Phase 1, Nos 1-10 completed in August 1912

Proposals to build Glenalua Terrace were first mooted in 1910. A report which appeared in the Irish Builder and Engineer dated 29th October 1910 mentions an inquiry held on 14th October into a petition of the Killiney and Ballybrack Urban Council to the Irish Local Government Board for sanction to acquire sites for the purpose of erecting working-class lodging-houses at Killiney. Mr. A. G. C. Miller [sic], architect, detailed the class of buildings they proposed erecting, and estimated the cost of the two-storey dwellings at £227 each and the one-storey cottages at £155. The following year on 22nd July 1911 it was reported in the same publication that the Urban Council of Killiney and Ballybrack purpose building ten new working-class dwellings in Killiney Village, from the designs of Messrs. Millar and Symes, 60 Dawson Street, Dublin.

It appears that the purpose of the construction of these houses was to re-house the residents of the nine sub-standard cottages identified on Talbot Road by Dr. Wright . The replacement of the Talbot Road Cottages took place after the relocation of residents to Glenalua Road.

Extract from the minutes of Killiney & Ballybrack Urban District Council Meetings

Page No.	Date	Minute
122	2nd March 1910	Killiney Housing Scheme. Report of Dr. Wright declaring the area occupied by the 9 cottages at the South West end of Talbot Road insanitary and injurious to the health of the inhabitants, recommending that it be cleared and a smaller number of houses be built thereon.
158	27th March 1911	Killiney Housing Scheme. Read letter Mr. Powell in reference to the purchase of Mr. Talbot’s interest and inquiring if the Council would be prepared to increase the offer. Inform Mr. Powel that the Council will make no advance on their offer.
181	28th August 1911	Killiney Housing Scheme. Read letter Local Government Board stating that the loan of £4,100 had been recommended to Board of Works.
187	30th October 1911	Killiney Housing (Glenalua Road) Town Clerk reported that Peter Noctor took up position as Clerk of Works after signing agreement on Monday the 23rd. The Town Clerk authorized to pay him his weekly wages.
189	27th November 1911	Killiney Housing Scheme. Read letter Messrs. Millar & Symes forwarding Certificate for £400 in favour of Messrs. Pemberton, the 1st instalment on account of their contract. Recommended for payment.
196	29th January 1912	Second payment of £500 recommended for payment.
199	26th February 1912	Killiney Housing Scheme. Read letter from Mr. Powell stating that he hoped to close the matter of the Compensation to Murnane and others this week and asking for a draft for the amount awarded by Arbitrator for £119.18.1 in favour of Mrs. Rosanne Horner the administratrix of Bernard Muldow and aslo a draft for £3.13.0 in favour of Mr. G. Brady Solicitor for Mrs. Horner and Mr. John Ryan fees for attendance at Arbitrators Inquiry. Payments recommended.
203	25th March 1912	Payment to contractor of £400 recommended
218	29th July 1912	Glenalua Cottages. Read letter Messrs. Millar & Symes stating that they understood that the Contractor would be finished in a week or so and also regarding Certificate for payment to Contractor and the termination of the Clerk of Works Engagement. Tenants may be moved into Cottages at end of this week.
		From 29th July the entries in the Minute Book deal with the tender and commencement of building works of Talbot Cottages. Read more here
223	30th September 1912	Glenalua Cottages Killiney. To be insured with the Patriotic in the sum of £2,000.

The site

The lease of an adjoining property refers to the plot of land shaded green on the map which is the site upon which Glenalua Terrace was built. The lease goes on to state:

WHEREAS by Indenture of Lease dated the Twenty-fourth day of July One thousand eight  hundred and ninety (1890) and made between Edward Lister Kay Talbot of Ballinclea Dalkey in the County of Dublin of the one part and Francis Edward Du Bedat of Glenalua Lodge Killiney in the said County of Dublin….

However by 1910 the property had reverted to Samuel Waterhouse and the lease continues:

were acquired by and became vested for an estate in Fee Simple in possession in the Urban District Council of the Urban District of Killiney and Ballybrack in pursuance of an Order entitled “The Killiney and Ballybrack Urban District Order, 1910” and in pursuance of the housing of the Working Classes (Ireland) Acts 1890 to 1908.

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The architects for Glenalua Terrace were Millar & Symes. The information below comes from Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 – 1940, The Irish Architectural Archive.

Architectural partnership, of Dublin, formed by RICHARD CHAYTOR MILLAR and WILLIAM JOHN SYMES in 1874. The partnership agreement, signed on 4 July 1874,(1) was originally for 10 years; on 4 July 1884 it was renewed for another ten years.(2) However William Symes died on 16 April 1892(3) before the ten years had run their course. After his death the practice retained the name of Millar & Symes although it was run by members of the Millar family only until it came to an end in the 1960s. The Millar family was associated with the Bank of Ireland for three generations.

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The set-piece design of the terrace is symmetrical in layout with the central single storey houses book-ended by the two storey gables of houses 1 and 6. The design is unusual in that access is provided via a raised pedestrian walkway which was determined by the sloping nature of the site and the underlying rock upon which it is built.

Phase 2, Nos 11-14 built in 1931

Drawings found in the Irish Architectural Archive indicate the site layout of nos 11-14 Glenalua Terrace which were drawn up by J.M. Mitchell Architect in February 1930 on behalf of The Killiney and Ballybrack U.D.C. Details of the entrance gates and steps are also indicated but no further drawings have been discovered to date. The file containing this drawing also contained drawings of two other similar housing schemes being built at the same time in Ballybrack. It is likely that the same drawings were used for the construction of the Glenalua Terrace houses. The Ballybrack and Killiney house designs are very similar and this design can be seen in other locations around the borough. Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council records confirm the 4 houses were built in 1931.

Dun Laoghaire Civic Survey 1936

A survey of the local authority housing stock in 1936 indicates the number and location of properties in the Killiney area. 19 units are shown on Glenalua Road. The 19 consisted of 1-10 Glenalua Terrace, 11-14 Glenalua Terrace and 1-5 Talbot Road. 1-10 Hill Cottages, Killiney Hill Road are also shown.

Phase 3, Nos 15-24 built in 1952*

The site upon which phases 2 and 3 of Glenalua Terrace were built was on land originally in the ownership of Samuel Swinbourne Waterhouse who resided at Glenalua House, now known as Mount Prospect. An advert which appeared in the Drogheda Argus and Leinster Journal of 12th April 1947 gave notice of an auction of a number of properties and building sites in Killiney on behalf of the Trustees of S.S. Waterhouse, deceased.

Lot No. 4 consisted of four cottages and building site on Glenalua Road. The lot was described as four good cottages let at the permitted rents held on a lease from 1890 and also the adjoining fields known as “The Glen” and “The New Take”. The Glen was held under the same lease as the four cottages and The New Take was held for the residue of a lease of 99 years from 1890. The enclosing wall and entrance to “The Glen” can be seen across the road in this photograph which was taken from the garden of Woodbine Cottage. The Glen was used as pastureland for Hall’s cattle which served Uplands Dairy (Margaret Hall, proprietor 1910), one of at least three dairies in the vicinity of Killiney Village at the time.

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Tender of March 1951

It is not known who acquired Lot 4 but it is likely that it was Dun Laoghaire Corporation as a tender for the erection of 10 houses on Glenalua Road appeared on 8th March 1951 in the Irish Times.

We have obtained information from Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council stating that the 10 houses were built in 1952 which would tie in with the tender date of March 1951. *However, from local knowledge it is understood that the houses were built prior to this in c.1950 so further investigation is required here. Any further information would be greatly appreciated.

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Residents of Glenalua Terrace in 1971. Listing from Thom’s Directory.

1	Crimmins, Mrs. Mary
2	Haughton, Violet
3	Homan, Molly
4	McKimmons, Oliver
5	McGrath, Aidan
6	Younge, Alice
7	Grendon, Esther
8	Redmond, Catherine
9	Walsh, Peter
10	Murphy, Joseph
11	Dooley, James
12	Leary, Thoms
13	McDonnell, Kathleen
14	Lynch, Jane
15	Murdock, Philip
16	Byrne, Maurice
17	Walsh, William
18	Collins, Michael
19	Deegan, Thomas
20	Hall, Richard
21	Lynch, George
22	McClure, Dominick
23	Kelly, Gerald
24	Redmond, Robert