File TSCH/3/S15547 among the records of the Department of the Taoiseach in the National Archives bears the intriguing title “Christopher Cooney: proposal to build garden city at Blainroe, Co. Wicklow”.  The file covers the period July 1953 to March 1955. It begins with a memo from John Garvin, Secretary of the Department of Local Government  to Maurice Moynhihan, Secretary of the Department of the Taoiseach concerning a visit made by Christopher Cooney to the Department of Local Government, on 10 July 1953, seeking support for a  proposed development to create a new town, equal to the then size of Wicklow, at Blainroe. [i]

Christopher Cooney had recently retired as a partner in the firm of A.J.Jennings & Co., Builders, one of the largest building firms in the country, responsible for the construction of many of the largest private and public building projects during the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Cooney’s family came from a farming background in Glenealy. The previous generation of the family had quit farming and moved to South County Dublin, where Christopher spent his early years. He went to work in the firm of Alex Findlater & Co., Grocers and Provision Merchants. His talents as an energetic worker were spotted by one of Findlaters’ most prestigious customers, Mr. Jennings, the builder, and he was invited to join the company. By dint of hard work and night study in quantity surveying, he rose steadily through the company, eventually becoming a partner. [ii]

The 1930s were years of phenomenal growth in the construction industry in Ireland. There was a huge increase in the amount of house building, both public and private, on a scale never before witnessed in Ireland. From 1936 to 1939 more than 14,000 dwellings were constructed annually, and this figure peaked in 1939 with over 17,000 dwellings constructed.   Although shortages of material and labour during the war years and the years immediately following put a halt to this, by the early 1950s, the number of houses being constructed was beginning to rise once again to pre-war levels.[iii]  It was a good time to be in the construction business. Governments were pro-active, regarding building and construction as a key  to economic growth, and were prepared to invest in housing projects. Both the firm of A.J. Jennings and Co., and Christopher Cooney as a partner prospered in these years.

The end of the wartime fuel shortages also sparked a resumption of a trend that had begun in the pre-war years with Wicklow’s beaches and mountains becoming increasingly attractive as a recreational destination for Dubliners both for day trips and summer sojourns..  It was while visiting the Silver Strand one day in the early 1950s that Cooney was suddenly struck by the potential  of the area, not only for recreation but  for post-war industrial development. The nearby 600 acre Kilpoole Farm had recently come on the market. The new County Council road linking Brittas Bay and the Silver Strand was about to commence (or re-commence - the road had been begun, and had come to an abrupt halt, during the Famine over a century before).   The road would run through the lands of Kilpoole.   Cooney tried to interest his partners in A.J. Jennings in a proposed project. When they declined to become involved, he sold his stake in the company and used the assets thus realised to go ahead on his own, purchasing the Kilpoole Farm in 1952.  In doing so, he was not only embarking on the first stage of an ambitious new project, but was in effect restoring his family’s link with farming in East Wicklow. [iv]

At first he continued to run the farm as a going concern,  raising  dairy and beef cattle, but also turkeys, hens, geese, ducks and goats, and cultivating wheat, oats, barley and beet, and even hiring in expertise from Holland to help in the cultivation of daffodils and tulips. Meanwhile he was setting up his own company of building and civil engineering contractors, Christopher G. Cooney Ltd., and working on plans for a new town south of Wicklow that would rival Wicklow itself in size.

When he visited the Department of Local Government in July 1953 to speak with John Garvin, Christopher Cooney was envisaging a new town of 2,000 houses to accommodate a community of 10,000, to be constructed over a ten year period. It was an essential feature of his plan that agriculture-based industries should be attracted to the place to provide employment. He suggested that these might include a creamery, the growing, packing and marketing of fruit, and a canning plant.  He undertook to provide cheap sites for persons wishing to start industries in the area.  Also crucial to the plan would be the presence of a nucleus of a population with an assured income, and this, he argued, could be achieved by the Government undertaking to decentralise some branch of the Civil Service or the Garda Siochana to the locality, where offices, depots etc. could be provided for them as required. He argued that the numbers involved should be not less than 100 and, with remarkable prescience, suggested that the Forestry Division of the Department of Lands would be a suitable candidate for decentralisation. He also suggested that branches of the Department of Social Welfare could be moved there.  He had  also had discussions with the Archbishop of Dublin, John Charles McQuaid, with regard to the possible establishment of a university, or a constituent college of a university, in the area.[v]

Cooney pointed out that the proposed new town would be properly planned as no town in Ireland had been at that time. It would have its hall and community centre, a cinema, sports ground and golf course. He claimed that he could make arrangements with the diocesan authorities for the provision at an early stage of a new church, and that he would co-operate in connection with the provision of schools. He maintained that the development would provide all facilities for a self-sufficient community. He claimed that most of the capital that he had secured on severing his connection with Jennings would be absorbed in the purchase of the site, but that his intention was to get a company started and have a public floatation of shares.

John Garvin, who received Cooney in the Department of Local Government on 10 July 1953  had risen to prominence  in the Civil Service in a way that matched Cooney’s own rise in the construction industry. He had sat the first examinations for recruitment to the newly established Irish Civil Service in the early 1920s and had been appointed to the Department of Local Government, where he was to spend most of his working life, rising through the ranks to become Secretary of the Department in 1948.  He was immensely knowledgeable in the area of local government and had published various studies of state services, finances and legal procedures. Since 1949 he had also served as a Local Appointments Commissioner. All the while he was establishing a reputation as a renowned expert on the writings of Joyce.[vi]   He was impressed with Cooney’s proposed project, but as the meeting progressed, he was feeling that Cooney was rather “too sanguine” as to the chances of success for the projected enterprise. However, he had known Cooney from his time in Jennings to be a person rich in ideas for revolutionary changes in the system of housing finance, and indeed of national finance, and he had a high regard for him. Garvin decided that he should not discourage him from pursuing “what after all is an experiment that should be welcomed”. However, he asked him if he had considered the idea of starting with a well-planned scheme of holiday bungalows near the sea, and pointed out that even if all the bungalows were not occupied all the year round, they “would tend to attract grocers, newsagents, tobacconists and the various other trades people who serve a holiday resort, and that this could form the nucleus of a much bigger development”. Cooney said that he had some of this in mind but that he would dislike having the place base its reputation primarily on its being a holiday resort. He was aiming at the kind of development which would, in his opinion, produce a self-sufficient community from the start.

Cooney had some time earlier called on the Private Secretary to the Tánaiste and Minister for Industry and Commerce, Sean Lemass, but seems to have received a much cooler reception. Garvin was altogether more sympathetic, both towards Cooney himself and the proposed project and, following the interview, wrote to his fellow Secretaries  in the Departments of Finance, Social Welfare, Industry and Commerce, Justice and Agriculture to apprize them of the proposal. [vii]

The next documented encounter occurred after the change of government in 1954.  John A. Costello had replaced De Valera as Taoiseach and seems to have been altogether more sympathetic to Cooney’s plans than De Valera’s government had been, perhaps because of closer family ties with the Fine Gael Party (Cooney’s late Father in law Seamus Hughes had been a close colleague of Michael Collins and had been one of the founders of, and Secretary to  Cumann na nGael .[viii]  Cooney met with Costello in Government buildings on 2 March 1955. He was  accompanied by Mr. D. O’Flynn, Managing Director of O’Hare’s Building Suppliers, Lincoln Place, who had joined him as a partner in the project, and Daithi Hanley, who had worked with him in Jennings and had been Architect in charge of housing schemes in Dun Laoghaire and had latterly served as Dublin City Architect.  He was now Consultant Architect for the proposed New Town.  Costello was accompanied by the Minister for Justice, James Everett, T.D., who represented the Wicklow constituency. Cooney and his deputation were given a very cordial reception and they circulated a memorandum setting out more detailed proposals for the garden city at Blainroe. [ix]

By then, Cooney had purchased the Magheramore Estate, adjoining Kilpoole Farm, bringing his total holding in the area to 1024 acres. His plans, as outlined in the memorandum were still hugely ambitious. He was still hoping to develop Ireland’s first garden city, with an ultimate population of about 10,000.  With a view to acquiring first-hand knowledge of the planning of such a garden city, New Towns had been visited in England, Scotland, Wales, Holland, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, France and Portugal. Outline plans had been prepared, indicating the sites for industries, housing, shops, churches, and schools. Provision had also been made for a helicopter and light plane landing ground. Facilities for all types of outdoor recreation would be available and in addition a cultural centre would be provided for the benefit of citizens where, it was hoped, local talent, arts and crafts, drama and other cultural activities would be encouraged and developed. [x]

The memorandum stressed that the proposal was to build a modern self-sufficient  garden city which would not be a dormitory city to Dublin. Living in such a garden city would be cheaper and healthier than living in a city like Dublin. Residents would find in the new garden city a high standard of healthy living close to work, and nevertheless close to the natural beauty of the surrounding countryside. They would learn to appreciate living near green fields, trees, and the sights and sounds of the countryside. They would have beside them a most invaluable amenity, the sea, “with its bracing air and beautiful strands”  The proposal stressed the need for the decentralisation of a government department of not less than 100 staff to the area and expressed confidence that should such a measure be taken, industries would follow the Government lead.  A regional water supply scheme was being prepared for the area adjoining Wicklow Town and the proposers understood that it could be readily adapted to meet the needs of the new Garden City. The memo noted that the greatest measure of co-operation would be required from Wicklow County Council but was confident that this would be forthcoming. [xi]

The Taoiseach, while sympathetic to the proposal, said that he could not commit to it at that stage, but promised to discuss the matter with his colleagues.  There the matter rested. In the absence of major policy decisions by Government, and of major infrastructural facilities by the local authority, the new town could not go ahead. Christopher Cooney continued to farm in the area while running his building company from Glenageary. Eventually he moved his family back to Dublin, while building and maintaining a summer holiday home on Kilpoole Hill. During this time he continued to engage pro-actively in the life of the Magheramore/Brittas Bay area, turning over Magheramore House and some of its lands to the Columban Sisters, and constructing the new Roman Catholic church at Brittas Bay which was dedicated  by Archbishop McQuaid  in June 1959.[xii]

In 1968, by way of an appeal to the Minister for Local Government, planning permission was granted for the construction of 20 dwellings on the Blainroe site as the first stage in the development of the wider project.  A new plan was drawn up by Blainroe Estates Ltd. c/o Cooney-Jennings Ltd., Glenageary, for the establishment of the new town at Blainroe, now comprising 667 houses, together with sites for schools, a church, shops, and an indoor sports centre.  The consultant Architect/Planner for the project once again was  Daithi Hanley. The Project Architect/Planner now was Colman Higgins. Higgins, who hailed from Greystones, had begun his architectural studies in UCD but had left for London in the early 1950s before completing his degree. He finished his studies in London where he worked with the legendary Georgian architect,  Berthold Lubetkin, who had pioneered modernist design in Britain in the 1930s, and also worked for various local authorities in the Greater London area.  Higgins moved back to Wicklow to work on the project in October 1970, supervised the completion of the first phase of 20 houses at Blainroe, and began work on  the detained planning application for the revised version of the new town which was submitted in 1972. [xiii]

The new plan proposed the phased development of 667 houses on a site now comprising approximately 550 acres, the houses to be clustered in groups and set in parkland, with pedestrian walkways linking the houses to churches, schools and shops. A site for churches had been identified in the central open space where other small community buildings, church halls etc could be placed. In the valley near Kilpoole House, a site would be provided for a few shops, all within easy walking distance of every part of the scheme. A hotel/motel was also envisaged for the site, and a small number of holiday chalets close beside it.  A golf course and a marina were also envisaged, the golf course and marina to be linked to the residential areas via two underpasses beneath the Brittas Bay–Silver Strand road. [xiv]

It was intended that Kilpoole Farm should continue to function. In this way the occupiers of the new houses, especially the children, would live in a natural rural setting, with all the normal farm activities going on around them. The seasonal changes –Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter – would each bring its own special scene – “a real education and preparation for a healthy life”. It was emphasised once again that the development would be self-contained and would not be a dormitory town for Dublin.

All facilities, amenities and services would be within a few minutes walk along secluded landscaped pedestrian ways from all dwelling units. The need to provide facilities for employment had been recognised, and a limited sheltered area at the north-east corner of the site had been allocated for this purpose. It was emphasised, however, that the developers did not now envisage the possibility of any industrial processes taking place within the area, but rather such operations as research institutes, training centres, etc.

The plans were trumpeted in the Wicklow People on 2 June 1972. Under the headline “Blainroe Site for Proposed New Town” the paper set out the plans for a town about the same size as Wicklow Town, but of far different lay-out. Seven months later, on 5 January 1973, the paper was reporting that no decision had yet been taken by Wicklow County Council on the planning application. The council was reported to be favourably disposed  towards  the project in general,  but with some reservations as to how the development would affect traffic on the access roads, particularly through Wicklow Town.  It stated that with the first 20 houses already completed, the next phase in the development would be the construction of the golf course which would take about three years to complete. It was hoped to construct 80 to 100 dwellings concurrent with these works.[xv] In the meantime, Colman Higgins had resigned as architect to the project.  Later he would return to live and work in Wicklow, becoming Chief Planning Officer for the County.

Work on construction of the golf course finally commenced in 1974 and the course was officially opened in July 1978.    Christopher Cooney died in 1983.  By the time of his  death, only 144 of the almost 700 houses envisaged had been built.  It was as far as the project got.  By then the character of the development had changed from the envisaged  “new town”. There were no churches, schools or even shops.  The golf course had in many ways dictated the character of the development rather than the other way around. Rather than becoming the self-sufficient community or artisans and decentralised civil servants originally envisaged, Blainroe turned largely into a recreational development, the houses being purchased mostly as holiday homes by business people and professionals from Dublin, eager to spend their summers on the golf course and close to the beach. In 1986, the Cooney family sold the  golf course and club house to an international consortium that included Swissair. The consortium leased the club back to the members and eventually, after much legal wrangling the members managed to get together the funding to purchase the course and clubhouse.[xvi] The Blainroe Hotel was built as a separate development and flourished briefly in the 1980s and 90s, but sustaining a business all year round on the basis of a tourist season that stretched only over the summer months proved impossible. In 2003 new owners applied for and received planning permission for change of use to convert the former hotel to a nursing home[xvii].  

[i] National Archives (NAI) TSCH/3/S15547

[ii] Information provided by Gus Cooney, son of Christopher Cooney on 1 May 2013. I am grateful to the family of the late Christopher Cooney for this and other information concerning the development of Blainroe.

[iii] P.J.Meghan, Housing in Ireland, IPA, Dublin 1965.

[iv] Information supplied by  Gus Cooney

[v] NAI TSCH/3/S15547

[vi] “Who’s Who in Ireland”, Thom’s Directory of Ireland for the year 1958, Dublin 1958.

[vii] NAI, TSCH/3/S15547

[viii] Thomas J. Morrissey SJ, A Man Called Hughes: The Life and Times of Seamus Hughes, Veritas, Dublin, 1991

[ix] NAI, TSCH/3/S15547

[x] ibid.

[xi] ibid.

[xii] For the laying of the foundation stone and the opening of the church at Brittas Bay see the Irish Independent, 11 November 1958 and 29 June 1959. To mark the laying of the foundation stone, Cooney presented the Archbishop with a silver mallet.

[xiii] Papers of Colman Higgins concerning plans for the development of Blainroe in possession of the author.

[xiv] ibid

[xv] Wicklow People, Friday 2 June 1972 and Friday 5 January 1973.

[xvi] Club History – Blainroe Golf Club in Wicklow, Ireland, available at 

[xvii] Wicklow County Council, Planning Application No. FS1707, details at