During a massive housing crisis, Dublin Corporation Housing Architect Herbert Simms designed and oversaw the building of 17,000 new homes in Dublin City from 1932 to 1948.
Believing everyone deserved good design, his work includes simple features that while enhance the overall look of the buildings. These ranged from curvy concrete caps on entrance posts, through ‘go faster’ brick stripes across the buildings, to beautiful iron work on gates. He also found time to design the bathing shelters on Bull Island and wind shelters along the Clontarf Promenade.
Overworked and under-appreciated, Simms took his own life at the age of 50 on September 27th 1948 leaving a note: “I cannot stand it any longer, my brain is too tired to work any more. It has not had a rest for 20 years except when I am in heavy sleep. It is always on the go like a dynamo and still the work is being piled on to me.”
This short film observes some of Simms designs, while we hear Nell Regan’s poem inspired by him, and Irene Buckley’s original musical composition.
Paddy Cahill