WHYTES IMPORTANT IRISH ART 30 MAY 2016

IMPORTANT IRISH ART · 30 MAY 2016 AT 6PM

113

Séamus Ó Colmáin (1925-1990)

VIEW OF LEE DUNNE’S HOME, MOUNT PLEASANT BUILDING’S, RATHMINES

oil on board

signed lower left

16 x 20in. (40.64 x 50.80cm)

Lee Dunne - former resident of the infamous Mount Pleasant Buildings - was a best-selling author whose

1965 novel, Goodbye to the Hill, told a fictionalised account of growing up in the area. The book was banned

in the Republic owing to its sexual content.

Mount Pleasant Buildings, were a block of flats situated in a small area on the hill between Ranelagh and

Rathmines. Construction began in 1901 with the aim to provide accommodation for the ‘working classes’

of the area. By the 1940s widespread unemployment and a lack of basic facilities led to anti-social behaviour

and crime. In the 1960s Mount Pleasant Buildings were the subject of a television documentary on Dublin

poverty. By 1970s, the buildings were ‘deemed unfit for human habitation’ and demolition began in 1972. By

1977, only ten families remained.

€1,000-€1,500 (£790-£1,180 approx.)