Edge Rewrite
everything Source code View original
// HTMLRewriter · presentation

This page was redesigned at the edge.

Cloudflare fetched the original article and streamed it through HTMLRewriter to apply an entirely new visual system without rebuilding the source page.

// request.cf · coarse context

A page that knows where it met you.

Only coarse request metadata is shown. This demo does not display or persist visitor IP addresses.

Country
US
Cloudflare location
CMH
Connection
HTTP/2
Language
Not provided

Ray ID: a4037f6478e9de81

Jump to content

Draft:Ballymun Flats

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ballymun Flats
From top left to bottom right: James Connolly Tower; Éamonn Ceannt Tower; Thomas Clarke Tower; Joseph Plunkett Tower; Patrick Pearse Tower; Thomas MacDonagh Tower; Seán MacDermott Tower; The Boiler House, sometimes known as the eighth tower[1]; Other flats in Ballymun
Map
Interactive map of the Ballymun Flats area
General information
StatusDemolished
TypeLocal Authority Accommodation
Architectural style
Brutalist / modernist
LocationBallymun, Dublin, Ireland, Sandyhill Avenue, Sillogue Avenue, Shangan Avenue, Balbutcher Lane, Shangan Road.
Coordinates53°23′51″N 06°16′03″W / 53.39750°N 6.26750°W / 53.39750; -6.26750 (Ballymun Flats)
Construction started
May 1965
Completed
1969
OpeningAugust 1966
Demolished2004–2015
CostIR£10,000,000
OwnerDublin Corporation, later Dublin City Council
Height
Height42 metres (138 ft) (tower block elements)
Technical details
Structural systemLowton-Cubitt steel frame and concrete
Floor count17
Design and construction
ArchitectDublin Corporation
Main contractorCubitts Haden Sisk[2]

The Ballymun Flats,[a] also known as the Ballymun Towers[b] and the Ballymun Tower Blocks[c] were prefabricated Local Authority Accommodation flats in Ballymun on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. The complex comprised seven fifteen-storey tower blocks—collectively known as the Seven Towers,[d] and individually named James Connolly Tower, Éamonn Ceannt Tower, Thomas Clarke Tower, Joseph Plunkett Tower, Patrick Pearse Tower, Thomas MacDonagh Tower and Seán MacDermott Tower—along with nineteen eight-storey blocks and ten four-storey blocks. The flats were rapidly built in the 1960s by a consortium hired by the Irish Government as part of the wider Ballymun Housing Estate.

In the 1960s, the Irish Government concluded that additional housing was needed in Dublin, as many residents required rehousing when Georgian tenements in the city began to collapse. It decided to construct a high-rise, prefabricated housing estate in Ballymun, then a village on the city's outskirts, and Dublin Corporation (often known as "The Corpo") purchased land from the Albert Agricultural College for the scheme. Construction began in 1965 and was carried out by a consortium of John Sisk and Son and Hadens-Cubitts, using the Balency et Schuul system for flats and the Lowton Cubitt system for houses. The first tenants moved in during 1966, and the flats became the first council houses in Ireland to have access to foreign piped television. The main housing project was completed in 1968, with additional flats added in 1969.

Residents soon grew dissatisfied with the estate, as promised amenities such as a swimming pool and playground were never provided, and only one shopping centre was built. Many tenants bought everyday necessities from informal "van shops" and "container shops" operating from vehicles and temporary units. Social problems also developed, including drug dealing and addiction within parts of the estate. People living in Ballmun frequently faced prejudice and discrimination, with some employers refusing to hire applicants from council housing.

History

[edit]

Background

[edit]
Dublin Airport in 1953, with Ballymun in the background
Map of Dublin from 1837 with Ballycorris (Balcurris), Ballymun,[e] Coultry, Jamestown, Santry, Sillock (Sillogue), Stormanstown and a 'Ballymun School'

The Barony of Coolock contains a townland named Ballymun, although no part of the Ballymun Housing Estate was built within it.[4] The earliest known reference to Ballymun dates from 1537 as "Ballymon", which included a house called the "Villa of Ballymon". By 1837, the area comprised 365 acres (148 ha) of pasture used for farming and two houses, increasing to six by 1900.[5][6]

Most of Dublin's housing stock was constructed in the 18th century, between 1680 and 1830, a period now known as Georgian Dublin.[7] These dwellings—Georgian houses and tenements—were typically owned by wealthy Dubliners.[8] Between 1948 and 1962, 118,000 houses were built and 67,000 were rebuilt or modernised in Ireland,[f] at a cost of ~IR£150 million. Many occupants were rehoused from unfit or overcrowded accommodation as part of an urban slum clearance programme, and the Irish Government introduced limits on the number of families permitted to live in a single house. In July 1962, builder Mr. Forkin told RG Rowling of RTÉ that "the [building] industry is booming and we have a situation where the demand is greater than the supply".[9]

On 2 June 1963, tenements at 20 Bolton Street collapsed, killing the elderly couple inside. Ten days later, the tenements at 2A, 3, and 4 Fenian Street collapsed, killing two girls who were passing the building. These two incidents, known collectively as the "Collapse of Tenements 1963", led to a local inquiry at Dublin City Hall.[10] Throughout the remainder of 1963, tenements in Hendrick Street, North Great George's Street, Usher's Island, Capel Street, Bride Street, Blackhall Street, Grattan Street, Hogan Place, Holles Street, Kevin Street, Dorset Street and Coleraine Street either collapsed or were evacuated.[11]

By 1964, public housing in Dublin was in a critical condition, with many inner-city houses becoming dilapidated and condemned, and their tenants requiring rehousing elsewhere. While awaiting new accommodation, some families were temporarily housed in an army barracks near the Dublin Health Authority.[8][11]

Initial proposal and purchase of Albert College lands

[edit]
Blaney in 1990
Lands envisioned for the Ballymun Housing Estate in 1964
The Albert College building Sometime between 1865 and 1914
The Albert College building in 2005
Albert College Estate name plaque

According to Dublin City Libraries, the Irish Government decided sometime in 1963 to rehouse people living in collapsing tenements in the Ballymun area.[12][13] Before this, Dublin Corporation had a policy of only building flats in the city centre, and cottages in the suburbs.[14] A proposal for 3,000 new houses to accommodate 15,000 people[15] in Ballymun, as part of the "Ballymun Housing Scheme", were brought forward by Neil Blaney, then Minister for Local Government,[g] to Dublin Corporation around 1964. The houses were to be built on 359 acres (145 ha)[16][17] owned by Albert College,[18] as part of a plan to address homelessness in Dublin by creating a new town called "Albertville", comparable in size to Tralee on the city's outskirts.[16][17]

Former Irish Times environment editor Frank McDonald wrote in Saving the City and The Construction of Dublin that the flats were "sold to Neil Blaney, then Minister of Local Government, as a 'quick fix' for Dublin's housing crisis", noting that similar high-rise tower blocks were "all the rage in Britain at the time".[19][20] Dublin Corporation sent deputations to Copenhagen, Stockholm and Paris[21] to examine "modern system building" in Continental Europe. On 12 February 1964, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Sean Moore, called a joint meeting of the Streets Committee and Housing Committee for 14 February to decide whether to purchase the land.[22] The committee recommended that Dublin Corporation buy the land at a cost of IR£442,000 (IR£1,200 per acre).[16][23]

These proposals were strongly criticised by the Ballymun Residents' Association, the residents' associations of Ballymun Park, Ballymun Avenue and Willow Park, and the Ballymun Ratepayers' Association, who objected to the loss of Ballymun's green-belt status and feared a decline in property values.[17] On 17 February 1964, the Ballymun Residents' Association sent a telegram to Moore protesting "in the strongest possible terms against the scheme",[17] and the associations of Ballymun Park, Ballymun Avenue and Willow Park held an emergency meeting to begin a campaign to "save Ballymun and its green belt".[17] Dublin Corporation intended to purchase the land and lease it to private builders.[24][25]

However, Albert College informed the Housing Committee that it required a large portion of the land for "some years to come", prompting the matter to be referred to Blaney,[26][27] who entered discussions on the future of the site.[28] The Ballymun Residents' Association requested permission to send a deputation to the discussions, which Dublin Corporation granted.[28][29] On 3 April, the association proposed that the Albert College lands should be reserved for private development, with prefabricated houses built elsewhere in Dublin.[30][31] Dublin Corporation disagreed, stating that "the land at Albert College must be used for pre-fabricated houses".[30] After a Corporation meeting on 6 April, the Ballymun Residents' Association reported that it was satisfied with the negotiations and that its concerns had been alleviated.[32][33]

In May 1964, the Gaeltacht Park Residents' Association sent a deputation to the discussions and protested against the lack of information on the type of houses planned. An article in The Evening Herald initially misattributed the protest as opposition to any housing being built at Albert College.[34][35]

On 22 May, Dublin Corporation decided that it would take over 45 acres (18 ha) on 1 June for IR£100,000, purchasing the remainder in stages.[36] A meeting on 28 May proposed 400 one-room dwellings, 450 two-room dwellings, 500 three-room dwellings and 1,650 four-room dwellings at an estimated cost of IR£6 million.[37][38] The meeting also agreed that at least 120 of the 3,000 dwellings would have central heating.[39] Two members of the Ballymun Ratepayers' Association voted against the proposal, with one other participant dissenting.[37]

Two days later, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, John McCann, told The Evening Herald that he opposed system building in Ballymun, describing the proposed flats as "tall monsters" that would "ruin the lovely area".[40] A housing notice from the Department of Local Government,[h] stated that the flats were to be constructed as "speedily as possible consistent with a high standard of layout, design and construction and to acceptable costs".[41][42] In June, the Government of Ireland announced that the dwellings were being put out to tender.[43] Blaney discussed final proposals for the houses with the Dublin Building Trade Group in July,[44][45] but announced on 6 August that the government agency responsible for undertaking the project had not yet been decided.[46] On 24 September, the Department of Local Government said it was examining "proposals received from certain building interests".[47] The estimated cost of the dwellings[i] was revised from IR£6 million to approximately IR£9–10 million.[48][47][49]

In November, it was decided that a consortium of John Sisk and Son and Hadens-Cubitts, in association with Balency & Schuhl, would build the flats, using the Balency et Schuul system for flats and the Lowton Cubitt system for houses,[50][49] although these systems had not yet been approved for use.[51] In January 1965, Dublin Corporation presented McCann with a new plan for a "satellite town"[52] on the Albert College lands, locally known as Stormanstown[j], comprising nine fifteen-storey blocks, eighteen eight-storey blocks, thirty-seven four-storey buildings and 450 houses, making 3,000 dwellings in total, with a population comparable to half that of Finglas, and a belt of trees separating it from "Ballymun proper".[54][53] After a Corporation meeting on 11 January, it was decided to expand the proposed town westwards to Balbutcher for IR£220,000.[48] Captain J. A. Kelly from the Ballymun Ratepayers' Association initially opposed the acquisition on the grounds that it did not provide sufficient space for playing fields, but later withdrew his objection.[54] The plan was approved the following day.[54] Denis Larkin, chairman of the Housing Committee, described the approval as Dublin Corporation being "land hungry",[54] while TD Patrick Burke said it represented building history.[54]

On 2 February 1965, following a special resolution from Dublin Corporation, Blaney authorised the National Building Agency (NBA) to sign a housing contract valued at IR£9,591,808.[k][52][55] The NBA was established to execute the estate on behalf of Dublin Corporation and the Department of Local Government.[56] Blaney noted that using traditional construction techniques instead of the Balency & Schuul system would have cost IR£9,600,000.[52] When signed, it was the largest housing contract in Ireland's history.[52] Moore described it as "the most important thing done in many years".[55]

Construction and first tenants

[edit]
Larkin in 1931
Model of eight story Ballymun flats
Model of a Ballymun tower block
Ballymun flats under construction in 1967 (Placeholder, fair use later)
Floor plan of a Ballymun flat (top) Letter from Dublin Corporation welcoming new tenants (bottom left) Letter to tenants giving general information about amenities at the flats from Dublin Corporation (bottom right)

Work began on the project in May 1965, with a set of "stereotype houses" produced in July.[57] In September[58] and October,[59] the Dublin Council of Trade Unions asked Blaney and the consortium how much "Irish-made materials" and "Irish labour" would be used, rather than imported materials and equipment, after the Irish Engineering Industrial Union and the Electrical Trades Union wrote to complain that the flats were not being built by Irish electrical contractors.[58][59] On 5 November, the first detailed models and drawings of the flats were displayed at City Hall.[l][60] Four days later, following a proposal from Larkin (now a TD) seconded by alderman Frank Sherwin, Dublin Corporation agreed to seek a loan of IR£172,564 from the Local Loans Fund of the Department of Local Government.[61] Sherwin said Ballymun would be the "showplace of Ireland".[61]

The first tenants were originally expected to move into the initial batch of houses before Christmas, when the buildings were due to be handed over by the consortium to Dublin Corporation. However, several days of heavy rainfall in November turned parts of the site into a quagmire, delaying both the handover and the move-ins.[62] The first houses were handed over in January 1966, with more following in March, but continuous rainfall meant that no tenants could yet be accommodated.[63] Blaney informed the Housing Committee on 1 April that the loan from the Local Loans Fund for the Ballymun project would be IR£3.5 million.[64]

Fifty houses were completed in May, but a Housing Committee inspection determined that they could not be occupied for another month to allow for the completion of public roads and lighting.[65] The Balency pre-casting factory was built in Ballymun in May. This factory was used to create the concrete used to create the flats.[66][67] In June, calls were made for Dublin Corporation to include heated indoor swimming pools in the scheme, but the Corporation, alongside a deputation from the Irish Amateur Swimming Association, rejected the idea due to the high risk of accidental drowning.[68] In July, the leader of the opposition, Liam Cosgrave, criticised Dublin Corporation, saying that "the country was entitled to an explanation for the delay in completing the Ballymun scheme" and that "the weather was no justification for the delay".[69]

On 16 July, the Housing Committee announced that the first houses were ready for occupation, with 24 handed over on 28 July and 67 more expected to be ready before 11 August.[70] The keys to the first 24 houses—and one additional house—were handed over to the NBA on 28 July, with further handovers planned at regular intervals.[71][72] All of these houses were rapidly built and equipped with Baxi heating units providing central heating.[73][74] The first tenants moved into the flats on 3 August 1966.[75]

In October, RTÉ[m] announced that it would arrange for BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) and UTV (Ulster Television) programming to be broadcast in the flats, with the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, Joseph Brennan, reluctantly giving RTÉ instructions on how to do so.[78] RTÉ entered negotiations in November with the Housing Committee, the Department of Local Government and the NBA on providing piped television to the flats.[79] The housing project was to receive programming through a master aerial,[79] as reception would be poor due to the proximity of similar high-rise buildings, and individual outdoor aerials were not possible because of "unique features of the building project".[80]

Also in November, members of the Irish Engineering Industrial and Electrical Trade Union threatened to strike at the Ballymun housing project, then nearing completion, after a technician was dismissed without their consultation.[81] The Dublin Council of Trade Unions made an "all-out effort" to avert the strike, holding a meeting to decide how to proceed.[81] By 19 November, the Irish Independent reported "high hopes" that the strikes had been avoided,[82] and five days later reported that the dispute "may be settled", with the technician being rehired.[83] By December 1966, 944 houses had been completed.[57] In January 1967, TD Michael Mullen called for an investigation into delays, noting that despite construction having begun several years earlier, few houses had been handed over to Dublin Corporation.[84] On 21 January 1967, a further 89 houses were completed.[85]

In February, the Housing Committee decided that piped television would cost tenants a combined IR£500 per week, with RTÉ covering installation, maintenance and rent collection, and agreed that every dwelling would have piped television.[86] The committee also decided that the seven tower blocks would be named after the signatories[n] of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, marking the 50th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising.[86][12] The first block ready for occupation was named the James Connolly block.[86] In March, the committee decided that hot water would be available year-round, while central heating would be unavailable during the summer.[87] The first four-storey flats were handed over to Dublin Corporation on 21 March.[88] John Sisk of John Sisk and Son said the consortium was attempting to make up for earlier delays and still intended to finish by the original completion date of 11 February 1969.[88]

By June, 400 tenants had moved into homes in the scheme.[89] By July, around 1,300 houses had been structurally completed, with 572 handed over to Dublin Corporation.[90] On 12 July, Larkin severed ties with the Housing Committee. He criticised the tower-block designs, saying that one-sixth of the dwellings had "no light from outside or ventilation to two kitchens on each floor", and hoped that the NBA would "put first the welfare of the people who were to live in this type of dwelling", arguing that designs used in Continental Europe might not suit "Irish conditions".[91] Larkin also said the buildings had "serious defects", specifically in lighting and ventilation. TD Seán Dunne said the delays were not the fault of the workers, while Michael Mullen said the claim that system building would accelerate construction had not been realised, but that Dublin Corporation and its officials were not to blame.[92]

On 31 August 1967, members of the Concrete Society of Britain and Ireland from Manchester, London and Belfast visited the housing project and a Balency factory. During the visit, a spokesperson for the consortium said that "186 flats would be ready for handing over within a week, and [...] a minimum of 90 flats would be ready every month".[93][94] On 29 September 1967, the Irish Independent published a notice under the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act 1963 stating that the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) intended to seek planning permission to erect a 10 kV transformer substation on Clonmel Road in Ballymun.[95]

Completion of the housing project

[edit]
Children who have moved into the Ballymun tower blocks (taken 1969)

In October, two families living in condemned flats on St Kevin's Avenue in Blackpitts barricaded themselves in their flats to prevent Dublin Corporation from rehousing them in Ballymun, as neither family could afford to move there. The father of one of the families said that "The Ballymun housing scheme is not for the poorer class. We couldn't afford to live there".[96][97][98] On 20 October, one of the flats' tenants Noel McDonnell wrote to The Evening Herald to say that out of the ten weeks the tenants had spent in the flats, they had no central heating for the first 7 and had spent all of the ten weeks without any form of street lighting, calling the conditions 'poor'.[99] On 26 October, Minister for Transport and Power,[o] Erskine Hamilton Childers, said in the Dáil Éireann (the Dáil) that he was satisfied the height of the tower blocks did not "constitute a hazard to aircraft navigation".[100] By 30 November, 1,833 of the dwellings had been structurally completed, with 1,310 handed over to Dublin Corporation.[101]

By January 1968, the 200 acre Ballymun Estate had a population of ~6,000, comparable to Mullingar in County Westmeath or Mallow in County Cork.[15] Speaking to the Des Moore of the Sunday Independent, a spokesman for the Department of Posts and Telegraphs said that they hoped to get telephone cabling supplied during the summer.[15] In February 1968, the flats were given access to foreign piped television, making them the first houses in the country to be given access to piped television from outside of Ireland, although residents had accessed British and Welsh television for around a year by hanging their RTÉ antenna out the window of their flats. Childers gave RTÉ authorisation to 'pick up and retransmit' BBC One, UTV and Teledu Cymru.[p][102] On 14 March, The Evening Herald reported that after protests against evictions elsewhere in Dublin, three families who were to be sent to 'Hell or Ballymun' were given alternative accommodations.[103][104]

On April 2, Dublin Corporation's law agent Mr. Dermot E. Walsh told a public inquiry into the Ballymun project held at O'Connell Bridge House that Dublin Corporation intended to purchase additional lands in the Poppintree-Balbutcher-Santry area for IR£5,500,000. In this extension, six cottages in the Santry Avenue-Ballymun Cross area would be demolished as part of the development and road widening.[105][106][107] The day after, the Evening Herald and the Irish Independent both said that Dublin urgently needs houses, but not tower blocks. They also quoted Larkin saying "We don't want a further concrete jungle in Ballymun."[108][109] The Elm Investment Co. Ltd., the Fellowship Investment Society Ltd., and several locals objected to the order, with one local being concerned that the plan would "lead to the break-up of a community", a concern that was forwarded to Blaney.[106][105] Mr. B. O'Kelly, from the City Architect's office, said due to the dwellings' proximity to Dublin Airport and it's fly-past zones, some sections could not be built on. Mr. D. J. McCarthy, an engineer from the Town Planning Department said that Department of Transport and Power issued a statement concerning the height limit, with north west parts of Poppintree being most affected.[105] Starting in April and continuing into May, the heating started to fail,[110] causing residents to plan and threaten to march on 4 May.[111] On 7 May a deputation from the Ballymun Estate Tenant's Organisation discussed the heating issue in a meeting with Lord Mayor of Dublin Thomas Stafford.[112]

The Ronan Point collapse in Canning Town
The Berlin Wall in 1986

On 16 May 1968, a resident in the high-rise Ronan Point tower block in Canning Town, London—which was built earlier that year[113]—lit a match in her house. The match caused a gas explosion that blew out some load-bearing walls, causing the collapse of one corner of the building.[114] The collapse killed four people, injuring seventeen.[115] By May 21, 195 people applied to be rehoused from the Ballymun housing project. In the Dáil, James Dillon asked Gerald Boland if the Ballymun tower blocks were built the same way as the Ronan Point tower blocks, which Boland denied. After Dillon asked about Ronan Point, Dunne whether or not the Jumbo Jets that were coming into operation at Dublin Airport were a concern to the flats. Boland said Dunne was "trying to create apprehension among the people at Ballymun" and that the flats weren't in line with the jets.[116] By August, many of the flat's lifts were out of order or acting erratically, causing strikes.[117][118] The rubbish chutes were also near overflowing, as Dublin Corporation workers went on strike and started picketing near the start of the month. Some residents resorted to forcing the chutes open and burning tons of rubbish in bonfires they lit in nearby fields.[118][119][120] The workers threatened to picket the flats and boiler house―which could cut off the heating and hot water off―if tenants continued to burn rubbish,[119] and engineers continued to fix lifts.[121]

On 30 August, the Evening Herald ran an article about the tenants' discontent with the lack of any of the promised shopping centres or community centres, with swimming pools, cinemas, bowling alleys and gyms also promised but not delivered to Ballymun, although none of these facilities had been provided. The Evening Herald also noted that the social life in Ballymun was "booming", especially among Ballymun youth, citing the town's drama and arts club,[q] woman's club, youth club, swimming club,[r] it's monthly journal Satellite, and the town's school buildings, though the town also lacked a secondary school.[123] Boland was criticised by members of the Labour Party for the lack of these services in the Dáil on 28 September.[124] On 2 October, the Ballymun Estate Tenants' Organization investigated the services in the flats and found "conclusive evidence of defects", deciding to hold a local ballot on whether or not to do a rent strike, and send general secretary of the National Association of Tenants Organisations, Matt Larkin, alongside a deputation, to meet with the consortium and Dublin Corporation.[125] The rent strike ballot passed the next day.[126] During the meeting, a new playground, a potential maintenance depot to deal with defects, the lack of services, especially the lack of a community centre and shopping centre, issues with the central heating and a "full investigation into the paving defects" were discussed.[126] That night, tenants voted again to give Dublin Corporation a three month grace period, as Dublin Corporation set up a new estate management group, headed by heating engineer Michael O'Sullivan.[127]

The group assured the tenants that the temperature would be raised if tenants wanted it, draught excluders would be added to all outside doors, the carrying out of plumbing, sewage, road and path repairs, the completion of a shopping centre, and the completion of additional shops. Alderman Matt Finnegan requested additional assurance that the flats would not explode like Ronan Point.[127] On 9 October, O'Sullivan granted planning permission for the Ballymun Shopping Centre, reserved a site for the Ballymun Swimming Pool,[s] a community hall, a Garda Síochána station, and a health centre. He also had a draft layed out for a church and three schools. The CIÉ also promised a specialized bus service for Ballymun.[128] On 19 October, the Stormanstown House, which was built in 1800, was set to be demolished to make way for ESB offices to act as a maintenance depot.[129]

On the night of 22 October, three bombs exploded in Ballymun in an unsuccessful attempt to blow up a wall―known as the "snob wall" or "Ballymun Wall"[130]―separating the housing project from Pinewood Drive.[131][132][133] The explosion happened while the Ballymun Estate Tenants' Association was talking with Dublin Corporation about whether or not the wall was legally built.[134] One resident writing to the Evening Herald compared it to the Berlin Wall,[135] a wall that surrounded West Berlin during the Cold War, seperating West Berlin from the rest of the city in East Berlin and from the entirety of the German Democratic Republic.[136] On 9 November, the Ballymun Estate Tenants' Association got the "go ahead" to build a post office, only awaiting approval from the Department of Posts and Telegraphs.[129]

An episode of 7 Days from 15 November 1968 reported that there was negative stigma of discrimination and prejudice against those living in Local Authority Accommodation called 'Council homes' (Dublin Corporation housing estates), with some employers ignoring job applications from people living in such homes, only looking at applications from private addresses. 7 Days also reported that areas in the estate came together within themselves to help with the common good of the community to clean-up their area after a strike.[137] At the start of December, the Sillogue Gardens flats developed a rat infestation. The Ballymun Estate Corporation and Health and Safety Authority received complaints about the rats, but were too backlogged with complaints to deal with them.[138]

The Ballymun housing project was completed on 19 December 1986.[t] The final piece of precast concrete being placed was attended by Blaney (now the Minister for Agriculture[u]), Kevin Boland (the Minister for Local Government, succeeding Blaney), Patrick Burke (now Chairman of the Dublin County Council (DCC)), Martin Quirke (Director of the Ballymun Housing Project), John Sisk, John Evans (Managing Director of the consortium) and officials from the NBA and Dublin Corporation. Altogether, the scheme costed IR£10,000,000 and took 3 years and 8 months to complete, with construction starting in May 1965.[57] The project consisted of 2,616 flats and 452 two storey buildings.[139][6] 2,600 families lived in the estate by February 1969.[140]

Houses in Ballymun

Further expansion

[edit]
The entrance of the south wing of the Ballymun Shopping Centre in 2014

Starting 27 January, the heating was shut off due to the strike. The cold gave the flats the nickname "the icebox", and caused the General Electric Company's factory in Dunleer, County Louth to loan 100 heaters to the tenants.[141][142] A lease for a shopping centre in the housing scheme was approved by the Planning and Development Committee of Dublin City Council on 29 January 1969[143] to be built by Ballymun Development Ltd.,[144] a Sisk Properties company.[145] The heating was restored early morning on 10 February.[146] In February, the NBA's Ballymun contract ceased, with all dwellings being handed over to Dublin Corporation.[147] In March, 30 additional one-room flats were built, upping the amount of flats to 3,051.[148] The shopping centre was officially opened on 14 April 1969,[148] making it Dublin's second shopping centre and one of Ireland's first shopping centres.[149][150] It cost IR£900,000 to complete.[150] In May, 48 more houses and 12 more flats in Ballymun for IR£162,500 were approved.[151] NATO held a series of nationwide rent strikes in Ireland from 1970 to 1973. In Ballymun, the strikes were aimed at differential rents based on household income.[152]

On 19 April 1974, an electrical fault caused a fire to break out in the flats, which the Dublin Fire Brigade put out.[153] On 21 May 1974, the town was labelled one of Ireland's biggest fire risks by experts, with the Evening Herald calling it a "fire bomb".[154] On 28 May, three families were evacuated from Éamonn Ceannt Tower after cracks were found in the flats. Dublin Corporation said that the cracks were because of expansion and retraction caused by temperature variation.[155] The Ballymun Estate Tenant's Association considered the evacuation hurried and concerning.[156] In June, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provos) overtook the role of policing in Ballymun from the Garda Síochána after two people were raped in a two month period. The Provos said that rapists would be shot dead, and that any further crimes would be judged by a kangaroo court.[157] In June, an investigation from Dublin Corporation showed no imminent danger or risk in the flats.[158] On 9 May 1975, a flat in Joseph Plunkett Tower caught on fire, causing the death of a baby before being put out by the Dublin Fire Brigade.[159]

Pre-regeneration housing plans

[edit]

A "Special Committee" was set up Dublin Corporation in 1984 to handle proposals on how to address the flat's issues. Dublin Corporation made a local office in Ballymun the next year to directly work with the tenants (add anne power book source here later with quote)

Name section later

[edit]

Gonna write Draft:Regeneration of Ballymun and then come back and write this


This is a reminder for myself later; Remember to mention the Irish pound being abandoned for the Euro

Amenities and facilities

[edit]
Rubble from the Ballymun flats (will move up later)

The Ballymun flats had access to cable television provided by RTÉ, with access to BBC, UTV and Teledu Cymru[p] programming[78][102] provided through a master aerial.[79] They were the first housing project in the country to be given access to foreign piped television.[102]

The flats had hallway lights that were on from 9pm until the evening,[99] and Kone[117] lifts with fluorescent tube lighting.[160] They also had central heating provided by Baxi heating units, that residents paid for in the summer and winter.[161][99] It was turned off in summer,[162] and could not be turned down by tenants.[163]

Culture around the flats

[edit]

The flats' first tenants were from urban slum clearances and collapsed tenements,[12] and viewed the flats as pristine buildings with modern heating systems and easy access to Dublin Airport and Dublin's city centre.[164] However, they were not as popular with people who lived in rural and Low-rise housing. They had an above average turnover rate, as people preferred owning the house they lived in, and people who could afford to leave left.[165]

People who lived in the estate often faced prejudice because of it. After a five year study by author and sociologist Anne Power, she found that people who lived in Ballymun and similar estates in Ireland were the most stigmatized in Europe, with these estates being the first time she saw where white people faced similar prejudice to those given to people of colour and people from other countries. She compared the stigma to the racial segregation black people experienced in the United States, and considers it to be Ireland's version of Apartheid, though based on economy and not race.[166][167]

[168][169][170]

Drugs

[edit]

In 1979, there was a dramatic increase in the supply of heroin to Western Europe, usually attributed to the fall of the Shah in Iran and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. This marked the start of an epidemic in Dublin.[171]The number of heroin users in Dublin continued to grow in the early 1980s. The 1983 Bradshaw Report found that in north central Dublin, 10% of 15- to 24-year-olds had used heroin in the previous year; the figure was 12% for 15- to 19-year-olds, and 13% for females of the same age group. The report also confirmed Dublin as a centre for heroin use, with only three or four heroin users in Cork and Galway.[172] The government's position was that drug abusers were victims of their own choices, rather than their socio-economic circumstances.[173]

Ballymun was highly effected by the drugs epidemic in Dublin, by 1998, Ballymun was one of the ten worst areas for drug use in the city alongside Ballyfermot, Finglas, Crumlin, Coolock, Blanchardstown, Coolmine and Tallaght.

https://www.newspapers.com/article/sunday-world-southern-ed/201625362/

Legacy

[edit]

The Ballymun flats were the first in a series of "low-cost" housing schemes built from the 1960s and 1970s.[19] The Cromcastle Court flats in Coolock and St Michael's Estate in the former Keogh Square area of Inchicore were built in the same style as the Ballymun flats.[174][175][13]

Writing for the journal Third Text, Victor Merriman described the flats as



Will expand later, after everything else done

[176][177]

[edit]

U2

[edit]

The 1987 U2 song "Running to Stand Still" was inspired by Bono's view of the flats from his childhood home on Cedarwood Road, which has one end in Ballymun, and one in Finglas.[178][179] Far-right columnist John Waters has described his house as being on the "faultline" between Finglas and Glasnevin.[180] The line "I see seven towers, but I only see one way out" refers to Bono witnessing drug dealing and addiction and it reminding him of the flats.[179] According to Sean Murphy, writing for the Southern Edition of the Sunday Independent, many Ballymunners[v] were honoured by the mention.[183] In the book Memories Milestones and New Horizons Reflections on the Regeneration of Ballymun, Waters said that U2's origins in Finglas, Glasnevin and Ballymun were "crucial to what they would become", and that the quote from "Running to Stand Still" was the "most particular song [Bono] would write about his childhood in the shadow of the Irish Babel" [sic].

In 2004, after an unofficial U2 fan website called the area a 'bad area', warning "do NOT go here on foot" [sic], a spokesperson for Bono said that Bono is proud to be from Ballymun.[183] The caption accompanies an image of a Ballymun flat taken from a car driving through Ballymun. In the aforementioned book, Irish poet John Montague starts his chapter by saying that the image and caption speaks volumes about Ballymun's negative perception.[184]

In her book The Mun: Growing Up in Ballymun, Connolly was highly critical of Running to Stand Still. Connolly attributes the song to an "enormous [amount of] damage to the tenants' morale", calling the song 'bleak despair', and referring to the line "I see seven towers, but I only see one way out" as an ignorant remark from Bono.[185][186] She also says "Bono never lived in Ballymun. And yet website after website says that is where he hails from. How can anyone possibly confuse Ballymun with Glasnevin?" [sic].[185] In The Construction of Dublin, McDonald interpreted the lyric "I see seven towers, but I only see one way out" as referring to the "only way out of Ballymun [being] via drugs", saying that "at least a thousand of the tenants were drug addicts".[187]

Carry Me Down

[edit]

M. J. Hyland's Booker-shortlisted novel Carry Me Down (2006), is set in Ballymun, with the main character John Egan moving from Gorey, County Wexford into the Ballymun tower blocks.[188] Dermot Bolger, writing for the Irish Independent, criticised the books depiction of Ballymun as being akin to someone who researched Ballymun in books that "record details like the fact that the heating could not be turned off by tenants or that people urinated in the lifts" as opposed to the reality of 1970s Ballymun.[189]

The Ballymun Trilogy

[edit]

The Ballymun Trilogy (2011), is a collection of three plays by poet and playwright Bolger set in Ballymun and the Ballymun flats, consisting of From These Green Heights (2004), The Townlands of Brazil (2006), and The Consequences of Lightning (2008).[190] From These Green Heights focuses on a family being relocated from Gardiner Street to become of the flats' first tenants, one of the family members named Dessie is in a relationship with another of the flats' first tenants named Marie who moved to the flats from Glasnevin after her father left her mother, with the play following their relationship and the birth of their child in Ballymun;[191][190] The Townlands of Brazil, focuses on tailor's daughter Eileen fleeing to England with her child Matthew to avoid putting him up for adoption after she gets pregnant by a Ballymunner named Michael, who then dies in a construction accident, with the play then focusing on Matthew returning to Ballymun when he is older as someone helping demolishing the flats, with a Polish immigrant named Monika living in the site where his mother formerly resided;[191][190] and The Consequences of Lightning, focuses on the funeral of the flats' first tenant Sam, who comments on the attendees of the funeral as a ghost.[190][191]

In November 2004, Fintan O'Toole, writing for The Irish Times praised From These Green Heights' "perfect expression of the chastened, watchful kind of hope" that people who are often "let down so badly so often [have]", while noting that the "story of almost 40 years" ideally would've been a series of plays[w] to avoid the inevitability of some moments "moving too rapidly to be properly realised", with some dialogue having 'clunky exposition'.[192] In the book, Literary visions of multicultural Ireland: The immigrant in contemporary Irish literature, Paula Murphy considered The Townlands of Brazil to be asking Ballymunners and Irish society as a whole to "re-imagine their personal and national histories in new historical, social, and cultural frameworks".[193] In 2006, Karen Fricker reviewing The Townlands of Brazil for The Guardian, said that Bolger clearly had 'too many stories to tell', and that the play would've been better as a dramaturg, though still felt the play was 'consistently intriguing and engaging', hoping that more plays like it would be made in the future.[194] In her book Irish Contemporary Landscapes in Literature and the Arts, Marie Mianowski says The Consequences of Lightning could be assessed as a "melodramatic summary of the stormy history of Ballymun [...] characterized by the strained relations between the protagonists".[195]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ↑ Irish: Árasáin Bhaile Munna[3]
  2. ↑ Irish: dTúir Bhaile Munna
  3. ↑ Irish: Túrcheapa Bhaile Munna
  4. ↑ Irish: Na Seacht dTúir
  5. ↑ The townland in barony of Coolock
  6. ↑ Local authorities built 60,000 houses, private enterprise built 58,000 houses
  7. ↑ Old name for the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage
  8. 1 2 Old name for the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
  9. ↑ From this point onward, the word dwelling started being used more in place of housing or houses, as Blaney was believed to be in favour of 'prefabricated dwellings' as opposed to conventional houses.[47]
  10. ↑ The ancient name of the district the buildings were to be built on.[53]
  11. ↑ IR£9,190,808 for the housing estate, and IR£401,000 for everything else.[55]
  12. ↑ Prior to this, only 'sketch plans' were shown to the Dublin Corporation Housing Committee.[60]
  13. ↑ At the time, the full name of the broadcaster was Radio Telefís Éireann,[76] however since September 2009, the broadcaster's name is Raidió Teilifís Éireann[77]
  14. ↑ Thomas J. Clarke, Seán Mac Diarmada, Thomas MacDonagh, P. H. Pearse, Éamonn Ceannt, James Connolly and Joseph Plunkett
  15. ↑ Old name for the Minister for Transport
  16. 1 2 Television Wales and the West (TWW) transmitting under Wales West and North Television (WWN)'s name after WWN merged with TWW in January 1964
  17. ↑ Ballymun Library―Ballymun's Dublin City Libraries branch―was still at the sketch phase, meaning the estate had no library yet[122]
  18. ↑ Using pools in other parts of Dublin[123]
  19. ↑ Now called the Old Ballymun Swimming Pool
  20. ↑ The remainder of the flats were handed over to Dublin corporation in 1969[6]
  21. ↑ old name for the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine
  22. ↑ Someone from Ballymun,[181][182] also spelt as Ballymuner.[182]
  23. ↑ This review came before the other two plays were commisioned

See also

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ Thompson, Sylvia (28 January 2017). "Reduce, reuse . . . upcycle". The Irish Times. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
  2. ↑ "Fifteen-Storey Tower Blocks" (Press release). Ballymun Housing Project Ballymun Dublin 11: Cubitts Haden Sisk. Summer 1966. Retrieved 3 June 2026.{{cite press release}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  3. ↑ Ó hÉallaithe, Donncha (14 October 2011). "Tús ré na gaelscolaíochta i mBaile Munna" [The beginning of the gaelscoil era in Ballymun] (PDF). Gaelscéal (in Irish). p. 28.
  4. ↑ Somerville-Woodward 2002, p. 4 "Ballymun is one of the twenty townlands in Santry Parish in the Barony of Coolock [..] Much of the built environment of Ballymun was named after these ancient townlands: Balbutcher, Balcurris, Coultry, Silloge, Poppintree, and Stormanstown. However, no part of the Ballymun Estate was built in the townland of Ballymun."
  5. ↑ Somerville-Woodward 2002, p. 4 "In 1537, which is the first time Ballymun is mentioned in historical sources, it was known as 'Ballymon'. A townland of 180 acres of arable land with one house known as the 'Villa of Ballymon' [..] in 1739, Ballymun was known as 'Ballymund' [and] 'Hampton Court'. By 1837 [it had] only two houses, 'Ballymun House' and 'Ballymun'. It now consisted of 365 acres of land used for [farming]. The built environment changed little over the next century, and at the beginning of the 1900s there were only six dwellings at Ballymun"
  6. 1 2 3 "Blaney sees £10m. Ballymun housing scheme completed". Irish Independent. 20 December 1968. p. 12. Retrieved 17 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ Civic and Ecclesiastical Architecture of Georgian Dublin Collection. A UCD Digital Library Collection. Archived 14 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine A selection of 35 mm slides from the collection of the UCD School of Art History and Cultural Policy, focusing on the civic and ecclesiastical architecture of eighteenth-century Dublin.
  8. 1 2 O' Donoghue, John (1964). "Dilapidated Housing". Sixty Four. RTÉ. Archived from the original on 15 November 2025. Retrieved 26 May 2026 – via RTÉ Archives.
  9. ↑ Rowling, RG (13 July 1962). "The Best Thing We've Ever Done?". RTÉ News. RTÉ. Archived from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2026 – via RTÉ Archives.
  10. ↑ "Collapse of Tenements 1963". dublincity.ie. Dublin City Libraries. 3 September 2019. Archived from the original on 8 February 2025. Retrieved 26 May 2026.
  11. 1 2 Somerville-Woodward 2002, p. 34 "Between June and December 1963, tenement houses collapsed or were evacuated in areas all over Dublin. These areas included Hendrick Street, North Great George's Street, Usher's Island, Capel Street, Bride Street, Blackhall Street, Grattan Street, Hogan Place, Holles Street and Kevin, Dorset and Coleraine Streets. Dublin Corporation was forced to adopt 'emergency measures' following four deaths at Bolton and Fenian Streets. Among the emergency measures adopted by the Corporation was the evacuation of many families, addi-tional inspections of 'dangerous buildings' and the suspen-sion of the Corporation's existing housing priorities list. These measures announced on the 15th June 1963, anticipated that the immediate provision of additional dwellings for those who had been displaced would be announced by the Department of Local Government. Within a week Dublin Corporation inspectors had moved more than 1,000 people from their homes and in a matter of months the Corporation's Housing Waiting List had doubled. In the short-term, evacuated families were placed in temporary accommodation, although some were forced to sleep on the streets. Many of those who were offered permanent housing were reluctant to leave the communities where their families had lived for generations."
  12. 1 2 3 "The Seven Towers, Ballymun". YouTube. Dublin City Libraries. 15 July 2009. Retrieved 9 May 2026.
  13. 1 2 "The History of Social Housing in Inchicore". dublincity.ie. Dublin City Libraries. 16 June 2017. Archived from the original on 6 December 2025. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  14. ↑ Brady 2017, p. 15 "continuing the policy of building the cottages in the suburbs and flats only in the city centre, they were persuaded by Minister for Local Government Niall Blaney, to experiment with high-rise and system building."
  15. 1 2 3 "High Living". Sunday Independent. 7 January 1968. p. 22. Archived from the original on 18 May 2026. Retrieved 16 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. 1 2 3 "Corporation to buy 359 acres across Ballymun". Irish Independent. 18 February 1964. p. 5. Retrieved 18 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 "Ballymun counter offensive". Evening Herald. 17 February 1964. pp. 1, 4. Retrieved 18 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ "New-style houses for Ballymun". Evening Herald. 11 February 1964. p. 7. Retrieved 15 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. 1 2 McDonald 1989, p. 73-74 "Worst of all were the "low-cost" housing schemes of the 1960s and 1970s. First, there was Ballymun, the classic "high rise, low density" system-built solution. Its seven 16-storey towers, named after signatories of the 1916 Proclamation, and the surrounding eight-storey spine blocks were sold to Neil Blaney, then Minister for Local Government, as a "quick fix" for Dublin's housing crisis. High-rise flats were all the rage in Britain at the time, and the concept of tall blocks standing in acres of "parkland" looked particularly attractive in 1964, at the heights of the dangerous buildings scare when dozens of decaying Georgian tenements were being condemned and demolished. The brave new world of Ballymun was completed in 1969 - just as serious problems with similar developments in Britain were beginning to emerge. Only five years later, indeed, the British Labour Government announced that no more high-rise housing would be built there and, by the late 1970s, some of the worst examples were being demolished. [unrelated information about Darndale's housing estate] But, like Ballymun, it took a determined campaign by community leaders to persuade the Corporation to begin making amends for all the years of neglect."
  20. ↑ McDonald 2000, p. 251-252 "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA placeholder"
  21. ↑ Montague 2008, p. 51 "Study trips were made to Copenhagen, Stockholm and Paris"
  22. ↑ "Ballymun houses". Evening Herald. 1 February 1964. p. 5. Retrieved 18 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ↑ "Work may start shortly on 3,000 houses in Dublin". Irish Independent. 17 February 1964. p. 14. Retrieved 18 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ "Ballymun Scheme/Housing space". Evening Herald. 21 February 1964. p. 8. Retrieved 18 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ↑ "Corporation tactics". Evening Herald. 22 February 1964. p. 6. Retrieved 18 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ↑ "Snags may hold up scheme at Ballymun". Evening Herald. 22 February 1964. p. 3. Retrieved 18 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ↑ "Housing land hold up". Irish Independent. 22 February 1964. p. 15. Retrieved 18 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. 1 2 "Ballymun residents oppose plan". Evening Herald. 26 February 1964. p. 2. Retrieved 18 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ↑ "Dublin development plan". Evening Herald. 16 March 1964. p. 5. Retrieved 18 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. 1 2 "Deputation on Ballymun proposal". Evening Herald. 3 April 1964. p. 9. Retrieved 18 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ↑ "Residents' plea to commitee". Irish Independent. 5 April 1964. p. 5. Retrieved 18 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ↑ "Residents' fears allayed". Evening Herald. 8 April 1964. p. 4. Retrieved 18 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ↑ "Housing fears of residents allayed". Irish Independent. 9 April 1964. p. 8. Retrieved 18 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  34. ↑ "Protest over new housing". Evening Herald. 4 May 1964. p. 4. Retrieved 18 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. ↑ J. Brazil, William (15 May 1964). "Association's disclaimer". Evening Herald. 77 Iveagh Road, Gaeltacht Park. p. 12. Retrieved 18 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  36. ↑ "Dublin to have 'system' houses". Irish Independent. 23 May 1964. p. 15. Retrieved 18 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  37. 1 2 "Vote for 3,000 houses on site at Ballymun". Irish Independent. 26 May 1964. p. 9. Retrieved 19 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  38. ↑ "State may aid £6m. house plan". Evening Herald. 5 August 1964. p. 3. Retrieved 19 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  39. ↑ "Central heating estimate". Evening Herald. 1 April 1965. p. 2. Retrieved 23 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  40. ↑ "Where 'vocational city' will rise". Evening Herald. 28 May 1964. p. 9. Retrieved 19 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  41. ↑ Somerville-Woodward 2002, p. 58 "The tender documents emphasised that because of Dublin's housing crisis, Ballymun would have to be constructed 'as speedily as possible, consistent with a high standard of [...]'."
  42. ↑ Garvin, J. (24 June 1964). "Government Notices". Irish Independent. The Custom House, Dublin 1. p. 5. Retrieved 19 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  43. ↑ Somerville-Woodward 2002, p. 38 "In June 1964, the Government announced that it was putting the 3,000 unit Ballymun Housing Scheme out to tender and called upon all qualified interests to apply."
  44. ↑ "Ballymun site plans underway". Evening Herald. 27 July 1964. p. 2. Retrieved 19 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  45. ↑ "Minister to consult union group". Irish Independent. 28 July 1964. p. 7. Retrieved 19 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  46. ↑ "Decisions not made in housing project". Irish Independent. 6 August 1964. p. 9. Retrieved 19 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  47. 1 2 3 "Ballymun scheme still under review". Evening Herald. 24 September 1964. p. 11. Retrieved 19 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  48. 1 2 "£220,000 land deal for new town". Irish Independent. 11 January 1965. pp. 3, 10. Retrieved 20 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  49. 1 2 "£9,000,000 Dublin Plan (3,000 'system' houses, flats for Ballymun)". Irish Independent. 14 November 1964. p. 9. Retrieved 19 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  50. ↑ Montague 2008, p. 52 "Two seperate construction systems would be used for the buildings of the flats and the houses: the Balency et Schuul system for the flats and the Lowton-Cubitt system for the houses",
  51. ↑ "Proposed plan for houses at Ballymun". Evening Herald. 4 December 1964. p. 3. Retrieved 20 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  52. 1 2 3 4 "£9m. Housing deal makes history". Irish Independent. 3 February 1965. p. 2. Retrieved 22 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  53. 1 2 "Skyscrapers in Ballymun plan". Evening Herald. 8 January 1965. p. 5. Retrieved 20 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  54. 1 2 3 4 5 "Plan for new town is approved". Evening Herald. 12 January 1965. p. 5. Retrieved 20 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  55. 1 2 3 "Minister to sign £10m. Ballymun contract today". Irish Independent. 2 February 1965. p. 6. Retrieved 22 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  56. ↑ Power 1997, p. 241 "The National Building Agency, set up specially to execute the [Ballymun Housing estate] on behalf of the Department on the Environment[h] and Dublin Corporation"
  57. 1 2 3 "Progress on housing project". Irish Independent. 10 January 1967. p. 5. Retrieved 30 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  58. 1 2 "Union wants inquiry on Ballymun work". Irish Independent. 15 September 1965. p. 14. Retrieved 23 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  59. 1 2 "Ballymun housing project: Unions urge use of Irish labour and materials". Irish Independent. 13 October 1965. p. 13. Retrieved 23 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  60. 1 2 "Details of Ballymun Scheme". Evening Herald. 4 November 1965. p. 7. Retrieved 23 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  61. 1 2 "£172,564 loan is sought for new Ballymun project". Irish Independent. 9 November 1965. p. 17. Retrieved 23 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  62. ↑ "Rain puts Ballymun date back". Evening Herald. 4 December 1965. p. 9. Retrieved 23 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  63. ↑ "Rain delays housing handovers". Irish Independent. 21 April 1966. p. 6. Retrieved 23 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  64. ↑ "Corporation plan to build 312 dwellings". Irish Independent. 2 April 1966. p. 14. Retrieved 23 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  65. ↑ "Housing site inspected". Evening Herald. 14 May 1966. p. 5. Retrieved 23 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  66. ↑ Somerville-Woodward 2002, p. 39 "The flats at Ballymun were constructed using prefabricated concrete panels, cast and finished on site in a purpose-built factory. The Balency pre-casting factory was officially opened at Ballymun in May 1966."
  67. ↑ "Minister to open Dublin factory". Irish Independent. 30 April 1966. p. 3. Archived from the original on 26 April 2026. Retrieved 25 April 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  68. ↑ "Call for swim pools Essential in all new housing areas". Evening Herald. 7 June 1966. p. 6. Retrieved 25 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  69. ↑ Cosgrave, Liam (8 July 1966). "Public has lost confidence". Irish Independent. p. 10. Retrieved 23 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  70. ↑ "First Ballymun houses ready". Irish Independent. 16 July 1966. p. 8. Retrieved 23 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  71. ↑ "25 houses ready in Ballymun". Irish Independent. 29 July 1966. p. 6. Retrieved 23 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  72. ↑ "303 new houses built in July". Irish Independent. 22 September 1966. p. 10. Retrieved 23 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  73. ↑ "Go automatic with gas". Evening Herald. 7 October 1966. p. 9. Retrieved 23 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  74. ↑ "Little boxes". Evening Herald. 4 August 1966. p. 3. Retrieved 26 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  75. ↑ "Ballymun house is 'gorgeous'". Evening Herald. 27 May 1966. p. 10. Retrieved 23 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  76. ↑ "Broadcasting Authority (Amendment) Act, 1966 (Section 3)". Irish Statute Book. 1966. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  77. ↑ "Broadcasting Act 2009 (Section 113)". Irish Statute Book. 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  78. 1 2 "TV surprise in Dublin; Ballymun houses to have B.B.C. laid on". Sunday Independent. 16 October 1966. p. 1. Retrieved 29 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  79. 1 2 3 "Their aim: piped TV in Ballymun". Irish Independent. 5 November 1966. p. 6. Retrieved 29 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  80. ↑ "Dáil Éireann díospóireacht - Thursday, 23 Oct 1969 Vol. 241 No. 10". Houses of the Oireachtas. 23 October 1969. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  81. 1 2 "Union body will try to avoid strike". Irish Independent. 9 November 1966. p. 3. Retrieved 29 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  82. ↑ "Proposals to end housing dispute". Irish Independent. 19 November 1966. p. 12. Retrieved 29 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  83. ↑ "Ballymun dispute may be settled". Irish Independent. 24 November 1966. p. 3. Retrieved 29 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  84. ↑ "Enquiry into houses, flats demand". Evening Herald. 2 January 1967. p. 7. Retrieved 29 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  85. ↑ "89 more houses completed". Evening Herald. 21 January 1967. p. 4. Retrieved 30 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  86. 1 2 3 "Piped TV will cost Ballymun £500 a week/Named after 1916 leaders". Evening Herald. 18 February 1967. p. 4. Retrieved 30 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  87. ↑ "Rate rise to tenants cost estimated". Irish Independent. 4 March 1967. p. 9. Retrieved 30 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  88. 1 2 "Ballymun flats handed over to The Corporation". Irish Independent. 22 March 1967. p. 14. Retrieved 8 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  89. ↑ "Happiness turns to heartbreak". Evening Herald. 1 June 1967. p. 17. Retrieved 8 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  90. ↑ "1,300 houses at Ballymun completed". Irish Independent. 5 July 1967. p. 10. Retrieved 9 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  91. ↑ "Ballymun housing comes under housing fire". Irish Independent. 13 July 1967. p. 3. Retrieved 10 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  92. ↑ "City Council told of 'serious defects' in Ballymun dwellings". Irish Independent. 13 July 1967. p. 3. Retrieved 10 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  93. ↑ "Shown new housing project". Evening Herald. 31 August 1967. p. 6. Retrieved 16 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  94. ↑ "Toured Ballymun Project". Irish Independent. 1 September 1967. p. 4. Retrieved 16 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  95. ↑ Gargan, J. G. (29 September 1967). "Planning Applications". Irish Independent. p. 26. Retrieved 16 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  96. ↑ "Two Dublin families stay put". Evening Herald. 19 October 1967. p. 5. Retrieved 16 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  97. ↑ "'Ballymun flats not for poor'". Evening Herald. 17 October 1967. p. 3. Retrieved 16 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  98. ↑ "Families still in condemned home". Irish Independent. 19 October 1967. p. 12. Archived from the original on 18 May 2026. Retrieved 16 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  99. 1 2 3 McDonnell, Noel (20 October 1967). "Heating and lighting in Ballymun". Evening Herald. p. 10. Archived from the original on 19 May 2026. Retrieved 16 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  100. ↑ "Ballymun:No Air Hazard". Evening Herald. 26 October 1967. p. 4. Retrieved 16 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  101. ↑ "£4m expended on housing at Ballymun". Irish Independent. 23 December 1967. p. 9. Archived from the original on 19 May 2026. Retrieved 16 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  102. 1 2 3 "Paying the TV 'Piper': Ballymun reception ingenuity". Evening Herald. 28 February 1968. p. 4. Retrieved 16 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  103. ↑ ""Hell or Ballymun"". Evening Herald. 14 March 1968. p. 4. Retrieved 16 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  104. ↑ "To make protest". Irish Independent. 15 March 1968. p. 3. Retrieved 17 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  105. 1 2 3 "Had jobs in mind at Ballymun site". Evening Herald. 3 April 1968. p. 3. Retrieved 25 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  106. 1 2 "Community would break up, objector claims". Evening Herald. 14 March 1968. p. 4. Retrieved 16 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  107. ↑ "To make protest". Evening Herald. 4 April 1968. p. 4. Retrieved 25 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  108. ↑ "Corporation plans £5,500,000 extension of Ballymun". Irish Independent. 3 April 1968. p. 9. Retrieved 25 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  109. ↑ "Housing scheme objection / Want houses but not 15-stories up!". Evening Herald. 2 April 1968. p. 5. Retrieved 25 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  110. ↑ "'Heat was on' as heat was off". Evening Herald. 23 April 1968. p. 9. Retrieved 13 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  111. ↑ "'Cold flat' tenants plan march". Evening Herald. 4 May 1968. p. 4. Retrieved 14 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  112. ↑ "Labour is ruled out of order". Irish Independent. 7 May 1968. p. 13. Retrieved 14 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  113. ↑ "South London estate to be evacuated over safety fears". BBC News. 10 August 2017. Archived from the original on 3 April 2025. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  114. ↑ Cook, Chris (15 June 2018). "Ronan Point: a fifty-year building safety problem". BBC. Archived from the original on 3 April 2025. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  115. ↑ Nelsson, Richard (16 May 2018). "The collapse of Ronan Point, 1968 - in pictures". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  116. ↑ "Dail queries on high housing units in Dublin". Irish Independent. 22 May 1968. p. 13. Retrieved 14 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  117. 1 2 "Lifts will be repaired". Evening Herald. 8 August 1968. p. 2. Retrieved 15 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  118. 1 2 "Family trapped in lifts". Evening Herald. 7 August 1968. p. 4. Retrieved 15 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  119. 1 2 "Flats picketed over tenant's refuse removal". Irish Independent. 10 August 1968. p. 7. Retrieved 15 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  120. ↑ "Litter fires". Sunday Independent. 11 August 1968. p. 1. Retrieved 15 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  121. ↑ "Decisions on strikes tommorow?". Irish Independent. 14 August 1968. p. 1. Retrieved 15 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  122. ↑ "Library service may be improved". Evening Herald. 10 July 1968. p. 2. Retrieved 15 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  123. 1 2 "Little town that has no shops". Evening Herald. 30 August 1968. p. 3. Retrieved 15 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  124. ↑ "Criticised Boland about Ballymun". Irish Independent. 28 September 1968. p. 11. Retrieved 15 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  125. ↑ "Ballymun tenants to fight". Evening Herald. 2 October 1968. p. 1. Retrieved 15 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  126. 1 2 "Tenants will decide tonight". Evening Herald. 3 October 1968. p. 6. Retrieved 15 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  127. 1 2 "Rents strike is deferred for trial period". Evening Herald. 4 October 1968. p. 5. Retrieved 15 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  128. ↑ "Ballymun scheme amenities". Evening Herald. 9 October 1968. p. 4. Retrieved 15 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  129. 1 2 "Landmark to be demolished". Evening Herald. 16 October 1968. p. 6. Retrieved 15 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  130. ↑ "Town of 10,000―No P.O.". Evening Herald. 9 November 1968. p. 3. Retrieved 16 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  131. ↑ "Attempt to blow up "snob wall" at Ballymun". Irish Independent. 23 October 1968. p. 7. Retrieved 15 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  132. ↑ "Watch on wall after blast bid". Evening Herald. 23 October 1968. p. 1. Retrieved 15 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  133. ↑ "Watch on wall after blast bid". Evening Herald. 23 October 1968. p. 1. Retrieved 15 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  134. ↑ "Plot to break tenant power". Evening Herald. 25 October 1968. p. 1. Retrieved 15 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  135. ↑ "Ballymun's 'Berlin Wall'". Evening Herald. 29 October 1968. p. 10. Retrieved 15 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  136. ↑ "Untangling 5 myths about the Berlin Wall". Chicago Tribune. 31 October 2014. Archived from the original on 20 April 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  137. ↑ O'Donoghue, John (15 November 1968). "Public Housing Challenges". 7 Days. RTÉ. Archived from the original on 26 May 2026. Retrieved 26 May 2026 – via RTÉ Archives.
  138. ↑ "Rats make their life a 'hell'". Evening Herald. 17 December 1968. p. 7. Retrieved 16 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  139. ↑ "Final hoist at Ballymun-Promise of shops soon". Evening Herald. 19 December 1968. p. 6. Retrieved 17 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  140. ↑ "Problem of Dublin's homeless". The Sligo Champion. 31 January 1969. p. 4. Retrieved 30 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  141. ↑ "The 'Towers' have become ice-boxes". Evening Herald. 1 February 1969. p. 5. Retrieved 14 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  142. ↑ "'Mercy' gift of heaters for flats". Evening Herald. 3 February 1968. p. 5. Retrieved 14 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  143. ↑ "Approved lease for Ballymun shopping centre". Irish Independent. 29 January 1969. p. 3. Retrieved 1 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  144. ↑ "Development company to rent pubs". Evening Herald. 2 April 1969. p. 7. Retrieved 1 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  145. ↑ "Ballymun Neglect". RTÉ Archives. 1991. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  146. ↑ "Still feeling the chill". Evening Herald. 11 February 1969. p. 4. Retrieved 14 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  147. ↑ Somerville-Woodward 2002, p. 46 "In February 1969, when the National Building Agency's contract for Ballymun ceased, Dublin Corporation was given possession of 3,021 dwellings in Ballymun. The Government's role was complete, and contractually it was able to place all future responsibility for the management and maintenance onto Dublin Corporation"
  148. 1 2 "541 houses built by local bodies in March". Irish Independent. 5 May 1969. p. 3. Retrieved 14 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com. Cite error: The named reference "londis" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  149. ↑ Murphy, Catherine (18 October 1996). "Will Dublin survive the growth of the mall?". Evening Herald. p. 18. Retrieved 2 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  150. 1 2 Kerr, Colin (5 February 1988). "Shops 'facelift' call". Evening Herald. p. 11. Retrieved 1 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  151. ↑ "48 more houses for Ballymun". Evening Herald. 13 May 1969. p. 3. Retrieved 14 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  152. ↑ Somerville-Woodward 2002, p. 48 "Rent strikes were organised by the National Association of Tenants' Organisations (NATO) during the 1970s through-out Dublin and in Ballymun. [..] The main aim of the rent strikes at Ballymun, as elsewhere in Dublin City, was the introduction of differential rents based on household income"
  153. ↑ "Blazes at flats". Belfast Telegraph. 19 April 1974. p. 2. Retrieved 14 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  154. ↑ "Ballymun people living in fire rish area". Evening Herald. 21 May 1974. p. 4. Retrieved 14 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  155. ↑ "Corporation explain cracks in flats". Evening Herald. 28 May 1974. p. 3. Retrieved 14 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  156. ↑ "Query to minister over flats". Evening Herald. 29 May 1974. p. 8. Retrieved 14 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  157. ↑ "Kangaroo courts threat in Ballymun". Sunday Independent. 9 June 1974. p. 9. Retrieved 14 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  158. ↑ "Flats: no imminent risk". Irish Independent. 14 June 1974. p. 10. Retrieved 14 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  159. ↑ "Baby Dies after Ballymun Fire". Evening Herald. 9 May 1975. p. 1. Retrieved 14 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  160. ↑ Connolly 2006, p. 10 "That was the first time I had ever been in a lift, and my heart pounded with a mixture of fear and excitement as it took us to the twelfth floor. Back then there was no graffiti on the pale grey lift walls, no vomit or urine on the tiled floor and you could see, because nobody had nicked the fluorescent tube lighting, as they would do in the future. (I tell you, it is scary when the doors close on the lift and you are travelling upwards in complete darkness.) At the rear of the lifts a pair of"
  161. ↑ "Go automatic with gas". Evening Herald. 7 October 1966. p. 9. Retrieved 23 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  162. ↑ "Heating is their problem". Evening Herald. 31 October 1966. p. 9. Retrieved 16 May 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  163. ↑ "1966 – Ballymun Towers, Dublin". Archiseek. 27 January 2014. Archived from the original on 19 May 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2026.
  164. ↑ Power 1997, p. 241 "In 1966, when the first tenants moved in, often from slum clearance areas or poor inner-city terraced housing, the estate was pristine, with it's [..] ultra-modern heating system [..] It had good transport links, located close to Dublin airport and on fast bus routes to the city centre."
  165. ↑ Power 1997, p. 242 "low-rise Dublin and rural Ireland did not take to the experiment in modernity. Quickly the flats experienced above average turnover, as the big incentives to become an owner-occupier enticed away anyone with even modest means."
  166. ↑ "Estates on the Edge". The Irish Times. 12 January 1998. p. 8. Archived from the original on 30 June 2026. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  167. ↑ Power 1977
  168. ↑ Cairns, Frank (29 May 1974). "Ballymun flats like 'vertical ghettos'". Irish Independent. p. 17. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  169. ↑ "'High rise flats were a terrible mistake'". Irish Independent. 14 October 1974. p. 7. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  170. ↑ J.J. Kahn, Dan (9 June 1999). "Ballymun Tower Blocks". The Irish Times. Retrieved 9 May 2026.
  171. ↑ Dean, G.; O'Hare, A.; O'Connor, A.; Kelly, M.; Kelly, G. (1985). "The opiate epidemic in Dublin 1979-1983". Irish Medical Journal. 78 (4): 107–110. PMID 3997451. Archived from the original on 14 August 2025. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  172. ↑ Bradshaw J, Dean G. Drug misuse in Ireland, 1982–1983: investigation in a north central Dublin area, and in Galway, Sligo, and Cork Archived 28 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. The Medico-Social Research Board; 1983.
  173. ↑ Butler S. Drug problems and drug policies in Ireland: a quarter of a century reviewed Archived 9 February 2026 at the Wayback Machine. Administration. 1991;39(3):210{235.
  174. ↑ Libreri, Samantha (6 May 2025). "Residents in Coolock flat complex living in unhealthy conditions - research". RTÉ News. Dublin: RTÉ. Retrieved 9 August 2026.
  175. ↑ "Inchicore flats". Irish Independent. 15 June 1966. p. 3. Retrieved 14 June 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  176. ↑ Bennett 2006, p. 138"
  177. ↑ Finnerty, Joe (2002). "Homes for the working class? Irish public house-building cycles, 1945-2001". Saothar. 27 (1). Irish Labour History Society: 65–71. JSTOR 23198766.
  178. ↑ Libreri & Kinsella 2012, p. 29 "'I am partly that because of the way I grew up in Finglas' [...] Bono stated 'when we moved to Cedarwood Road everyone was saying we lived in Ballymun [...] I asked my dad, who worked in the postal service, and he said, believe it or not, one part of the road is Ballymun and one part of the road is Finglas, so you can say what you like'"
  179. 1 2 Buckley, Frank (5 April 2007). "A Social History of U2 1976-2005". The Dubliner. The Dubliner. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  180. ↑ Montague 2008 "Bono, who was born on the faultline between Finglas and Ballymun"
  181. ↑ Connolly 2006
  182. 1 2 McCrann et al. 2008
  183. 1 2 Murphy, Sean (27 June 2004). "Locals rattled and stunned by U2 fans". Sunday Independent. p. 55. Retrieved 26 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  184. ↑ Montague 2008 "There is a photograph on the internet with an accompanying caption that speaks volumes about how Ballymun was/is percieved: 'A Housing Project north of the city: do not go here on foot. This is a bad area.' The image [comes from a website made about a fan's "U2 pilgrimage"], and is even more evocative of the negative sentiment demonstrated in the text. [..] The digital photo was taken from the back of a moving car [..] speeding through the [Ballymun] estate with the windows firmly closed"
  185. 1 2 Ekin, Des (17 September 2006). "Book tells real life in Ballymun 'How the Mun was my total tower of strength'". Sunday Independent. p. 58. Retrieved 26 April 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  186. ↑ Connolly 2006, p. 2 "I couldn't wait to leave; and regardless of what U2 say in their song, 'Running to Stand Still', there was certainly more than one way out. And yet again, once I got out... I only ever hankered to go back."
  187. ↑ McDonald 2000, p. 251 "'I see seven towers, but I only see one way out', Bono sings on one of U2's earlier albums, The Joshua Tree. The only way out for too many young people in Ballymun was via drugs. At least a thousand of the tenants were drug addicts, one in six were unmarried mothers, a further 10% were deserted/separated wives, unemployment was reckoned to be 45%, and up to a third of the estate's population of 12,000 was on the waiting list for housing elsewhere"
  188. ↑ Thompson, Kate (22 April 2006). "Helping hands". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  189. ↑ Bolger, Dermot (7 May 2006). "Little secrets and the blackest lies: believe it . . . or not". Irish Independent. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  190. 1 2 3 4 Murphy 2013, p. 151 "The first play, From These Green Heights, explores the lives of the original inhabitants of the tower block of Ballymun, who were initially strangers in the newly built suburb and feared by the local residents. The final play, The Consequences of Lightning, based around the death and funeral of the first inhabitant of the tower blocks" "In The Townlands of Brazil, the second play in Dermot Bolger’s The Ballymun Trilogy [...] The first act takes place in the 1960s and explores the fate of an unmarried pregnant woman, Eileen, who escapes having to give up her baby for adoption by fleeing to England"
  191. 1 2 3 Malone, Niamh (19 July 2014). ""Oh Jesus, I can't take this": Playing Witness to the Dramatization of Ballymun's Urban Regeneration Project, Dublin, 2004-2008". Breac. University of Notre Dame. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
  192. ↑ O'Toole, Fintan (26 November 2004). "Reviews". The Irish Times. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
  193. ↑ Murphy 2013, p. 152 "Bolger’s play presents a challenge not only to the residents of Ballymun but also to Irish society, in the way that it asks its audience to re-imagine their personal and national histories in new historical, social, and cultural frameworks. "
  194. ↑ Fricker, Karen (28 November 2006). "The Townlands of Brazil". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 April 2026.
  195. ↑ Mianowski 2012, p. 291 "The Consequences of Lightning, the conclusive play of the trilogy, can be assessed as a rather melodramatic summary of the stormy history of Ballymun, and is characterized by the strained relations between the protagonists"

Books

[edit]

Journals

[edit]
[edit]

Images to format later

[edit]
Video by Dublin City Libraries on the history of the Seven Towers
Several of the Ballymun flats being demolished
Overview of the Ballymun Local Area Plan
Map of Ballymun 2021
Map of Ballymun late 1970s
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Draft:Ballymun_Flats&oldid=1375693965"