with special features, and the high standards he maintained in the inter-war years when funds and materials were in short supply. He was also lauded for his honest business practices. While his houses were uniform from the outside, and were similar in style to others built elsewhere in the city, the interiors and some decorative exterior features were modified to the clients requirements. These customisations included glazed exterior bricks, different sill and lintel profiles, varying iron railing designs, and unique stained glass window panels in the doors. In response to changing economic and social trends in the 1920s he adapted his designs, reducing the space for servants and accommodating private cars. His houses were marketed very successfully as "Strain-built", and this has since been co-opted by estate agents as a descriptor for any high-quality home of the era in Drumcondra and Glasnevin. Roughly half of the houses on Iona Road and Lindsay Road can be definitely attributed to Strain, such as 34, 66, 68, and 76 Iona Road and 24 Cremore Park. He owned a large property portfolio, with some areas such as Tyrconnell Road and Jamestown Road, Inchicore which were developed in the 1930s. Given the lower quality of these buildings, it is unlikely he was involved in their construction. Strain was an advocate for modern town planning, and was the first chairman of the Dublin and District Housebuilders' Association after its establishment in 1932. References 1870s births 1943 deaths People from County Armagh Irish builders