Social Change in 20th Century Ireland Flashcards
What did housing in rural areas used to be like?
○In 1900 over 60% of the population lived in the countryside
○Lived in difficult conditions with no running water
○Thatched roofs with small window and no electricity
○Used candles and oil lamps for light
How has housing in rural areas changed?
○ESB was established in 1927
○By 1960s electricity was brought to rural areas all over Ireland
○Many stone cottages replaced by modern bungalows
What did farming used to be like?
○Most was tillage farming and required a lot of manual work
○Horse drawn machinery
How has farming changed?
○By 1950s and 1960s motorised tractors replaced horses
○Combine harvesters
○Many farmers moved from tillage to livestock
○Farming became more profitable after Ireland joined the EEC
○Common Agricultural Policy
What did housing in urban areas used to be like?
○Rich lived in outskirts
○Less wealthy rented houses in city
○Many tradesmen lived in houses called two up two down
○Poor lived in tenements
○Living conditions of poor were awful
○118,000 people lived in 5,000 tenement houses
During the 1900s, what % of the population lived in towns?
32%
How has housing in urban areas changed?
○Large scale clearance of tenements ans into corporation houses
○1960s many began to move to suburbs - urban sprawl
○Celtic Tiger - urban renewal schemes
In the early 1960s where were most people employed?
Agriculture
What was work and industry like in the 1960s?
○Arrrival of foreign companies that focused on light industry
○Many of the factories built on outskirts
○Boundary of cities continue to expand
What did sports and leisure used like?
○1900s people used to gather in people’s homes and tell stories or sing songs
○Local GAA played on Sunday
○’Foreign’ sports like rugby played in some areas
How has sports and leisure changed?
○Show bands became popular in the 1960s
○Rock ‘n’ Roll music became popular
○1970s discos replaced dance halls
○1990s dance music
What did transport used like?
○Trams in Dublin, Cork and Belfast
○Long distance journeys taken by steam trains which were very slow
○Cars were very rare
In 1945, how many licensed cars were on the roads?
Only 7,845
How has transport changed?
○From 1960s onwards, cars became cheaper and the main method of transport
○Dual-carriageways and motorways
○Cities suffered from traffic congestion and pollution
○New by passes and ring roads
○Aerlingus and Ryanair
What did communications used like?
○Letter writing
○Telegraph
○Telephones were rarely used
How has the role of women in education changed?
○Intermediate Education Act 1878 and Royal University of Ireland Act 1879 allowed girls to sit exams and take university degrees
○Not until 1904 Trinity allowed women into main male campus
○After 1908, all universities accepted women
○In 1998 women accounted for 55% of all students rather that 25% in 1950
How has the role of women in voting changed?
○Better access to education resulted in more women demanding suffrage
○1896 - Women’s Suffrage Association
○1908 - Irish Women’s Franchise League
○Countess Markievicz was first woman to be elected as MP
How has the role of women in work changed?
○In 1901, third of all employed women worked in domestic services
○1932 - ‘marriage bar’
○Ireland’s membership of UN in 1955 and EEC in 1973 also helped women
○1972 - Commission on the Status of Women
○1977 Employment Equalities Act
○1990 Mary Robinson elected president, followed by Mary McAleese in 1997
