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ESB HAS CREATED an interactive map which shows when each town, village and parish in the country became connected to Ireland’s electricity network.
ESB was established in 1927, at the time only 45,000 homes in Ireland had electricity – usually from a local authority or private electricity supplier.
Ireland’s network, which was constructed in 1929, was the first fully integrated national electricity service in the world.
By 1978, the Shannon Scheme (1929) and the Rural Electrification Scheme (1946) had connected over one million Irish homes and businesses to the ESB network.
To celebrate its 90th anniversary, ESB archivists have researched the company’s annual reports and over 1,500 stories from both schemes.
Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Denis Naughten described the map as a “window into our past”.
Fascinating data is provided around population, numbers of homes connected, public lighting, and previous local electricity suppliers.
“This rich tapestry of information brings to life Ireland’s electrification experience and will no doubt be a useful resource for organisations and individuals in every corner of the country with an interest in local history.”
ESB Networks Managing Director, Marguerite Sayers, said ESB’s archivists have meticulously researched the company’s annual reports, completing over 1,500 stories from both the Shannon and the Rural Electrification Schemes.
“This is a valuable interactive and educational tool which charts the course of ESB’s rollout of electricity from its foundation in the midst of the Shannon Scheme construction 90 years ago, until 1977 when the last communities under the rural electrification scheme were connected.”
ESB want to hear from people who have further photos, facts or stories of electricity in their locality. For further information visit esbarchives.ie.
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Let’s see Wi-Fi map now just to compare.
@Tomas: Should be finished in about 90 years.
@Tomas: check the website
Very impressed with the detail.
We have the most expensive electricity in Europe. Why no proper competition as the companies only cut rates 3% when wholesale prices down 40%. What’s the regularator doing acting like the absent bank regulator that we wrongly still paying for with cuts to disabled services Tom Clunun highlighted.
Oh we still have Green Partys levies and carbon regressive taxes that the UK and a lot of other bigger countries don’t impose on customers
@Stan: Job of regulator who never seems to come on radio and explain what he does…..Job is to make sure options exist so customers can switch….Has no roll in encouraging price reductions just sets the maximum price….Not a consumer advocate just there to make sure several companies provide electricity….
@John003: we had the cheapest electricity in Europe when the ESB themselves set the price, now we have the regulator involved, he introduced competition, set the price and now we have the most expensive in Europe! Some joke
@Stan: no we don’t have the dearest rates in Europe, you may want to have another look.
Wholesale oil and gas rates only make up a small section of costs.
Transmission, distribution, generation, RES etc are external costs to the wholesale market
@Stan: somebody has to pay for the wind developer
@Windy Atlantic Way: somebody has to pay the inflated salaries in the ESB. Even Brendan Ogle said they were “spoilt”. Brendan was on 80 grand a year at the time.
@ricky bobby:
How can we resist. Helpless! At least we could fight the water tax.
Where did moths bump into before electricity was invented? No joke I’m seriously intrigued (and bored)…
@Noel James Doherty: Probably oil lamps…
@Noel James Doherty: candle light, parrofin lamps, etc
@Michael Leahy: the light bulb really screwed up the moth didn’t it Michael
@Michael Collins: are there moths on their way to the sun now going, it’s gonna be worth it
@Noel James Doherty: lol!! Far fewer burnt alive though!!!
@Noel James Doherty: Electricity wasn’t invented, it was discovered.
@Gary: the logic behind your reply Gary has neither been invented or discovered yet
@Noel James Doherty: And yet… he’s right!
Unfortunately the vision that rolled out electricity to all is now gone, we managed to put this kind of infrastructure in over the years when Ireland was destitute, today we have a very lacklustre broadband plan that seems to suggest rural Ireland will remain without any high speed broadband for years if not decades, lagging the rest of Europe.
@Karl: my result now http://beta.speedtest.net/result/6652106540 from rural Leitrim . I wouldn’t say we are that bad just dont get your broadband from eircom woops I mean eir
90 years on and we still suffer from power cuts…….
@Kerry Blake: why don’t you move to somewhere like Florida or somewhere in the hurricane corridor and you’ll know what power cuts are really like
@Kerry Blake: always going to be operational issues. They are rare enough to be fair
@Jamie: Why would I move to Florida to experience power cuts when I can do the same in Ireland like…..
@Kerry Blake:
I guess outages can vary depending on your location. In nth Dublin I can recall 1 outage of 30 minutes in past year due to lightning strike (last month). Over past 30 years it been perhaps once every 2 years. First world “problem”.
@Kerry Blake: wow, your some idiot
@ricky bobby: The irony in your comment.
@Gary: I don’t see it?
I wrote about some of my dad’s memories of electricity coming to East mayo
http://fensterdj.tumblr.com/post/155294534135/the-electrification-of-rural-mayo-some-memories
1978 Black Valley, Co. Kerry.
1996 Cape Clear, Co. Cork
And now we are faced with mandatory/compulsory ‘smart’ meters.
@eastsmer: what’s wrong with smart meters? You wont be paying anything extra and it should make the suppliers more efficient. Unless your are one of the loonies who images smart meters give you cancer, AIDS, autism as well as spying on you?
@Pat O’Leary: Why do you think we are being forced to install ‘smart’ meters ?
If they were for our benefit we would ask for them.
@Pat O’Leary:
“Won’t be paying anything extra”. Ah! Got to love the innocence Lol..
Electricity very expensive,why do we pay regulators huge salaries.if they were on minimum wage they would not be so generous to these big company’s.they should be put on it for 12 months.
Jaysus, Dunboyne wasn’t connected until the 1950′s! Two world wars had already finished by then!
Much better map than Ryan Tubridys.
Perhaps they might find light in many of the 6 county areas in future also.
moneypoint power-station not on map?
Nice information and its really important to highlight how these projects were designed, built, ran and some decommisioned, and it was not a huge disaster i.e. their is huge NIMBYism now to critital infrastructure – but here is loads to show that in Ireland we actually do it reasonably well with concern for all. Yes some could be done better but in the most part Electric connections are very important for all..
.. pity the map does not include a layer for the stations which are owned by third parties. … Edenderry, Rhode peaking, Huntstown, synergen in ringsend..
Ok – I guess someone could go and add it, its all public layers.
Also some of the 400Kv line projects were massive in their own right too – cutting trho
have your say