Number 7: Dublin Tenement Life: An Oral History by Kevin Corrigan Kearns
Selected by: Barry
First published: 1994
Available: Still in stock and at most library branches nationwide.
Why: “Kevin C. Kearns’ depiction of Dublin’s inner city slums is both harrowing and sometimes unbelievable. A society cast aside by Dublin City Council. The vision he portrays, through the stories of actual tenants from the slums, is of desperation, community and survival. A must read.”
Personal resonance: “My father gave me this book when I first moved out of home in the early 1990s. I’m still not sure if he was trying to tell me something as I burned the furniture to try and warm my one bed damp basement flat in Drumcondra. Funny but eye-openly dark.”
Who would like this? “Anybody with an interest in social history or the current minister for housing, Eoghan Murphy”
‘Great-Irish Non-Fiction’ is a reading list of 100 books chosen by YOU and highlighted over the coming weeks. If you would like to include a favourite leave your suggestion below.
Previously:
Ed Moloney
Gene Kerrigan
Bobby Sands
George O’Brien
Terence Patrick Dolan
Eamonn Sweeney
My late Grandfather was interviewed for that book. He died just before it’s publication.