féin in preparing for an early election decided to contest all seats; selected candidates and had all election machinery in order when the date for elections was fixed. The Municipal Elections took place in January, 1920. In Dundalk a majority of Sinn Féin candidates were returned on the Urban Council and Peter Hughes, ex-T.D. (brother of the 1916 leader) was elected Chairman. Many of the Municipal bodies elected in 1920 with Republican majorities immediately passed resolutions pledging allegiance to Dáil Éireann. We did not do so immediately after we were elected on the advice of Peter Hughes. The outgoing urban Council had been in negotiation with Lord Roden for the purchase of Dundalk Demesne and the British Local Government Board had promised to put up the money to purchase Lord Roden's interest in the property. If we had immediately "cut the painter" with the Local Government Board some commercial interests in town would have purchased the property and it would have been lost to the people of Dundalk. This property lies in the centre of the town and now has hundreds of houses erected all within a short distance of the Market Square. A few months after the elections the deal with Lord Roden was completed and the Dundalk Urban Council were in a position to follow their inclinations in the matter of recognising Dáil Éireann and did so.