Time stands still in Nellie’s Flat in the Liberties

The Iveagh Trust gives us a glimpse of an original flat in the beautiful brick complex in the heart of Dublin 8

No 3b, Patrick Street, is a testament to time. This was Nellie Molloy’s flat, in Bull Alley, which was built by the Iveagh Trust as part of a complex of affordable housing in 1890. Nellie was a resident there for 92 years. She moved into the flat in 1910 when she was three years old and lived in the same apartment all her life until her death in 2002. 

Her father joined the British army and fought in World War I. When he returned from the front, he worked in Guinness. They had six children, and all lived in the two-bed apartment that is on view today. Nellie herself worked as a weaver with the Greenmount Linen Company in Harold’s Cross for 27 years.  The youngest of six siblings, she declined the offer of marriage and remained there to care for her mother until her death. 

The Iveagh Trust was the brainchild of Sir Edward Cecil Guinness, a philanthropist who supported the development of social houses, initially in the Liberties. The Trust still backs social and affordable housing in Dublin.

Miranda Guinness of the trust had the idea to turn the apartment into a museum. Nellie’s flat was chosen as a museum, as no changes, besides the installation of a fire alarm, had been made to the flat since the 1960s, as Nellie started to lose her eyesight when she got older, and did not want to have to negotiate unfamiliar territory.

_{John Barrett, estate manager, Bull Alley. Photo: Mary Phelan}

Today, the large complex that lies between the two cathedrals in Dublin 8 remains an important site of social and affordable housing. Dublin City Council (DCC) works with the Iveagh Trust to assign the flats.

The Trust gives a list of available flats to the council’s housing office, and DCC comes back with a list of potential tenants, as John Barrett, estate manager in Bull Alley, explains.  Before permission is given to reside in the complex, the history of the potential tenant is checked, as the trust needs to know if there are any legal or other issues pending. Once this is cleared, and if their income is below the threshold, tenants potentially have a home for life.

Apartments in the complex range from one to three bedrooms, and there are different categories for determining rent.  Most are categorised as affordable housing, so rent is 25% of the household income. For social housing, it is 15%. There is a rent review every year.

Sub-letting is prohibited, Barrett says, as are unauthorised alterations. Various rules and measures regulate any anti-social behaviour.

Residential committees are voted in every two years and they work to identify any issues and build good relations within the community. There are families living there spanning 100 years. One resident who is now in his 30s took over the flat from his grandparents. Barrett tells me this is the most secure tenancy available, apart from home ownership, so long as the tenancy obligations are adhered to.  

_{An outing for Iveagh Trust tenants. Photo: Courtesy Iveagh Trust}

Community rooms are available for IT classes, card games, and bingo nights, and there are weekly screenings of films in the common room. There are sports, such as football, available for the younger age group and they can form a club of their own if they wish or join with other clubs. There are outings scheduled for the elderly, two of which are free, one in summer and one at Christmas.

A number of films have shot scenes in the Iveagh Trust flats, including Michael Collins and Penny Dreadful.  

At the moment, Nellie’s Flat is only open to the public on rare occasions, such as at the annual Open House Dublin Event.