Rural Electrification
April 26 @ 11:00 - 12:30
In 1927 the Electricity Supply Board (E.S.B) was formed with responsibility for the distribution of electricity from the hydropower plant at Ardnacrusha, Co. Clare. Referred to as ‘The Shannon Scheme’, the plant took over three years to construct and opened in late 1929. True national electrification did not begin until the late 1940s with the introduction of The Rural Electrification Scheme (R.E.S). Introduced county by county, the first supplies were fed to the most profitable area within each county. County Wexford’s first rural ‘switch on’ occurred in 1948, at Shelbourne in the south west of the county and Inch in the north east.
The Irish Countrywomen’s Association (I.C.A) was a driving force in encouraging rural dwellers, particularly the women, to sign up to the scheme. Described as ‘the greatest social revolution in Ireland since the Land Reforms of the 1880s and 1890s…’ Rural Electrification had a huge impact on the lives of women. Rosemary Hartigan will discuss the women who drove the scheme, and the impact, both positive and negative, electricity in the home, and on the farm, had on the women of Ireland.