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Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork

Kieran McCarthy and Seamus O’Donoghue Kieran McCarthy is a Corkman born and bred and holds a Masters of Philosophy in Geography from University College Cork. He has lectured widely on the history of Cork and worked in numerous institutions, universities and schools. He contributes a local history column to the Cork Independent, and is author of over 400 articles and six books.

Seamus O’Donoghue was brought up around Coachford in the heart of the Lee valley. After qualifying as a National Teacher he spent most of his working life in his native parish and was principal of Clontead National School from 1965 to 1988. He is a keen local historian and founder member of Coachford Historical Society.

The Lilliput Press Arbour Hill, Dublin www.lilliputpress.ie

Front: T h e staff at Inniscarra dam (above, August 1956) as it nears completion (below, October 1956) Back: Rolling out the cable, as rural customers are connected to die supply system Jacket design: Anu Design Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork GENERATIONS Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork

Kieran McCarthy and Seamus O’Donoghue

THE LILLIPUT PRESS • DUBLIN Dedicated to the people who worked on

and who continue to be part o f

the Lee hydroelectric scheme First published 2008 by THE LILLIPUT PRESS LTD 62—63 Sitric Road, Arbour Hill, Dublin 7, Ireland www.lilliputpress.ie

Copyright © ESB 2008

All rights reserved. No part o f this publication may be reproduced any form or by any means without the prior permission o f the publishi

A CIP record for this title is available from The British Library.

ISBN 978 1 84351 139 7

Set in 11.5 point Bembo Design by Anu Design, Tara Printed and bound in Bizkaia, Spain Contents

Foreword xi

1. Introduction — Cherished Geographies i

2. Electricity Cometh 19

3. Planning the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme 27

4. Acquisition of Land 35

5. The Work Schedule 47

6. Working on the Lee Scheme 63

7. Immersed Histories and Lost Antiquities 77

8. Effects of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme 99

9. Staff Memories 123

0. Beyond the First Fifty Years 135

Appendices 147 Acknowledgments

This book would not have been possible without the help of many people. We wish to record our thanks to the following people in ESB for their support and assistance: Padraig McManus, Chief Executive; Aidan O ’Regan, Deputy Chief Executive; Luke Shinnors, Executive Director, Human Resources; Pat O ’Doherty, Executive Director, Power Generation; Pat Naughton, ESB Hydro Manager; Liam Buckley, Plant Manager, ESB Lee Stations; all current and retired staff of ESB Lee Stations; Jack O ’Keeffe who is now retired and held the position of Chief Civil Engineer, ESB; Chris McElhinney, General Manager, Shared Services; Malcolm Alexander, Manager, Financial Control & Accounting Services, Shared Services; Niamh Fitzgerald, Finance Manager, Shared Services; James O ’Loughlin, Facilities & Project Manager, Shared Services; and Colm Brophy and Joe Murray, Procurement, Shared Services. We would particularly like to thank Brendan Delany, ESB Archive & Heritage Manager; PatYeates, ESB Archives; and Gerry Hampson, ESB Archives. ESB Archives and its staff play a vital role in recording the history of the company and in so doing provide an invaluable service to the community. We would like to thank Antony Farrell of the Lilliput Press and Djinn von Noorden who was the editor of the book and did an excellent job revising earlier drafts of the text and making many useful suggestions, and Karen Carty from Anu Design for her meticulous work on the design and layout of the book. We would also like to thank Anthony Greene, Martin McCarthy and Noel O ’Flynn. Finally, our thanks go to Aidan Barry, Manager, SWRFB; Patrick Buck, Assistant Manager, SWRFB; all the staff of the Reference Dept., Cork City & County Libraries; and to our many friends who gave us such great assistance with material and photographs. We would also like to thank our respective families for their support, the McCarthy family and the O ’Donoghue family, Donal, Lil, Padraic, Aingeal and Aine. At the time of going to print we were not able to identify all the people who featured in the photographs. We would be pleased if readers with additional information could forward this material to ESB Archives. Any errors or ommissions in the text are not intentional and we will be happy to have corrections made in any future edition of this work.

Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork About the Authors

Kieran McCarthy Kieran McCarthy is a born and bred Corkman. Kieran graduated from University College Cork in 1999 with a Joint Honours Bachelor of Arts Degree in Geography and Archaeology. He subsequently completed a Masters of Philosophy in Geography in the Department of Geography, U CC. Kieran has lectured wide­ ly on Cork’s past in association with numerous institutions, in particular University College Cork, Cork County Council, the Cork Education and Support Centre, the Vocational Educational Committee and with various community associations within Cork City, and further afield in Cork’s twinned cities, such as San Francisco. In particular, Kieran has a keen interest in disseminating knowledge about the importance of local studies in Cork’s primary and post-primary schools. Since 2003, he has annually coordinated the Discover Cork: Schools’ History Project (www.schoolshistoryproject.com). He has been involved in the compilation of several television reports for RTE on various aspects of Cork’s history. Kieran is known for his local history column in the Cork Independent, a weekly Cork newspaper in which he has been writing a series on the history and geography of Cork City and County since October 1999. In addition to publishing over 400 articles on Cork’s development through that medium, he is the author of six books: Pathways Through Time, Historical Walking Trails of Cork City (2001), Cork: A Pictorial Journey (co-edited 2001), Discover Cork (2003), A Dream Unfolding, Portrait o f St Patrick’s Hospital (2004), Voices of Cork: The Knitting Map Speaks (2005) and In the Steps o f St Finbarre, Voices and Memories o f the Lee Valley (2006). Kieran is currently working as a freelance historical consultant and can be contacted at [email protected] or + 353 876553389 (www.corkheritage.ie).

Seam us O ’D o n o g h u e Seamus O ’Donoghue is a native of Coachford in the heart of the Lee valley. As a young man he qualified as a National Teacher and spent most of his working life teaching in his native parish. He was principal of Clontead NS from 1965 to 1988. Since his retirement he has had the opportunity to pursue his keen inter­ est in local history. He is a founder member of Coachford Historical Society and co-editor of the Society’s journal, The Coachford Record. He is the author of two books, The Flooding o f the Lee Valley, The Lee Hydro Electric Scheme and O ’Sullivan Burke, Fenian (co-authored with Mary C. Lynch).

About the Authors Foreword

In 2007 ESB celebrated eighty years of unbroken service to the nation. During that time, ESB has adapted very successfully to meet many difficult and varying new challenges. The provision of an electricity service is a dynamic process, and in late 2007 we witnessed a spectacular example o f this process with the opening up of an all-Ireland market, facilitating competition between electricity providers both north and south of the border. Many people in the industry would claim that such a dramatic development in the electricity business in this country has not been witnessed since the construction of Ardnacrusha hydro station between 1925 and 1929. It may seem obvious, but the only certainty we face is that there are more changes and challenges to be met in the future. It is entirely appropriate that a milestone in an organization such as ESB should be marked and evaluated, and the fiftieth anniversary of the Lee scheme is definitely worth celebrating. The Lee stations have provided great service not just to ESB but also to the wider community, supplying eighty million units of cost-effective and eco-friendly electricity, year on year, since the commissioning o f both Inniscarra and Carrigadrohid power stations in 1957. In celebrating this fiftieth anniversary, we are honouring successive generations of the people and their families who were involved in both the construction and operation of the Lee hydroelectric stations. This book provides an invaluable insight into how the Lee scheme came into being, tracing all major developments over the last fifty years. Local historians Kieran McCarthy and Seamus O ’Donoghue have comprehensively researched their subject and drawn together details of the multi-faceted aspects of the scheme. The book provides the reader with an appreciation of the social, cultural and commercial impact of the scheme, particularly for ESB and the Cork region. It also contributes to capturing the social history of many aspects of our country over the last five decades. I commend the authors for their scholarly work along with all who have assisted in the production o f this book. I also want to take the opportunity to thank all staff who worked on the scheme, past and present, for their commitment and dedication. You have not only served ESB well but in that process you have performed a service for the nation.

Padraig McManus Chief Executive ESB

Foreword Final stages o f construction of Inniscarra dam, late igs6.

I

Introduction - Cherished Geographies

‘Passenger measure your time for time is the measure o f your being’

So goes the inscription on the iconic clock machinery of St Anne’s Church, Shandon, Cork, an analogy which can be connected to the fiftieth anniversary of the hydroelectric scheme. Fifty years is a lot in a lifetime, but when you think in terms of a country’s history, the period is short. We tend to forget how young the Republic of Ireland is today and even how far we as Irish citizens have come in order to carve out a vibrant and positive State. The story of the Lee hydroelectric scheme may be fifty years old but its effects are very real today. To the visitor, Inniscarra and Carrigadrohid reservoirs, although man made, seem to merge unobtrusively into the local environment. Certainly the scenery around the lakes and environs is striking and inspiring during any season. Its histories and geographies seem unspoilt and at times remote. In the twenty-first century, the dams seem well integrated into the landscape. To the knowledgeable local person, the memory of what was covered is still strong. At this stage one would think that the memory of such an event is fading. However, such was the extent of the occasion that its memory is still fresh in the minds of locals and former workers on the site and has become part of the new folklore of the Lee valley. The archives of the ESB, which include documents and photographs from the time of construction, show the original valley and the processes o f construction and transformation. There was significant interaction with the natural world of the Lee valley. At low water levels in the reservoirs, the ghostly remnants of a farming community can be viewed including ruinous houses, stone walls, bridges, roads, rubble, gate pillars, tree trunks and the remains of a paper mill. The story of the Lee scheme

Introduction - Cherished Geographies I is about the facts and figures of construction and was a national infrastructure project. However, the scheme is also about an exploration of the cultural heritage of Cork, past traditions, commu­ nity, memory and identity and how those ideas changed and evolved, forging the modern Lee val­ ley. Fifty years is also an appropriate milestone to remember the people who put together the scheme and who operated it. As Liam Buckley, current plant manager at Inniscarra notes:

It is opportune to take time out, to reflect and to meet old and dedicated friends. The Lee stations have given great service to the community, providing the country with cost-effective electricity; eighty million units per year o f cheap fu el at that. Most o f the major industry in lower Cork harbour is now supplied with water from the Lee, which is abstracted and treated at the Cork County Council water works at Inniscarra. We are honouring the fifty years and honouring the people who put it here and who keep it here.

The socio-economic realities of Ireland in the mid-twentieth century and within a city and county such as Cork were very different to those of today. Our Celtic Tiger economy was only a dream for Corkonians in the 1950s. Economic decline and emigration were widespread. Cork City was emerg­ ing with new suburban housing estates, a reaction to the slum situation of fifty years previously. In the midst of all that, the Irish government and the ESB carved a vision for the future. The aspiration to provide and modernize the country with electricity was a bold initiative. The success of the Shannon hydroelectric scheme in the 1920s and the Liffey and Erne schemes in the 1930s and 1940s led the policymakers to look at the river Lee. Surveying the potential of the river Lee was not new. Varied landscapes as well as the cultural significance of the Lee have been much written about, photographed, and drawn by artists, historians, local people, writers, poets and even composers. It is easy to be seduced by its charm and scenery and to marvel at the feats of engineering, ancient and modern, that the Lee has inspired. Inniscarra and Carrigadrohid dams are extensive fortresses of the modern kind. They signify the beginning of modern engineering but also the advent of modern Irish society. On a human level and against a background of unemployment and emigration they provided much-needed employment, hope and affluence. On another scale, the Lee hydroelectric scheme was to significantly change the face of mid Cork on a regional scale, creating new cultural and physical landscapes. With any civil engineering work, large or small, the physical geography o f the place is important. The catchment area of the river Lee provided the impetus and water power for the Lee scheme and comprises all the land drained by it and its tributaries. This portion of the Lee catchment area covers approximately 440 square miles (1150 square kilometres).The catchment area, which is more or less rectangular in shape and approximately 30 miles (48 km) long and 14 miles (22.4 km) wide, can be divided up into two well-defined stretches. The first is the highland section from Gougane Barra to near Macroom, the second is the cultivated valley from there to Carrigrohane. The Toon, Sullane, Foherish, Laney, Glaise, Dripsey, Shournagh and the Martin, which are the bulk of the tributaries, drain into the river from the north. While there are many small streams coming from the south, the main tributary here is the Bride. The major drainage from the north is due to the presence of the Derrysaggart and Boggeragh mountains.

Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Gougane Barm oratory and pilgrimage island, 2007 (Kieran McCarthy).

On a cultural geography level, several of the locations across the valley are part of the Cork psyche as being timeless, eternal, or sacred in conjuring up good memories. The chapter provides a snapshot of the valley’s modern physical geography. The origin of the name Lee is sketchy and is attributed to an ethnic group known as the Milesians, from Spain, who reputedly arrived in Ireland several thousand years before the time o f St Finbarre. Legend has it that the Milesians acquired land in southern Munster which they named Corea Luighe or ‘Cork of the Lee’ from Luighe, the son of

Introduction - Cherished Geographies 3 Clockwise from top left: Gougane Barra October ceremonies, 2006; Depiction o f Cork’s patron saint St Finbane in Gougane Barra Oratory; Inchinossig bridge, Ballingeary, built in the 1820s, one o f the first bridges that the Lee flows under (Kieran McCarthy).

Ith, a Milesian. The origins of Cork seem to begin at the source of the Lee in the scenic Shehy mountains at the heart of which lies the cherished pilgrimage centre of Gougane Barra (Finbarre’s Rocky Place). Cork’s patron saint, St Finbarre, reputedly set up one of his earlier monasteries on an island in the middle of Gougane Lake. Legend has it that he then left to walk the river valley at the mouth of which he established the monastery at what is now St Finbarre’s Cathedral in Cork City. His myth endures in the valley and it is the legacy of St Finbarre that gives the city and valley its core spiritual identity. There are a number of memorials in the valley dedicated to St Finbarre in the form of stained glass windows, statues, churches and holy wells. Father Denis O ’Mahony constructed a replica of Finbarre’s early monastery in the early eighteenth century. Several thousand people also visit the early-twentieth-century oratory each year in adoration and respect of the sacred pilgrimage space.

4 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Leaving Gougane Barra the river Lee carves a route through sandstone rock to Iveleary. Uibh Laoghaire or in its English derivative, Iveleary, means the ‘descendants of Laoghaire’, and is applied to the territory which they inhabited. Their chief strongholds were the castles of Carrignacurra, Dromcarra and Carrignaneela. The term Uibh Laoghaire is now understood to mean the district co-existing with the parish of Inchigeela in the west of Cork County. Throughout the valley, the heritage of the land is significant. The land has provided and continues to provide employment in farming and industrial pursuits. Dairying is an age-old tradition in the valleys of County Cork and the Lee valley is no different. From source to mouth, farming is the principal industry. The rawness of the land, a product of glaciation, can be seen in Uibh Laoghaire. There is a marked contrast when comparing its rawness to the tertile lands in parishes such as Aghabullogue and Inniscarra through which the Lee flows towards the end of its journey. Epochs of glaciations had a further huge effect on the land. They determined the surface topography and soils, to which local societies had to adapt through the ages. Today much of the soils in the west­ ern part of the Lee valley are peats and peaty gleys, which are best suited lor grazing and forests. Inchinossig bridge is the first bridge that the river flows under on its journey to Cork harbour. The anglicized version of the term Inchinossig, Inse an Fhosaigh, means ‘level spot ot the encampment’, which refers to local folklore that the area was once used as a staging point of attack. Ballingeary village or Beal Atha an Ghaorthaidh or ‘ford mouth of the wooded glen’ is located partly in the townland of Kilmore (Choill Mhor— large wood) and partly in Dromanallig (Drom An Alligh — ridge of the rocky place). The village is divided by the river Bunsheelin, which joins the river Lee just to the east of the village. There is also a great sense of the importance of preserving cultural stability through the Gaeltacht status this region possesses. A t the eastern entrance to the village stands Colaiste na Mumhan, which was opened on 4 July 1904 to cultivate young students in the Irish

Central Ballingeary, West Cork, set in a Gaeltacht area and a village famous for its Irish College, C olaiste na M u m h an (Kieran McCarthy).

Introduction - Cherished Geographies 5 Clockwise from top left: Casadh na Spride community park, Ballingeary, fu ly 2006; The three-mile long and half-mile wide Lough Allua with crannog site, Oilean Ui Mhaothagain or Mehigan’s Island on right; Inchigeela or Inse Geimhleach meaning ‘Island o f the Hostages’ . Folklore tells of an incident several centuries ago when the O ’Learys took some Danes hostage on the island that is now the River Island Amenity Park. The Danes were called Macoitir and their descendants today are the Cotters. The O ’Leary family name is still common in Inchigeela; Modern-day Inchigeela village. The early historic record for Inchigeela is limited. A local standing stone (now missing) marked on the Ordnance Survey in Carrigleigh or Carrig Liath, meaning ‘grey rock’, reminds us that there were people language and culture. In Ballingeary, a number of selected monuments across the village highlight living in the area in the memories of Irish nationalism, nationhood, social chaos and cultural revival in the nineteenth and Bronze Age (c.2500 B C ). The local tower twentieth centuries. The sites comprise Casadh na Spride, the Famine Pot and SS Finbarre and house in Carrignacurra, Ronan’s Church. built by the O ’Learys, records the defence o f their A mile east of Ballingeary, the river Lee opens into a fine lake, called Lough Allua, thirty-five territory in the fifteenth kilometres and a thousand metres wide. New housing development has been located to enjoy the century A D . Fast forward rich amenities of Lough Allua. Travelling the weaving northern lakeshore road between Ballingeary to 1750 when Charles Smith in his A History and Inchigeela makes for some amazing scenery. A clump of trees in Lough Allua reveals evidence o f C o r k describes an of early medieval settlement (around 800 a d ) in the form of a crannog. A crannog, which means a English barracks and the attraction o f a gold-like ‘small island built with young trees’, is an artificial circular or oval island, constructed in lakes. The substance in the river Lough Allua crannog is called Oilean Ui Mhaothagain (Mehigan’s Island). Legend has it that (Kieran McCarthy). Mhaothagain was a Gaelic Irish chieftain o f O ’Leary descent.The presence o f local standing stones, a crannog and even a mass rock exhibits centuries of society living, working and praying by the Lough. Next up on the Lee’s journey is Inchigeela, the unofficial capital of the parish of Uibh Laoghaire. The settlement in the village straddles the river and its architecture is very much mixed, reflecting a rich past. Two of the most noticeable features in the settlement are the Catholic church and the ruins of the Protestant church with their respective graveyards. A cemetery has served the Parish of Uibh Laoghaire for over five hundred years and has been used by parishioners of all

6 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork River Lee valley with Kilbarry H ill on right; Cill Barra, or ‘the church o f Barry’, named after St Finbarre. Here is another link in the fabled walk o f C ork’s patron saint from Gougane to Cork har­ bour. Kilbarry is on the main road from Macroom to Inchigeela, another small settlement but with an intriguing past (Kieran McCarthy).

The Lee passing under Dromcarra bridge, which forms the boundary between the parishes of Uibh Laoghaire and Kilmichael (Kieran M cC arthy).

Introduction - Cherished Geographies 7 creeds. Walking through the village, there are aspects o f an older and undisturbed time in Inchigeela s history such as the tin hardware shop straddling a tributary stream of the Lee. Creedon’s Hotel is like the city hall of Inchigeela. Its proprietor Joe Creedon is a man who is clearly proud of Inchigeela and the fact that Creedon’s Hotel is one of the oldest licensed premises in County Cork, dating to before 1800. As the Lee leaves Inchigeela, the southern valley side of the Lee is particularly impressive. At one point there is a break in the southern valley side as the Cooldoraragha river carves out a tributary link to join the Lee. It is this river that passes through the fabled parish and village of Kilmichael. The local church, a nineteenth-century building just east of the village, offers great views of the river Lee and overlooks the townlands of Inchineil, Dromcarra South and Dromcarra North.

Clockwise from top left: Dromcarra bridge; View o f the river Lee from Dromcarra bridge (Kieran McCarthy); Fieldtrip with Kevin Corcoran oj the Gearagh, Heritage Week, September 2007. The Gearagh or An Ghaorthadh means ‘wooded glen’ .

8 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Stumps o f cut-down oak trees, effects o f the Lee hydroelectric scheme, April 2007 (Kieran M cCarthy).

Inchineil or Inse Ui Neil means ‘river Inch of O ’Neill’. Dromcarra or Drom Cana means ‘ridge of the causeway’ or ‘stepping stones’. At the eastern side of Dromcarra South, the river Lee turns north, unable to carve a path through Cooldaniel Hill. Dromcarra bridge forms the boundary of Uibh Laoghaire parish and Kilmichael. Three miles to the south west of Macroom lies the townland ofTeergay or Tir gCaoth, w hich means ‘land of the quagmires’. Here the river Toon meets the Lee, further adding to its body of energy. Further on is the Gearagh — a unique treasure trove of nature comprising river channels flowing through an ancient forest system. The area is a miniature Florida swamp extending over three miles in length. There are over one hundred species of flowering plants and ferns and wild fowl to be encountered. In 1987, the area was declared a statutory nature reserve under the Wildlife Act of 1976 in co-operation with the ESB who owned the land. Macroom is said to have derived its name - from the Irish ‘a crooked oak’ — from a large oak tree formerly growing in the market square. As a settlement, it owes its origin to the erection of a castle, which was built in the reign of King John by the Anglo-Norman De Cogan family around

1 2 0 0 A D . The R618 on the north bank of the river Lee provides fine views of Carrigadrohid reservoir and also introduces the explorer to the heart of the parish of Aghinagh and the Aghinagh Way, a heritage trail, which was produced by Aghinagh Heritage Group in 1999. The Way introduces a wealth o f archaeological sites such as ringforts, standing stones, wedge tombs and famine sites in areas such as Musheramore, the river Laney valley and Ballinagree. There are several explanations

Introduction — Cherished Geographies 9 The river Lee tracks east through the Gearagh under the Lee bridge, built as part o f the Lee hydroelectric scheme (Kieran McCarthy).

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The confluence o f the river Sullane and the river Lee (Kieran McCarthy).

10 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Left to right: Residents alongside the south bank o f Carrigadrohid reservoir; Mashanaglass or Magh Sean Glas means ‘the old green plain’ . The current ivy- covered ruin on the north bank o f Carrigadrohid reservoir was built by the McCarthys and lies between Coachford and Macroom. Written records state that in the year 1584 the existing castle was occupied by the MacSwiney family, a professional Irish army in the employment o f the McCarthys of the name Aghinagh. Aghina was a grandson of Laoghaire, and Ath Theinne means ‘ford o f fire’ or (Kieran McCarthy). ‘ivy-covered field’. Mashanaglass Castle is a key monument o f antiquity in Aghinagh parish. Magh Sean Glas means ‘the old green plain’.The current ivy-covered ruin was a structure built by the McCarthys, and lies between Coachford and Macroom overlooking Carrigadrohid reservoir. From map evidence indicating the former presence of a moated site, the Normans may have settled here during their initial years of invasion (around 1169 onwards).The present day extant ruins of Mashanaglass reveal a substantial structure, four storeys in height with walls over two metres thick. The ruins of Aghinagh parish church (Church of Ireland) are central to the locality’s cultural richness. It is located near the edge of the peaceful Carrigadrohid reservoir and in the northern section of a graveyard. The church was built on the site of an earlier parish church, which fell into ruins between 1615 and 1774.The contemporary and ruinous rectangular nave and tower were built in 1791—1792 on the lands of John Bowen, the local landlord. The Bowens were originally from Gower in Wales and one member of the family became a soldier in Cromwell’s army and rose up through the ranks to Lieutenant Colonel. Carrigadrohid dam is tucked away in a narrow part of the reservoir. The structure is not prevalent but hidden in the landscape. Indeed one w ould pass the turn-off to the site without realizing it. The dam is another type o f fortress in the area but this time it holds back the river Lee. Its counter­ part is further downstream at Inniscarra. Carrigadrohid dam was the first dam to lower its spillway gates on 23 O ctober 1956. Carrigadrohid Castle stands in the middle of the contemporary bridge, built on a rock. Fortified structures like that at Carrigadrohid were the residences of local lords and chieftains, both of the native Irish families and the descendants o f Anglo-N orm an settlers. It is said Corm ac M cCarthy built the castle in the year 1445 to please Sabina O ’Carroll, who was his bride-to-be. Carrigadrohid bridge marks the beginnings of Inniscarra reservoir, even though one does not sense it for a few miles further along the R618 (perhaps not until Rooves bridge). Inniscarra reservoir is a large body of water just over fifteen kilometres long and on average three hundred metres wide. Kilmurry parish on the south bank of Inniscarra reservoir is plentiful in ancient monuments. Several standing stones,Julachtfiadhs or Bronze Age cooking sites, ringforts, church ruins and graveyards

Introduction - Cherished Geographies II Clockwise from top: The ruins o f Aghinagh parish church, Church of Ireland, was built on the site of an earlier parish church that fe ll into ruin betiveen 1615 and 1774; View eastwards from Aghinagh parish into Aghabullogue parish, north bank o f Inniscarra reservoir; Castles like the one in Carrigadrohid were the fortified residences of local lords and chieftains, both o f native Irish families and o f the descendants of Anglo-Norman settlers (Kieran McCarthy).

have survived the test of time. Those sites reflect the early story of human society in the Lee valley and are full of experience and memory. With overlapping layers of history, one can identify how local cultures and communities have evolved. Aghabullogue parish has churches, ruined, restored and living, big houses, ruined corn and woollen mills, a ruined aquaduct, a holy well, ogham stones and graveyards. If Inchigeela is immortalized as the unofficial capital of area of the Lee river valley, then Coachford, a village nearly sixteen miles west of Cork City, must be its equivalent in this part of mid County Cork. Coachford or A th an Choiste can be translated as the ‘crossing of the coach’, where the Cork-Tralee mail coach crossed the river Lee. The old coach road, which is now the R619, crosses the Cork-Coachford road in Coachford and intersects the townland of Nadrid or

12 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Nead Druide or ‘starling’s nest’. It might also mean Nead Druid or ‘spot of the enclosure’. Nadrid House is a 250-year-old Georgian house standing in five acres of mature gardens by the edge of picturesque Inniscarra Lake. The dwelling was originally owned by a family called Matthews, part of the extended Clarke tobacco empire clan. The Clarkes owned eighteen hundred acres encompassing huge amounts of farmland and forestry. Their lands stretched across the river Lee and took in the Farran Wood area as well. As a result of the direct access to the river, the family had fishing rights as well as hunting and shooting rights.

Postcard o f Coachford, c. 1900; This was where the Cork-Tralee mail coach crossed the Lee. A relic from this era is enshrined in nearby Rooves bridge, which was built in the early 1950s as part of the Lee hydroelectric scheme (Kieran McCarthy).

Coachford Terminus; Coachford is remembered for its association with the Cork and Musketry Light Railway. Known also as the Blarney Tram, the Hook and Eye, and the Muskerry Tram, it was financially successful and much used by locals. The line opened in 1887 and closed in 1934 (Kieran McCarthy).

Introduction - Cherished Geographies 13 Clockwise from top left: Cronody dovecote, north hank o f Inniscarra reservoir; The pigeon house has been dated to c.1716, the same time Cronody House was erected. The nests were visited twice a month for the young birds and pigeon pies must have formed some o f the dishes provided by the residents o f Cronody for their guests; Intake pump on Inniscarra reservoir for Inniscarra Waterworks; River Lee spilling over the weir at Ballincollig Regional Park, summer 2006; Inniscarra reservoir 2007 (Kieran McCarthy).

The Cork and Muskerry Light Railway was opened in 1887 and closed in 1934. It had twenty- seven miles of track and the main line ran to Blarney. There were two branch lines, one to Coachford and the other from St Ann’s, near Blarney, following the Shournagh valley to Donoughmore. Trains connect places and enhance the creation of new landscapes. The Muskerry tram linked the country­ side to the port city of Cork. The train gave access to the immediate hinterland, quickening the transfer of goods between County Cork locations and the city. In a sense, its tracks symbolized the spread of industrialization in this area of the northern valley side of the river Lee. Moving eastwards along Inniscarra reservoir one travels into the townlands of Fergus West and

Fergus. Fergus or Feargus lived about 600 a d and was the grandson ofTighernach. He became a holy man who reputedly lived with St Finbarre at his monastery at Corcach Mor na Mumhan or the ‘great marsh of Munster’, now the city of Cork. Farther east is the townland of Cronody or Corra Noide, which means the ‘stone enclosure of the church’. Cronody is said to have formed part of outfarms of Inishleena Abbey, which was located nearby but submerged through the Lee scheme. In Cronody overlooking Inniscarra reservoir are the ruins of a pigeon house. Dated to around 1716, the same time Cronody House was erected, a collection of fifteen rows of nesting boxes can be seen. Each row contains thirty holes making four hundred and fifty nests in all. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the owner of Cronody kept a superior breed of carrier pigeons, which were used for bringing news o f racing events from England. Inniscarra has a strong association with the Lee valley and is well known by Corkonians. The area is noted for its scenery with its reservoir lake, lush green fields and the modern industrial symbols of Inniscarra hydroelectric dam and the waterworks. Inniscarra waterworks is located two kilometres

14 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Top: Carrigadrohid upriver from the ESB hydroelectric dam. Castle. Bottom: From Inniscarra Lake is the biggest lake on the Ballincollig, the Lee meanders towards the Lee. The 1960s and 1970s in C ounty C ork tidal water. Carrigadrohid were a time of industrial growth and Castle overlooks Hell development in the harbour area. This was Hole — a favourite swimming and fishing acknowledged in the publication of a haunt for many centuries Cork Harbour Plan in 1972. Cork County that is near the present- day Angler’s Rest pub Council’s development plan of 1967 and (Kieran McCarthy). the plan to promote the growth of satel­ lite towns led to the need for an increased water supply. Cork County Council, Cork Corporation and the Department of Local Government decided that Inniscarra Lake, with the assistance of the ESB dam, would provide the necessary volume of water needed. B y 20 September 1973 the Minister for Local Government, James Tully TD, had approved the contract documents for

Introduction — Cherished Geographies 15 Lee Fields, April 2007 (Kieran McCarthy).

the waterworks at Inniscarra. An intake and pump house, built into sixteen metres of water at the edge o f Inniscarra reservoir, can withdraw water from the lake at varying levels. Ballincollig, a settlement on the southern side of the Lee valley, has grown considerably in size, both in terms of population and number of houses. The village has expanded in accordance with the needs of its resident and the commuter population. The functions of Ballincollig have changed over time, and they have ranged from providing defence — with Ballincollig Castle on the Anglo- Norman Irish frontier in the fourteenth century — through to supplying army barracks, houses and shops in the nineteenth century for workers in the gunpowder mills. A weir was created to divert the water of the Lee for the production of gunpowder. In recent years, Ballincollig, a satellite town of Cork City, has grown in size to over 20,000 people. Further downstream from Ballincollig, the Lee meanders towards the tidal water past the sacred fishing grounds at Angler’s Rest. On one side of the valley is Curraghkippane and on the other, soaring above the scene just before one encounters the Carrigrohane Straight Road, is Carrigrohane Castle. Carrigrohane means Carraig Raitheach or ‘the rock of the ferns’. The second translation is Carraig Rothain or ‘the rock of the (hangman’s) noose’. The development o f the site began around the year 1180 when King Henry II granted Milo De Cogan, an Anglo-Norman lord, several hundred acres of land south and west of the walled town of Cork.

1 6 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork C. 1600, the Queen’s Lord Deputy gave the lease of Carrigrohane to Sir Richard Grenville, on the condition that he would repair the ruined walls of the castle and build a new house. The new semi-fortified mansion with three storeys was lit by four windows on each storey. The medieval castle has partly survived next to the present-day dwelling. Travelling on, the weir at the Lee Fields provides a boundary o f the rivers fresh water and tidal water. The Lee Fields are an important cross­ roads, where the Lee’s natural wilderness and the urban wilderness of the city collide.

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Electricity Cometh

When the Electricity Supply Board was set up in 1927 the electricity industry in Ireland was over forty years old. Electricity is an energy source that can change landscapes depending on how it is created and distributed. Pylons, for example, can alter the beauty o f a rural scene, but they also enable the lighting of public spaces, homes, streets and shop fronts, and are beneficial in terms of safety and comfort. In the late 1870s the electromagnetic effect previously experimented with by Michael Faraday in the 1820s was brought to a new level. Powerful generators were developed to generate electricity. The world’s first really successful power station and electricity distribution network was Thomas Edison’s Pearl Street plant in New York, which began working on 4 September 1882. The first electric light in Ireland was a lamp outside the office of the Freeman’s Journal in Prince’s Street, Dublin, which was switched on in 1880. That same year the Dublin Electric Light Co. was established in a small generating station in Schoolhouse Lane from which Kildare Street, Dawson Street and parts of Stephen’s Green were lit with lamps on wooden poles. In Cork, Brother Dominic Burke, a Christian Brother and a leading educationalist in the city, had a strong interest in electricity. He lived and taught at the North Monastery School. When Pope Pius ix celebrated the silver jubilee of his episcopacy, Burke honoured the occasion by erecting a huge lamp in the grounds of the North Monastery. During the Cork Industrial Exhibition of 1883, stalls demonstrating electric light machinery, telegraphs, telephones, magic lantern displays and power transmissions attracted huge crowds who wanted to observe these previously unseen scientific displays. One of the highlights of the exhibition was an electrically run tramcar with eight wheels that ran around the stalls and sideshows of the vast hall. When the exhibition ended, the Corporation asked city engineer M.J. McMullen to find out about the cost of providing urban lighting and public tramcars. Electricity first illuminated the

Electricity Cometh 19 Switch on at Inniscarra, 22 December 1947 (ESB Archives).

streets of urban Irish settlements such as Cork in the 1890s — in 1898 the Corporation of Cork funded and established an electric tramway system for the city. As the years progressed other towns and cities developed their own electricity systems — Macroom in the 1890s, Bray in 1891, Galway in 1897 and Limerick in 1901. By the time of the second decade of the twentieth century, there were 160 separate electrical systems in the country. O f these, 140 were privately owned while all the bigger undertakings were in public ownership. Many of these companies were very small and they were selling the surplus electricity, mainly for lighting, from generating plants operated by coal or oil. For example, in 1925, there were forty electrical companies with less than five customers each and only four undertakings had over a thousand customers each. The price of electricity varied from as high as sixteen pence per unit to four pence per unit. The total number of customers in the country was only a very small fraction of the total population. The advent of World War 1 slowed down the expansion of the industry. This was particularly due to a shortage of materials. However, the shortage did have one good result — it led to focusing attention elsewhere for the production of electricity. In 1918 a committee was set up by the British Government to study the natural resources in the country and the report was published in 1921.

20 Generations: Memories of the Lee Flydroelectric Scheme, County Cork At the same time the Sinn Fein Government set up the Commission of Enquiry into Resources and Industries in Ireland under the chairmanship of Hugh Ryan, and that report was published in 1922. Both committees came to much the same conclusion with regards to the production of elec­ tricity, opting in favour of greater use of the country’s rivers for the generation of electricity. The rivers Shannon, Erne, Bann and Liffey had particular possibilities. Electricity was still only available to certain parts of the Irish populace. In 1922, the birth of the Irish Free State coincided with the demand for the provision of electricity to the wider public. In 192$ there were forty electrical companies in Ireland and there was no cooperation or coordination between the suppliers. Between 1923 and 1929 an Electricity Supply Bill was proposed in order to establish Ireland’s Electricity Supply Board. The state board was founded on 11 August 1927, focusing on the countrywide distribution of electricity and the pro­ motion of its use. It was further proposed that Ireland’s principal rivers could be ideal sources of hydroelectric power. It was not the first time that a scheme to harness the Shannon was promoted because such as scheme had been suggested as far back as 1901. Dr T.A. McLaughlin, a young Irish engineer, who worked in Germany for Siemens Schuckert, and Dr Patrick McGilligan, Minister of Industry and Commerce in the Free State Government, were consulted when it came to harnessing the river Shannon to produce electricity in a hydro­ electric plant. The complex at Ardnacrusha was developed and opened by President W.T. Cosgrave on 22 July 1929. With the completion of the scheme, the Free State Government had demonstrated that Saorstat Eireann could rapidly, efficiently and economically carry out a hydro scheme on a scale as large as any other in Europe. The marketing for the electricity campaign proved successful and in the ten years from 1932 to 1942 the number o f the Board’s customers jum ped from 77,134 to 200,000. The initial stages o f electrification were confined to large towns and large villages. In 1932 the demand for electricity was approaching capacity and the Board had to look again at the Liffey project. A feasibility study on harnessing the Liffey was carried out in 1934-35, and in 1937 the Liffey project began.The war interfered with progress and it wasn’t until 1949 that the entire Liffey scheme was completed. The war years was a tough period in the history of the ESB as the Board struggled to provide supplies for its customers. After World War II, the development of hydro power continued on the Erne, the Lee, the Clady and finally in the 1970s at Turlough Hill. The ESB had also been looking at other methods o f generating electricity using native resources.Turf (peat), of which we had an abundance, presented a challenge to the ESB. The technical problems were overcome and ten turf-burning stations were built. Demand for electricity continued to grow and it became necessary to build stations using imported fuels — coal and oil. Oil stations constructed included Ringsend, Great Island, North Wall, Marina, Tarbert and later Poolbeg. With the discovery and development of Kinsale gas field in C ou nty C o rk in the 1980s, there was a changeover from oil to natural gas as a source o f fuel and new combined cycle plants were introduced in North Wall, Marina, and Poolbeg in Dublin, and a new gas-fired station was built at Aghada, County Cork. ESB also built the 900 M W Money Point coal-burning station in County Clare in the 1980s, designed to provide a reliable source of electricity from fuel other than oil and so ensuring diversity of fuel supply to the nation. Developments were not confined to increasing generation capacity and a major step was taken

Electricity Cometh Section o f Cork Examiner report on electrification INNISCARRA SELECTED AS MOST SUITABLE SITE o f Inniscarra, t v / / 2 / * / 24 December 1946. it e Cork Is First: E.S.B. Rural )- is .4 Electrification Scheme y A- rnHH eagerly awaited rural electrification scheme, for which the Electricity 2Q Supply Board have made much preparation, is about to take shape, and gratifying to learn that the Cork area has been chosen by the Board as as the most suitable for southern development. 30 Some months ago it was announced 1a that a survey of the Inniscarra area ad was bfeing made by the E.S.B,, but it to was known that their engineers were also testing other Southern districts, or and there was much speculation as il- to the district on which their final or choice would fall. It was learned yesterday, at a he meeting of the Cork and Kerry Coun­ :th cil of Muintir na Tire, that official information had been received by the .er Secretary that the E.S.B. had deemed Drs the Inniscarra area as the most suit­ able, and that it will be the first let Southern area to be developed under the Board’s electrification scheme. ^se It Is understood that work in the area will be commenced earlv up in the New Year. wo . The Guilds of the Inniscarra area, 5rk namely Clogheen, Berrings, Tower /it- and Ballincollig, acted jointly in the organisation of the area and in put­ be ting forward its claims. The fact thaV**'e area was so thoroughly organ­ agi ised is undoubtedly a factor in con­ em. vincing the E.S.B of suitability for development. at The Regional Council expresses its ing pleasure at the success achieved by the combined efforts of this group of Guilds, and are of the opinion that much could be accomplished through­ out the country by co-operation of Guilds on the group system. It was decided that a message of I. congratulation be sent to Father Hayes and the Executive Committee >re of Muintir na Tire on the success which attended their intervention in ery the sugar industry deadlock. ■>pa- hial CORK SHIPPING— Monday. , Arrivals—Ss. Selene. 772. Hallengien, Port Ta.1hr*t...... ' cc * *'%n

on the distribution side of the business when in August 1943, the government announced its approval of the ESB scheme for rural electrification. Despite many post-war difficulties, the scheme got under way in 1946 and the first pole was erected at Kilsallaghan, County Dublin on 5 November 1946. By the following year an area for development had been established in twenty-three of the twenty-six counties. In 1948, seven of the areas had been completed. Area officers of the Board were urged to have a word with the parish priest or work through such organizations as Muintir na Tire, Young Farmers’ Clubs or the ICA. There were always some people in every parish who

22 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Report on demonstration held at Inniscarra, Tuesday To: Mr. W. P. Roe. From; P. J. Ermis. 20 and Wednesday 21 January 1948 (ESB Archives). REPORT OK DEMONSTRATION HELD AT INNISCARRA, TUESDAY 20th, WEDNESDAY 21st JANUARY 1948, at the Hurlers' Hall, Ballincollig

A two-day demonstration was held in the above hall in extremely toad weather conditions. The hall, which is very big and unfinished, was very difficult to convert for a good display. However, with the considerable help provided by Mr. Boland with a good number of domestic appliances, the general appearance of the display was very presentable and produced favourable comment.

The attendance on the first night amounted to approximately 150, but having regard to the appalling weather conditions it was considered very satisfactory by persons associated with the area. The full programme of demonstration and films was given and from the interest taken afterwards the night was comparatively successful. The hall was open as usual all day on Wednesday, but again the weather was very inclement and practically nobody visited the display. The evening demonstration started in very much improved weather conditions and the hall showed a big difference in attendance, and it was estimated that up to 300 people, including farmers from Inniscarra village and further, were there. There were no questions asked regarding any matters on this occasion, and when compared with our earlier visit to the same area the year previously when the Three-Phase question was very sore with the members of this Rural Area, it can be taken that the question of supply of Single-Phase is acceptable to all consumers now.

The publicity, which followed the usual practice of posters and Church announcements, was not as thorough as in other areas because of the fact that one Parish Priest refused to undertake the request and the posters were delayed and not erected until the Saturday previous to the opening date.

SUMMARY

Prom my contacts with various consumers in the district, I am well pleased with the development in this Area. I would have preferred to hold the demonstration in the Inniscarra end of the area, but the supply position prevented this. The village of Ballincollis is not just the ideal location, owing to the fact of its close proximity to Cork City and the existence of supply for some time past. I arranged with the District Engineer to have Mr. Lyons make a thorough sales canvass immediately after the display and suggested he use the new Hire Purchase as a means of inducement to very small farmers for the kettle and iron sales. I referred to this Hire Purchase scheme on both nights of the demonstration. I would suggest we follow up all future demonstrations by a form of questionnaire on the 1 results obtained by the Area Organiser after, say, one month I from the date of the demonstration.

DEVELOPMENT D IV ISIO N

Electricity Cometh 23 E SB ’s Rural Electrification Programme, often referred to as The Quiet Revolution, was implemented on a phased basis over a thirty-year period from 1946-76. The country was divided into 792 local areas, each of which had between 300 and 600 consumers. Each area was scheduled for connection on the basis o f the likely economic return, with approximately 380,000 rural customers being connected to supply system over the thirty-year period. Typically, it took a rural gang o f forty to sixty men between three and six months to deliver an electricity service to each area. Details are available in a book titled T h e Quiet Revolution by Michael Shiel published by O ’Brien Press in 1984 and reprinted in 2003 (ESB Archives).

were anxious to procure electricity for their area. Inniscarra was the first rural electrification scheme to be put in operation in County Cork. The Cork Examiner on 23 December 1947 reported:

By throwing a switch at Curaheen a few miles from Ballincollig yesterday afternoon, M r Henry Golden, Cork, E S B , brought light to 100 houses in the Inniscarra area. When M r Golden operated the switch, which was on a pole, a lamp on the pole was lighted and bulbs in nearby houses glowed in the gathering darkness. Thirty-two more houses will receive their electric current supply soon after Christmas, and by March 750 houses which have contracted to take supply in this area will have the benefits of electricity.

In the parish of Aghabullogue the then curate, the Reverend P. Sheehan, and the local guild of Muintir na Tire were the leading individuals who promoted the idea of the electrification of the parish. Volunteers visited every house in the parish, measured the dwelling houses and outhouses and gave the occupants a rough estimate of what the fixed charge would be. The fixed charge proved, in some cases, to be a stumbling block, as some thought it was too high. In an effort to persuade his parishioners, Father Sheehan preached many a sermon on the benefits o f electricity and told his congregation how much it would cost to boil an egg or boil the kettle. The higher the acceptance percentage, the better the chance of getting the ESB to bring the electricity to the parish. The ESB officials in Aghabullogue were Con O ’Shea and his assistant Jerry Linehan.The two

24 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork of them, working together, visited every house and re-measured them. They answered questions asked by the local community. Prior to doing the survey they were advised never to visit too early in the morning and never to refuse a cup of tea. They cycled all over the parish and completed the survey in three months. The organizing committee was overjoyed when it was announced that their application was successful and eventually the power was switched on in September 1949. Even though electricity was now available, people were still very slow in making full use of the facility. There are many stories attached to rural electrification — some true, some false. There is a story told about a widow living on her own whose use of electricity was minimal. When a representative of the ESB asked her why her power consumption was so low, she said that she only switched on the light to look for the matches to light the lamp. The rural electrification scheme made steady progress and by 1959, 75 per cent of the country had been hooked up. However, it was not until 1975 that the last area, the Black Valley in County Kerry, was electrified. B y that time, more than 380,000 rural dwellers had been supplied. The benefits to people of rural Ireland were widespread and revolutionary. Indeed, the programme has been called The Quiet Revolution.

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Planning the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme

The idea of harnessing the Lee was in the minds of the administrators of the ESB long before the actual plan was agreed upon. Within three years of commissioning the Shannon scheme, demand for electricity was high. The ESB considered other hydro schemes. The Liffey and then the Erne were harnessed.The demand continued to rise as the rural electrification project progressed and as more electricity was needed the suitability of the river Lee for a hydro scheme was investigated. The ideal river for a dam is a fast-flowing one with a steep fall like those in Scandinavia or Switzerland. Those types o f rivers do not exist in Ireland. For the Lee hydroelectric scheme, a suitable location, a narrow valley or gorge in a river, was sought to build a dam. The right rock structure for foundations is vital. At Inniscarra the old red sandstone cutting was perfect. A few miles upstream a narrow cutting at Carrigadrohid proved another suitable site. The large catchment area of the Lee was ideal. It had a good year-round water supply. The Lee above Inniscarra has a catchment area o f 790 sq. km (305 sq. m) and an average rainfall o f 1500 mm (59.6 ins).The third requirement is a head of water to power the station.That is determined by the gradient of the river. The river Lee potentially has sufficient gradient but only by backing up the river into large reservoirs.The 45 ft (14 m) fall at Carrigadrohid and the 100 ft (30 m) fall at Inniscarra give an adequate head of water. Minimum disruption of the local community was also deemed important. As much of the Lee valley is steep-sided and confined, it was considered that the loss of land and human habitation would be minimal. Otherwise the cost of disruption would have proved too much. The Lee more or less qualified on all four counts and the decision was made that the river Lee should become Ireland’s fourth major hydroelectric scheme.

Planning the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme 27 In a hydroelectrical installation between 75 per cent and 80 per cent o f its cost is in civil engineer­ ing works. Except for the Shannon scheme, all other hydro stations in the country were constructed to the design of the Board’s own staff. The Civil Engineering Department of the ESB was responsible for the preparation and construction of the Lee hydro plant. The Department was divided into five sections; (1) Hydrometric, (2) Structural Design, (3) Land Purchase, (4) New Works Construction, (5) Supervision and Maintenance. The first stage in the Lee scheme was to determine the average fall and flow of the river and the general outline and nature of the site. From those, an estimate of the output was made, a preliminary sketch of the development prepared and the approximate cost estimated. This work was completed based on the data available from Ordnance Survey maps of the Lee catchment area, rainfall maps and a walk-over inspection of the site. The hydrometric section did most of this work through the assistance of a senior design engineer who inspected the site. He advised on costs and type of construction. The work began on the Lee in 1940 when a flow meter was installed at Gosses Rock. Information on water flow and so on was also available from the Cork Corporation at their water­ works on the Lee Road. Two further flow meters were installed in 1946 — one at Dromcarra and the other at Oakgrove near Carrigadrohid. In 1947 four additional flow-measuring stations were

Aerial survey of Rooves bridge area 1948, looking westwards (ESB Archives).

.

28 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Collecting data, explo­ rations at the site of Inniscarra dam, March 1949 (ESB Archives).

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Artist’s impression o f Inniscarra dam, early 1950s (ESB Archives).

established to provide information, which would be of assistance in the construction of the proposed development. The second stage of the development consisted of the surveying of the valley. The River Lee Survey Plan was completed in 1943.The entire valley was surveyed to determine what land would be flooded, how many houses would be submerged, and what roads and bridges would have to be replaced. All this data was updated in 1953.The Survey Plan envisaged three dams on the Lee at Inniscarra, Carrigadrohid and above Dromcarra bridge. The possibility of a fourth dam was also

Planning the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme 29 investigated. A geological survey was pursued in 1943 and a report prepared. Seepage tests were made where necessary in rock and overburden. Borings and trial pits were sunk in 1944 and again in 1948. Alternative proposals for the development were sketched out and costs estimated by the design section. The lands required for the scheme were inspected and valued by the land purchase section. On the basis of the flow data, which had been collected since hydrometric observations began in 1940, plans for the possible hydroelectric development of the Lee were prepared in 1947. A report was submitted to the Board for approval to advance the designs to the contract stage and to obtain the necessary legislative authority for construction. In 1948 it was decided that the river Lee offered an economical return. Investigations had indicated that the most favourable development consisted of the construction of two stations, one at Inniscarra, containing two 10MW turbine generating sets, and another at Carrigadrohid with two 4M W sets.The final design was for two sets at Inniscarra — one 15MW and one 4MW — and one 8MW set at Carrigadrohid. The proposed third dam at Dromcarra was dropped. Towards the close of the year a scheme was prepared for submission to the Minister for approval. The preparatory designs for the station were drawn up, contracts finalized, and specifications and bills o f quantities prepared. In July 1948, an aerial survey of the Lee valley from Inniscarra to the Gearagh was completed. The purpose of this survey was to enhance the designer’s knowledge of the topography and to study available storage volumes. The survey has given us some excellent black-and-white photo­ graphs of the valley, some of which are reproduced in this book. A very high-powered camera must have been used as the pictures are of excellent quality. They are so good that you can see men working in the fields and the remains of the hay stacks. In all, there are forty-three photographs in the series. All the antiquities destroyed in the flooding can be seen in the pictures. A feature of the pictures is the number of cows that are standing in the river. These pictures were taken in high summer — the gadding season. The warble fly was rampant at that time and when the cows heard the buzzing of this fly they took off. Nothing, just nothing, would stop them as they raced for shelter from the dreaded fly. As the warble fly did not travel over water, this was one place where the cows were safe. Today, the warble fly has been eradicated. To facilitate the easy acquisition of land, Dail Eireann passed the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act 1945, which became law on 12 November of that year. This act gave wide powers to the ESB once Sean LemassTD, Minister for Industry and Commerce, had authorized the project. As required under the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act 1945, the ESB submitted the propos­ al to the Minister of Industry and Commerce. The Minister, Daniel Morrissey TD, approved the scheme under an order dated 1 December 1949, made under Section 4 of the Act. (Government changed in 1948.) In the order signed by the Minister is a list of all the work to be done to carry out the scheme. It also detailed what and where the works were. The project visualized the use of the fall between Dromcarra bridge and Inniscarra in two steps. T h e lower step was to be form ed by the construction of a dam in the gorge at Inniscarra. This created a reservoir extending about ten miles (16 km) up the valley. The upper step involved the construction of a dam in the rock gorge immediately upstream of Killinardrish bridge creating a second reservoir extending eight-and-a-half miles upstream towards Dromcarra.

Generations; Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Pre-construction Carrigadrohid dam site, 1956 (ESB Archives).

The order listed the townlands in which the works were to be constructed and reservoirs created. The townlands affected by Inniscarra reservoir were: Carrigyknaveen, Curraleigh, Faha, Innishleena, Magooly, Agharinagh, Kilgobnet, Cronody, Fergus, Nadrid, Leemount, Carhue Lower, Coolnagearagh, Carrigadrohid, Killinardrish, Nettleville Demesne, Loughleigh, Rooves Beg, Rooves More, Aglish, Farran, Ballineadig, Clashanure, Walshestown, Castleinch and Curraghbeg. The townlands affected by Carrigadrohid reservoir comprised: Coolalta, Caum, Coolacoosane, Rosnascalp, Mashanglass, Ummera, Bealick, Sleaveen East, Coolcour, Sleaveen West, Tullatreada, Raleigh, South Glebe, Dundareirke, Gearagh West, Teergay, Gortsmoorane, Droumcarra South, Droumcarra North, Cooldaniel, Inchisine, Annahala West, Gearagh East, Annahala East, Annahalabog, Dromkeen, Toomsbeg, Tooms West, Inchinashingane, Far-ranavarrigane, Tooms East, Dunisky, Carrigdarrery, Crossmahon, Ballytrasna, Lehenagh, Coolnacarriga, Classas and Monallig. In the fourth and final stage of the preparation work contracts were drawn up, working draw­ ings were prepared and the necessary land was acquired. On 11 December 1952, the ESB announced that the contracts for the main civil works in connection with the river Lee hydroelectric develop­ ment had been placed. The French engineering firm of the Societe de Construction des Batignolles (SCB), 11 rue d’Argenson, Paris, was given the contract to construct the dams and power stations at Carrigadrohid and Inniscarra. They had wide experience of large hydroelectric development works in France and the French colonies.

Planning the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme 3 I F ig u re 1 Work to be completed for the Lee Scheme as signed on i December 1954 by MinisterWilliam Norton

Work No. Location Description

1 Inniscarra Dam and fish pass

2 Inniscarra Power station and access road

3 Inniscarra Tailrace (7000 ft approx)

4 Inniscarra Diversion road: north bank (2400 ft)

5 Lower Dripsey Diversion road and bridge

6 Rooves Bridge Diversion road: south bank (5600 ft)

7 Rooves Bridge Rooves Bridge and approach road on North Bank (5200 ft)

8 Leem ount Diversion Road (1700 ft) Not completed

9 Oakgrove Diversion R o ad (3600 ft)

10 Carrigadrohid Bridge strengthening Not completed

11 Carrigadrohid D am and fish pass

12 Carrigadrohid Power station and access road

13 Caum R oad diversion (2500 ft approx)

14 Riversdale House Road protection work

15 Ballytrasna Road diversion near Buingea Bridge

16 Curragh Road diversion near Ballytrasna (1000 ft approx) Not done

17 D unisky Road diversion

18 Bealahaglashin Bridge and approaches (1450 ft)

19 Lee Bridge Bridge and approaches (1400 ft)

20 The Gearagh R o ad diversion: north bank (5000 ft)

21 Annahala R oad diversion: south bank (2300 ft)

22 Annahala N e w road: N /S (2400 ft)

23 Toames Road diversion

24 Miscellaneous Such other works as may be found necessary in lieu ot compensation or for the complete and satisfactory operation of the scheme.

Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Ernest Gouin founded the Societe de Construction des Batignolles in 1846 where he manu­ factured locomotives. He helped to build spectacular projects. One example was the construction of a 308-metre-long viaduct at the mouth of the river Scorff in Brittany. Another very popular undertaking was the drilling of the tunnel under the English Channel at the end of the last century. Though the work was never completed then, the project was taken up again between 1963 and 1975. Construction began once more in 1985 and the Societe played a leading role in one of the most important construction projects in Europe. The Company’s technological mastery grew with each new experience. In addition to its tradi­ tional railway construction business, SCB excelled in two other sectors: the building of ports (such as Tunis) and the building of bridges (the metal bridge over the Neva river in St Petersburg). D uring the 1930s and the 1950s the building o f hydroelectric power plants in France and abroad were the company’s most common activities. In 1968, SCB merged with the industrial electrical firm, the Societe Parisienne pour Industrie Electrique (SPIE), to become what was known as SPIE Batignolles. It expanded rapidly and became involved in the treatment and elimination of waste, installation of power cables, hydroelectric and thermal development, the electrical, metallurgical and steel industries in America, real-estate devel­ opment, and, in a return to its roots, the laying of track. The Dublin firm John Paul & Co., Donnybrook, was awarded the contract to build the three bridges and the new road diversions on the Lee scheme. Founded on 1 March 1949, the founding directors were John Paul and Tommy Simmington. Both men were well experienced in civil engineering works. Tommy Simmington worked with a British civil engineering construction com­ pany in the 1930s. He worked on Butt bridge, Foynes and on the erection of Kenmare bridge. He was County Engineer in Clare prior to the foundation of the company. John Paul worked with the civil engineering construction company, McLaughlin and Harvey. He had worked on the Erne scheme, the Silent Valley scheme in County Down and Shannon Airport. Since its foundation John Paul & Co. has carried out a wide range of construction activities. John Paul Construction, the engineering subsidiary of John Paul & Co., is one of Ireland’s leading and most reputable construction companies.

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Planning the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme |

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Once Minister Daniel Morrissey TD had sanctioned the Lee hydroelectric project in 1949, the acquisition o f land went ahead side by side with the other site preparations. In all the ESB acquired 4485 acres, which varied from ordinary agricultural land with fields bounded by thorn hedges to rough scrub-covered marsh and some w ooded areas. O f this, 3500 acres were flooded and the remainder of the land either remained in ESB ownership or was resold by the Board. The total price paid for the land was ^415,083 which included legal costs. As well as the land the ESB had to acquire thirty-nine houses, which included one shop and one hotel, The Angler’s Rest at Rooves bridge, near Coachford. It was laid down in the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act 1945 that the amount of compensation to be paid by the Board in default of agreement be fixed under and in accordance with the Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act 1919. The first step in the process of acquisition was to inform the various landholders how much land was being acquired. They all knew long before this happened what acreage they were going to lose and they also knew it would be acquired compulsorily if necessary. It was not a free sale but a forced sale. Those who were losing good land - and some lost their entire holding - were very upset and angry. On the other hand, those who were losing scrub and wasteland were not too perturbed — as a matter of fact, they were quite pleased. One of these was Alfie Allen o f Clashanure w h o got £ 17 0 0 for fifty acres of scrubland. The Board’s valuer visited each landholder and a certain amount of compensation was offered. Naturally, this first offer was refused — several other visits followed and a long procedure o f haggling ensued until agreement was eventually reached (reluctantly on the landholder’s side) or in the absence of agreement the matter had to go before the arbitrator. The Bishop of Cork, Dr Cornelius Lucey, speaking at a confirmation ceremony in Kilmurry on 26 April 1956, had this to say about compensation:

Acquisition of Land Inniscarra dam site, view upstream from right river bank, 12 February 1952 (ESB Archives).

Part o f estate o f Captain Matthews, c. 1900 (Cork County Library).

36 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Haggling in this fashion pertains to free sale on an open market, not to compulsory acquisition by a public concern. It is easy to browbeat a man when he knows he must sell to you in any case and that if he refuses your offer he will have to trust the award of just another official, namely, the arbitrator. I appeal to the E S B to make a just offer straight away and not haggle when they are taking over landfor hydroelectric schemes. They should take into account that in the case o f forced sales the principles o f justice demand first the market value o f the land and buildings and then the disturbance costs as well. The sales here are not free sales but forced sales and these principles apply to them! (Cork Examiner, 27 April 1956)

The compensation paid varied according to the type of land being acquired. The price varied from ^25 per acre for poor land to X 100 f°r good arable land. According to the Cork Examiner, good land was going for -£70 per acre at the time. O f course the arbitrator and the landholder did not always agree on what was arable land. In some cases the farmer’s own testimony was used against them in deciding this. When compulsory tillage was introduced in 1940, the farmers had to till a certain percentage of their arable land. Tillage inspectors visited each farmer to ensure that the required acreage was cultivated and to decide what portion of the holding was arable. Then, when the ESB wished to acquire the land, the valuer visited with information on what was deemed arable and what was not. The acquisition of land took a long time, as agreement could not always be reached. In most cases the hydro scheme was well advanced before settlements were attained. It did not hold up the progress of the work as the ESB had the power under the 1945 Act to enter the lands as long as they gave the required month’s notice. That action upset some farmers who felt it was a rather high-handed approach. On the other hand, if the Board had to wait until all settlements were made, the scheme might never have started. Though many of the landholders were not satisfied with the amount of compensation offered, very few of them went to arbitration — of the two hundred or so property holders affected by the scheme only eight went to arbitration. These were: Captain Horace Matthews and Mrs Matthews, N adrid House, Coachford; M organ Neville, Ballytrasna, Lissarda; Daniel Kelleher & Sons, Coolcour, Macroom;Timothy Murphy, Ovens;John O ’Riordan, Ummera; Patrick J. Healy, Coolcour, Macroom; John Horgan, Annahala, Toames; Patrick J. Buckley, Fergus, Dripsey.The arbitration hearings were held in the Courthouse, Cork, in November 1955 and the arbitrator was Lt Col J.J. Winters. As the hear­ ings were public, the Cork Examiner reported the proceedings in full. The decision o f the arbitrator was not made public.

Captain Matthews: The property proposed to be acquired comprised of a dwelling, outhouses and a gate lodge at Nadrid and thirty-three acres of land to which was attached a fishery with a PLV o f f y and fifty-two acres of land, chiefly woodland, along the bank of the river at Farran. There was a large salmon fishery at Farran w ith a PLV o f -£80 attached. In his claim for -£45,000 compensation Captain Matthews valued the house at Nadrid at £17,500, the lodge at £300, the greenhouse at £150, the trees at £,150, and the 33 acres at ^1300. When asked by ColWinters what the fishery was worth: ‘.£8000 at Farran and £900 at Nadrid.’ Col Winters: ‘In other words the

Acquisition of Land Section o f estate of Captain Matthews as taken by aerial survey in 1948 (ESB Archives).

Remnants of Matthews estate, north batik of Inniscarra reservoir, current Rooves bridge in the background (Kieran McCarthy).

38 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork fishing is worth £8900.’ Captain Matthews: ‘I would buy fishing at that price but I would not sell it.’The amount offered by the ESB was £10,427.

Morgan Neville: T h e area being acquired was eighteen acres, 1 rd. 26 sq. perches w ith a house and outhouses of a holding of 139 acres. The Boards offer was £2500 for the house and outhouses, £550 for the land, £50 for sporting rights and £500 for disturbance. Mr Buckley, the Board’s valuer, said that normally he would have allowed £300 to £350 for disturbance but in this case, where part of the land and buildings were being taken, he allowed £500 for disturbance. Mr E. G. Pettit BE, MICIE, for Mr Neville said that his estimate for the new dwelling was £3500 whereas the lowest tender was £3800.

Daniel Kelleher: Mr Kelleher claimed £8000 for the ninety acres of a ninety-nine-acre holding and £4944 for disturbance and severance. The Board’s offer was £4290 for the land and £500 for disturbance. Mr A. E. Powell SC, who represented Mr Kelleher, said that good fattening land in County Cork realized £90 an acre. The land was particularly valuable to the owners because they dealt extensively in cattle and ran a large shipping business as well as supplying Irish factories. The land was twenty-two miles from the Port of Cork and there was no suitable finishing land available in the immediate area. As well as supplying English and Swedish markets, Messrs Kelleher had sent 14,000 head of cattle to Messrs Lunham Bros., Cork, and 12,634 cattle to the Clonmel factory in one year.

Major J. O ’Sullivan, an ESB valuer, said he had experience of land valuing in Donegal, Offaly and Cork. In this case, he said, there were thirty-two acres o f good land o f which he would value twenty- one acres at £55—58 per acre and the remaining eleven acres at £54 per acre. There were forty- seven acres of good medium land. He considered forty acres of this to be worth £50 per acre and the remainder £ 4 6 per acre. Lastly, there were five acres o f inferior land w orth £33 per acre. In his opinion, the Board was giving a good price for the land.

Timothy Murphy: O utlining the case for his client w ho was losing thirty-one acres o f a holding of 110 acres, Mr Welwood BL said there was half a mile of valuable salmon fishing on the Lee, the PLV of which was £7. There was also the matter of boring a new well as the existing one would be flooded. Mr J. Phelan of Messrs W. Marsh & Sons, Auctioneers and Valuers, said he considered there were eighteen acres worth £900, three acres worth £20 each and six acres o f scrubland with a total value of £54. There was no questioning that the market value of the farm would be considerably reduced. He assessed the fishery at £450 and allowed £400 for disturbance (£1864). The Board’s offer was £650 for the land, £265 for the fishery, £150 for a well, £50 for a tank and £200 for disturbance (£1315).

John O’Riordan: The acreage being acquired here was sixteen acres of a total farm area of 127 acres.The Board’s offer was £700 for the land and £100 for disturbance. Mr O ’Riordan said that the land being acquired was the best part of the farm and he claimed £1200 for it, with an additional £320 for severance.

Acquisition of Land Patrick J. Healy: Mr Ashley Powell SC, for the owner, said the entire holding of seventy-nine acres, 2 rd. 38 sq. perches including the dwelling house was sought by the ESB. Mr Healy valued the holding at £82 per acre making a total valuation of £6600. Originally, £2100 was claimed for disturbance but that was modified to £1450 at the hearing as Mr Healy had recently purchased a house. In all, £8100 was being claimed. Major J. O ’Sullivan, called on behalf of the ESB, held that eighteen-and-a-half acres of the holding were good alluvial land. He valued the land at £3360, allowed £450 for disturbance and £1000 for the house (£4810).

John Horgan: Mr Horgan was the owner of a shop and five-and-three-quarter acres of land in the middle of the Gearagh, all of which would be flooded. The Board’s offer was £2250 being the market value of the holding, £600 for goodwill and £400 for disturbance making a total of £3250. The owner’s claim was for £3275 for the buildings and the land and £1,985 for disturbance — a total of £5260.

Patrick J. Buckley: Twenty-four-and-a-half acres were being acquired from Mr Buckley. The Board’s offer was £750 for the land, £528 for the fishery — the land had two valuable salmon fish­ ing pools — and £250 for disturbance. According to the Board’s valuer, M r Buckley, the land was very mixed, varying from poor upland to very good tillage. Mr Scully, the valuer employed by the landholder, valued the land at £1400, disturbance and severance at £980, and loss of fuel from timber on the land at £240. The PLV of the fishing was £10 and its valuation including distur­ bance was put at £1026. Captain Matthews paid £40 fishery rent and gave services to the owner valued at £ 15 .

While many of the landholders were opposed to the development, there was really no organized opposition to the scheme. Some efforts were made to encourage resistance but they came to noth­ ing. The farmers had no agricultural organization to lead them (the National Farmers’Association was not founded until 1955).They had no finances to fight their cause.There were difficulties of communication, contact and transport and there was no community spirit within the valley. A narrow strip of land twenty miles long and less than a mile wide was being flooded. The residents belonged to different communities — seven different parishes and two different dioceses. Macroom could be regarded as the capital of the area. While the people in the Carrigadrohid dam area did have great recourse to Macroom, the bulk of those in the Inniscarra area were much more inclined to consider Cork as their town. As well as this, there was the conservatism and secrecy of the farmers to be taken into account. They were very slow to tell anyone - in some cases, their own families — what they were being offered. That, perhaps, could be one of the reasons so few of them sought arbitration. There was no great interest in the environment at the time and there were no environmental groups to protest against the flooding of such places as the Gearagh. Planning permission did not exist then and there was no machinery in place to lodge objections to the scheme. One infrastructure issue arising out of the proposed work was Work No. 5. It dealt with the replacement of Fitzgibbon bridge and it stated:

Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Where the Dripsey meets the Lee, c. 2950 before the Lee scheme; the Lee is the river in the foreground, Dripsey river meets it on left; note also Inishleena Abbey in centre which was submerged in 1956 (Martin McCarthy collection).

A diversion in the Townlands o f Cronody and Magooly o f the public road over the Dripsey river on the north bank of the river Lee between a point 1000 feet (304 m) or thereby measured in an Easterly direction from Fitzgibbon bridge to a point 1100 feet (335 m) or thereby measured in a Westerly direction from the said bridge.

Section 33 of the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act 1943 stated: where the Board is empow­ ered by this act to close, submerge or remove permanently a public road or bridge for the purpose of the execution of any works ... and the Minister for Local Government and Public Health is sat­ isfied that having regard to all circumstances of the case, a new road or bridge, (as the case may be) in lieu of the road or bridge so closed, submerged or removed is not required, the Minister may declare that the subsection of this section shall not apply ... and the Board shall be relieved from all obligations in relation to such road or bridge. When the Minister for Local Government, Patrick O ’Donnell, worked this section of the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act, 1945, he relieved the Board of the obligation of replacing Fitzgibbon bridge. This bridge, built as a Famine ReliefW ork in 1848, and sometimes known as Cronody bridge, crossed the Dripsey river just west of its junction with the river Lee. It gave the residents of

Acquisition of Land 41 Proposed Cronody bridge site, Inniscarra reservoir, 2007 (Kieran McCarthy).

A doomed home, 28 October 1956 (ESB Archives).

42 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Cronody and Fergus East access to the Cork road just west of the recreation centre at Innishleena. In the days w hen m otor transport was scarce, it was o f great benefit to these people. W ith the flood­ ing of the Lee valley the rising waters raised the level of the Dripsey river considerably and Fitzgibbon bridge was submerged. In the ESB plans for the hydro scheme, it was proposed to build a replacement bridge further up the Dripsey river between Cronody and Magoola which would have entailed little or no hardship to the people affected. The proposed replacement bridge was included in the order signed by the Minister sanctioning the whole hydroelectric scheme. As the scheme progressed the ESB did not replace the bridge. The Deputy County Engineer reported to a County Council meeting on Monday 17 November 1954 that he had had a visit from an engineer from the ESB who told him that they had tried for foundations for a new bridge but could not find a suitable place. As well as that, the bridge span would be very long and the project would cost in excess of £100,000 (more than the cost of Rooves bridge). The residents of the area were not happy. The non-replacement of the bridge was described as the partition of a small portion of County Cork from the rest of the county, the creation of a small peninsula in which the farmers and other residents would be completely isolated. It was argued that the value of the farms in Cronody and Fergus would depreciate. In the case of Dripsey Creamery, 40,000 gallons would be diverted and even the existence of the creamery could be affected. There was an individual case of hardship — the owner of the one licensed pig in the area would have his catchment area cut in half. Without a new bridge, every child in the district would have to walk four or five miles to school. That particular argument lost much of its effect when the ESB bought out Philip Murphy, Cronody, who had the only school-going child in the area. The residents did much to try and persuade the ESB to replace the bridge. The ESB’s proposals were either to compensate the residents or else try to buy them out and sell the land again. The residents sent deputations to meetings of the County Council, who listened sympathetically and agreed to get in touch with the appropriate government departments to try and persuade the ESB to replace the bridge. They also went on a deputation to the Minister for Local Government and Public Health asking him not to make the order for the non-replacement of the bridge. A t a m eeting o f the C ou nty Council on 20 O ctober 1956 (just two weeks before flooding began) it was stated that the Minister was not prepared to relieve the ESB of its obligations. The ESB, on the other hand, said they would have to wait for eighteen months to see the effects of the floodwater on the proposed site. In the meantime, the ESB offered the County Council £1600 for the improvement of the road in Cronody, which the Council accepted. The controversy carried on after the flooding and at one stage the residents considered a High Court action to force the ESB to replace Fitzgibbon bridge. Actually, the ESB considered building the bridge and sent their engineers out to survey the site at Magoola once more. This survey had just got underway when the whole project was called off. Some of the residents had accepted the ESB’s offer of compensation and most of the others followed suit soon afterwards, some of them very reluctantly, and the rest held out for years. At this stage Minister O ’Donnell made the order, which relieved the ESB of its obligation to replace the bridge. The two areas most affected by the Lee scheme were Annahala and Rooves Bridge. A nnahala was a little community near the Gearagh with pockets of houses here and there. Some of the land

Acquisition of Land In the heart of the Gearagh, 28 December 1956 (ESB Archives).

was good limestone while the rest was boggy and marshy. At one time Annahala had been an important lime-producing area with many lime kilns and a large population. Fuel for the kilns came from the Annahala bog, which had some very good turf banks, and timber from the Gearagh was also plentiful. Much of the land was liable to flooding from the river. At one time a port or earthen embankment had been erected along the southern side of the Gearagh to help prevent flooding of the arable land. This worked for some time but the bank deteriorated and its usefulness was lost. Access to Annahala from the Inchigeela road was over the port road, which crossed the Gearagh. This road was built on top of butts of trees and consisted of a series of embankments and bridges, and its course can still be clearly traced today. All scrub and trees growing below the high water level in the reservoirs were cut to the extent that no tree would project within five feet of the low water level. The Gearagh, covering about 250 acres, was made up of many islands divided by narrow river channels. The ESB had great difficulty in getting to many of these islands, as the river channels were too shallow even for ordinary sailing boats. However, using a ship’s life raft solved the problem. The Board’s staff completed all the clearing of scrub and non-commercial timber, while commercial timber plantations were sold to timber merchants. As regards the buildings, material that could be salvaged, such as slates, was generally resold to the former owners, who also removed it. Where necessary, the buildings were then demolished by explosives.

44 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork As a training exercise, the army was given the job of demolishing the railway bridge at Ballytrasna. Explosives experts inspected the bridge, decided on the amount of explosives needed, and selected the places where these explosives should be placed. On the appointed day the army descended on the bridge, bored the holes, planted the charges, and laid their lines. Army personnel and ESB staff took cover. When everybody was out of danger the plunger was depressed. There was a big puff — but the bridge remained standing!

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Acquisition of Land

5

The Work Schedule

Building Inniscarra Dam

Contracts for the whole of the civil construction works for the hydroelectric development were in place towards the end of 1952. Work began on the construction of the dam in Inniscarra in February 1953. Inniscarra dam is divided into nineteen blocks each 45 feet (14 m) long with a water stop between each block. The dam, which is of the buttress type, is 813 feet (247 m) long and its m axim um height is 150 feet (45 m) w ith an 8-foot (2.5 m )-wide walkway along the crest. It is the first and only buttress dam built in Ireland. The buttress-type dam effects a considerable saving in concrete compared with the normal gravity dam. This saving does not in any way take from the safety o f the dam. Against this saving, however, must be set off an increase in the area o f shuttering during construction and greater complexity of the foundation excavation. For Inniscarra, it was necessary to remove all unsound rock and the excavation done in such a way as to cause minimal damage to the foundations being prepared or to adjoining foundations. The usual depth excavated to reach sound rock was 10 feet (3 m). Rock drilling for blasting was done by hand-held Holman rock drills and Polar Ammon gelignite, and a Cordtex fuse was used for blasting. The loose rock was removed by 19 RB shovels, dozer, or by hand as conditions dem anded.The total quantity o f rock excavated was about 50,000 cubic yards (38,230 cb. m ).W hen final excavation levels had been reached, all loose or shattered rock was removed by barring and picking and the whole surface was cleaned and washed, using a jet of compressed air and water. Pockets in the rock surface in which debris had collected were cleaned by hand. Excavation on the sides of the valley varied from 0 to 10 feet (3 m) approximately and most was excavated by hand. The workers looked like flies on the valley slopes as they worked. Where possible, though, bulldozers and excavators were used. In the valley floor the general depth of soft excavation varied from 30 to 35 feet (9 to 10.5 m).The material was gravelly and some of it was used for

The Work Schedule 47 Inniscarra dam site, view downstream from right hank, 12 February 1953 (ESB Archives).

Inniscarra station view downstream, 22 July J953 (ESB Archives).

48 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Inniscarra station view upstream, 22 July 1953 (ESB Archives).

View upstream showing diversion channel, 3 June 1954 (ESB Archives).

The Work Schedule 49 Clockwise from top left: General view downstream at left-hand side, 12 May 1955; Construction of blocks L , M,N,P,Q and power station, summer 1955; Nearly there, 14 February 1956 (ESB Archives).

approach road embankments and cofferdams and the remainder was disposed of in a spoil dump. In all, the total quantity of soft excavation on the site was about 150,000 cubic yards (114,682 cb. m).The material was excavated by 19 K B shovels and transported by Aveling Barford dumpers. The construction of the foundations 50 feet (15 m) below the river level and the diversion of the river during construction presented a major problem on this site. It was very important to get the right quality of rock that could bear the weight of the dam and also withstand the pressure of the huge volume of water. Working 50 feet below the water level could be dangerous as the cofferdams could burst or there could be a seepage of water into the foundation site. The rock had to be constantly monitored to ensure the right quality. A river diversion channel 1000 feet (305 m) long and 35 feet (10.5 m) wide was cut into rock

5 0 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork in the slope of the valley along its southern side. A longitudinal concrete cofferdam was constructed between this channel and the river. This cofferdam was 150 feet (45 m) long, 33 feet (10 m) high and 46 feet (14 m) wide. Temporary earthen cofferdams upstream and downstream o f the dam site were erected and the river was diverted through the diversion channel and temporary culverts.The remain­ ing blocks of the dam were built plus the power station. The upstream and downstream cofferdams were removed. The 20-foot (6 m)-wide culvert was plugged with concrete and the river was allowed to flow through the other culverts. By the end of 1953, the excavation of the river diversion channel at Inniscarra was almost com­ pleted and the construction of the portion of the dam — block D — it had been necessary to erect before the river could be diverted was in progress. Work had started on the excavation for the foundations of the dam and power station. Satisfactory progress was maintained on the concreting of the power station. It was estimated that 250,000 cubic yards (190,000 cb. m) of aggregates was necessary for the construction work. The sand and gravel was transported by lorry and dumpers to the processing plant and discharged directly into the loading hopper at the batching plants. On the Lee scheme, direct control was achieved by placing a trained engineer in charge of a fully equipped laboratory with a number of experienced site inspectors. Their responsibility covered the production of good concrete at the mixers and the supervision of its placing, curing and sampling. The Monzies cableway covered the site and was used mainly for dam concreting but also for the transport of shuttering, pre-cast concrete units, mechanical equipment and so on. The operator in the control cabin of the cableway could not see where to deposit the load of concrete at the working site, so a walkie-talkie apparatus, a big innovation on an Irish building site at the time,

Clockwise from top left: General view o f spillway blocks, June 1956; Intake side, 14th February 1956; Installing the 15 M W intake screens, 17 February 1956; Preparing the tailrace at Inniscarra, 1956 (ESB Archives).

The Work Schedule 51 Near completion, 7 October 1956 (ESB Archives).

Completion offinal infrastructural details at Inniscarra dam, Autumn 1956 (ESB Archives).

52 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Clockwise from top left: Assembled 15 MW runner, January 1957; Acceptance tests for adjusting the runner blades of Generator 1 (Gi) May 1958; Acceptance tests reading the output o f G i, May 1958; View upstream before flooding, September 1956 (ESB Archives).

conveyed directions to him. Because of the exposed position of the site, the working of the cableway could be affected by winds of more than 40 mph. Before a pour of concrete could begin, the operators had to be supplied with a weather forecast to ensure no strong winds were on the way The cableway deposited the concrete where directed by the concrete foreman. The average rate of placing concrete in the dam was 35 cubic yards per hour. The batching plant in which the concrete was mixed had two 1.3 cubic yard (1 cb. m) mixers with a combined output of 40 cubic yards (30 cb. m) per hour. The other plant had a 1.3 cubic yard mixer, which was used to concrete the power house, the stilling basin and other concrete works. The cement, which was of Irish manufacture, was delivered to the site in bags. The gravel came from the pit of John A. Woods eight miles away. River water, pumped to a storage tank and gravity-fed to the mixers, was used on both sites. By 1955, approximately three-quarters of the work on the construction of the Inniscarra dam had been carried out. The power station foundations had been poured and work was in progress in the erection of the superstructure. The excavation of the tailrace was nearing completion. The temporary culvert or river diversion was sealed with concrete. A gate was lowered to close the upstream opening.The reservoir was filled in November 1956. The filling was regulated by a tem­ porary sluice gate. In case it would be necessary to lower the reservoir below the lowest level at which the turbines can operate, a 7-foot (2.1 m)-diameter circular culvert was built at present bed level in one block of the dam. The downstream end of the culvert was fitted with a conical dispersing valve, which can jet the water through it in a comparatively thin sheet over a large area of the stilling basin and so reduce the risk of erosion at the foot of the dam. The tailrace, which is 60 feet (18 m) wide at invert, extends to a point approximately one mile

The Work Schedule 53 downstream of the dam. To increase the available head on the turbine, the river downstream was deepened by about 10 feet (3 m).The excavation was done by 33 R B and 19 RB draglines working from both banks, and dumpers disposed of the material. The soft material excavated was generally gravel and sand and the total quantity of this material was approximately 224,000 cubic yards (171,260 cb. m ).The total quantity o f rock excavated was approximately 4000 cubic yards (3060 cb. m). The route of the tailrace was chosen to minimize rock excavation and for this purpose the ground along and adjoining the river was thoroughly explored by probing during site investigations. The probing indicated that rock was at or close to the surface of the riverbed over more than half the total length of the proposed tailrace. But, by departing from the course of the river, rock would not be met except at the upper end where it was unavoidable. By 1957, the construction of the superstructure of the Inniscarra power station was well advanced. At Inniscarra, the 4000 kW set was commissioned on 24 May and the 15,000 kW set on 21 August 1957. Early in 1958, finishing work and site restoration were substantially completed.

Construction at Carrigadrohid Dam

Carrigadrohid dam is 350 feet (106 m) long and at the maximum height is 70 feet (21 m). It consists of nine blocks, varying between 30 and 61 feet (9 and 18 m) in length. The dam is of the plain gravity type. Work on the Carrigadrohid site began in May 1953. During the latter half of 1953, the first stage in the cofferdamming of the river was finished and the excavation for the dam foundations was proceeding. The excavation for the stilling basin below the sluices was completed. By the end of 1954, four blocks of the dam had been concreted to full height. The stilling basin below the sluices was constructed. The second stage in the cofferdamming of the river was finished and the river diverted. Excavation for the power station and the adjoining blocks of the dam was in progress, and about half of the excavation of the tailrace was completed. On 1 March 1955, the work on the dam was seriously disrupted when the river flooded. A bridge on the site was washed away and the electricity supply was disrupted. By the end of 1955, the placing of the concrete in the dam was almost finished. The power station foundations and the erection of the superstructure were about to begin. By 1956, the superstructure of the Carrigadrohid power station was completed. The reservoir was filled in October 1956, and the 8000 kW set was commissioned in November 1957. Finishing w ork and site restoration were more or less com pleted early in 1958.

Left to right: Carrigadrohid dam site, view downstream from right bank, 1 February 2953; Diversion channel and evacuation for station foundation, June 1954 (ESB Archives).

5 4 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Works, 3 June 1954 (ESB Archives).

View upstream of blocks A , B, C , D, E, 11 May 1955 (ESB Archives).

The Work Schedule 5 5 Finishing work at Carrigadrohid, 1956. Overflow waters coming through sluice gates to left o f the photograph (ESB Archives).

Access to the site from the main road was by a newly constructed road 3000 feet (914 m) in length. Work was carried out in three stages. To divert the river during construction, the riverbed was widened on the left bank. A longitudinal cofferdam was constructed running along the centre line of the river. Cofferdams were built from the right bank upstream and downstream of the dam, and joined the longitudinal dam. The river was then diverted into the newly cut channel on the left bank. Blocks C, D and the stilling basin were constructed and the foundation for block E was excavated. Cofferdams from the left bank to the upstream side of block D and from the down­ stream end of block D were constructed. The river was again diverted, this time through sluice openings in block D. Blocks E, E G and the upper portion of the tailrace were constructed within this cofferdam. The remainder o f the dam was constructed, sluice gates and intake gates erected and the cofferdams removed.The reservoir was then filled and the filling controlled by the flood-discharge sluices. Excavation was done by conventional methods generally similar to those used at Inniscarra. In all, 2300 cubic yards (1760 cb. m) of earth and 12,000 cubic yards (9174 cb. m) of rock was excavated. Concreting methods were similar to those used at Inniscarra except that lifts were 4 feet (1.2 m) high and, except in special cases, were poured at seven-day intervals. The tailrace extends to a point 860 feet (262 m) downstream of the dam. It is 50 feet (15 m) wide and 7 feet (2.1 m) deep. It was excavated wholly in rock. The work was carried out within a low cofferdam constructed along the middle o f the river. The total quantity of rock excavated was 15,300 cubic yards (11,700 cb. m) and 5400 cubic yards (4128 cb. m) o f earth.

5 6 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Assembly o f generator 3 runner and cleaning o f inner turbine cover, May 1957 (ESB Archives).

Cleaning the turbine shaft, May 1957 (ESB Archives).

The Work Schedule 5 7 F lo o d in g

Work on the various sites progressed favourably. The three bridges were completed, the road diversions finished, the dams were practically built and the construction of the power stations was well advanced. As the fatal day approached, final notices were issued to the various landholders — three months in the case of the acquisition of a house and one month in the case of land. The whole area had been cleared o f trees, scrub and so forth. On Tuesday, 23 October 1956, the sluice gates at Carrigadrohid were lowered and the flooding of the valley began. It was the intention of the ESB to bring the levels up to the low water mark in six days. The reason for the quick filling of this reservoir had to do with the salmon returning to their spawning grounds. If the salmon had swum up the river before the reservoir was filled they would have gone to their old spawning grounds in the shallow waters. Then, as the water rose, the eggs would have been destroyed in the deep water. T he Southern Star reported that three hours after the closing of the gates the rise in the river was hardly noticeable. However, the waters rose slowly but surely at the rate of five feet per day. It must have been difficult for the owners to see their good land — land on which, perhaps, they had worked for generations — disappear under the floodwater. The flood spread back through Caum, Mashanaglass, and Ummera, up the Sullane, over through Dunisky, Ballytrasna, under the new bridge at Bealahglashin and westwards through Annahala and finally into the Gearagh. T h e Cork Examiner reporter visited the area on Friday, 26 October 1956, three days after the gates had been closed. T h e report, w hich appeared on the follow ing day, reads:

View downstream from top o f Carrigadrohid dam, 1956 (ESB Archives).

58 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork A s the water of the upper reaches of the river Lee rose slowly yesterday in the Carrigadrohid reservoir flooding, inhabitants of the Gearagh district, which lies south o f Macroom prepared to leave their homes. Their homelands are not flooded — yet. Some o f the families have left and are established in their new homes. Some are on the way. Some have nowhere to go! There was little sign of the flooding reaching back into the Gearagh when our reporter went there yesterday, but even without the man-made flood, little streams and wildfowl-haunted lakes abounded in the wilderness as they have done since time immemorial. What trees there were have been cut and removed. From the flat terrain, newly created ruins stuck out like sore thumbs. A s owners abandoned their cottages, slates and roofs were pulled off, and, in some cases, walls tumbled in. In one instance — that of the Gearagh’s sole shop — only the concrete floor and foundations remain. But wisps of smoke still trickled from a few chimneys early yesterday. One of the first houses visited by our reporter was that of Mr and Mrs James Kelleher. They have a family o f five. They move out today and yesterday they were preparing to shift all their belong­ ings. Neighbours gave a helping hand. Less then a stone’s throw - almost in the backyard — is a lake. One o f those who was in and out o f the house yesterday was sixty-five-year-old Dan Cotter. ‘I have nowhere to go’, said the old IR A pensioner. Dan, it seems, lived with a friend who had a cottage in the middle o f the Gearagh. The E S B acquired the cottage and the owner moved to a new home, leaving Dan to occupy the cottage as long as he could or as long as he wished. Now, the cottage has been demolished and Dan is homeless. There were others who cannot say where their future homes may lie. The Misses Nellie and Margaret Tobin, with whom lives their niece, Miss Nellie Tobin, are still in their cottage in the middle of the threatened district, and so far as could be learned from the elder Miss Tobin, they have not got alternative accommodation. Back towards Annahala and Dromkeen are others still in residence in homes over which the waters will rise. When the waters will cover the Gearagh is not quite decided. The reservoir for the Carrigadrohid dam is being filled to the low water level (200 feet above sea level) and this should be accomplished by Monday. A t this level, the Gearagh will not be submerged. Yet, as the district floods badly in places — including the road across it — after heavy rains, it is obviously going to be a still damper place after Monday.

The filling o f the reservoir attracted large crowds o f sightseers as thousands o f people from all over the county came to see the water rising. Sunday 28 October — the first Sunday after the filling began — proved to be a very busy day. One of the best vantage points to view the new lake was at Caum church, just west of Carrigadrohid. So great was the crowd at that point that the traffic jams took up to five hours to clear. Cars were not that numerous on the road. It was obvious that many of the motorists who made the journey that Sunday must have come very long distances. There was not the same urgency about filling the Inniscarra reservoir as the salmon spawning grounds were well up the river. On Monday, 12 November 1956, the ESB began filling the reservoir. Unlike the upper lake, this one was filled quite slowly. It took six weeks approximately to bring the water up to the low water level. As was the case in Carrigadrohid, large crowds came to see the filling of this reservoir and witness the disappearance of familiar landmarks - Castle Inch,

The Work Schedule Inishleena Abbey, Fitzgibbon bridge, and watch the waters rise ever so slowly and cover Rooves bridge. Seamus O ’D onoghue recalls:

M y memory o f the flooding was watching the water come out on the road at Rooves bridge on a cold, damp, miserable December evening. Reports on how high the water had reached spread daily throughout the district. It must have been heartbreaking for householders to see either their houses tumbled and the waters inching over the ruins or to watch the water climb slowly but surely up the walls and eventually cover the house which contained so many memories. So great was the trek to Inniscarra during that time, that the papers carried reports that the road there was very dangerous, as what fencing had been there had been worn smooth by sightseers.

Though it was a terrible upheaval, everyone who lost their house was eventually re-homed. Some anticipated the flooding and moved out when convenient. Philip Murphy, Cronody, sold his entire holding to the ESB and bought another farm in Canovee; John Lehane of Rooves knew that he would be losing his place, and though it was a big blow for him to move, he bought an adjoining

Downstream view, c. 1990 (ESB Archives).

60 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork farm; Denis O ’Riordan, Annahala East, bought another farm in Ballinacurra near Brinny. It must have been a very sad journey he and his son made as they drove their cattle to their new farm. John J. Murphy, Nadrid, also sold his entire holding and bought another farm in Rusheen. His house and some unflooded acres of land were bought by Edward McSwiney, proprietor of the Angler’s Rest. Captain Matthews’ house at Nadrid was acquired because there was a possibility the basement might flood. The Matthews leased the house back and continued to occupy it until Mrs Matthews died in 1985, when the ESB then sold the house. Many of those living in the Gearagh and Annahala went to live in Macroom or close by. John Horgan, Annahala East, the owner of the area’s only shop moved to Ballincollig where he opened another business.The family operated this until quite recently.

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The Work Schedule

6

Working on the Lee Scheme

The construction o f the dams, roads and bridges necessitated by the Lee scheme was o f great benefit financially to the mid-Cork region and beyond. More than six hundred men were employed on the scheme. While some of the workers were recruited locally, men from all over Ireland flocked to the dam sites seeking employment. Some stayed to see the contract completed, while others left after a short time, finding conditions too difficult. Carpenters were in great demand as much shut­ tering was needed during construction. A lot of manual labour was involved in the early stages of construction. The overburden had to be cleared and the rock face prepared. On the dam sites concrete was mixed automatically. This was not the case on the bridge sites. Portable mixers were used here — the gravel was shovelled in man­ ually, cement added and the water pumped in. The concrete was transported in dumpers to the required place. In the mid-Cork region, the construction could be compared to the industrial revolution. It was the first time such a big project had been undertaken in the area. Attracted by higher wages, regular hours and the chance of overtime, the workers left the farms and looked for w ork on the dam sites. You could say it marked the end o f the farm worker in the area. Some of the workers were accommodated in the camp at Inniscarra. The temporary works buildings on the Inniscarra site included offices, workshops, stores, compressor houses, a batching plant, and so on. The larger buildings were of steel frame construction with block panel walls and the remaining structures were either made from timber or corrugated iron. Irish Estates Ltd built a temporary camp overlooking the site, which consisted of seven huts constructed of weather boarding on raised concrete foundations.There was sleeping accommodation for 125 workmen, and canteen and recreational facilities for 250 workm en and other staff. T h e camp included temporary

Working on the Lee Scheme 63 Staff at Inniscarra dam, August 1956 (ESB Archives).

Opening o f workers’ camp, Inniscarra, 20 October 1953 (ESB Archives).

64 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork wooden bungalows for married staff. Hot meals were supplied from the main canteen in suitable containers to a sub-canteen at the Carrigadrohid site. The camp was available to employees of all sub-contractors as well as those of the main contractors. Others had to look for ‘digs’ in the area and stayed in every available place along the Lee val­ ley. Many a housewife made a little extra money by keeping a few lodgers. Digs cost £2 per week as a rule. The engineering personnel were accommodated in Innishleena House where they were well looked after by Mrs Cotter. The French personnel, who never numbered more than twelve, stayed in Cork where they lived a fairly extravagant lifestyle, regularly flying in their wines from France. The vice-chairman of the Cork Workers Council complained in 1953 that the scheme was of no benefit to the city worker. The contractors had refused point blank to provide any transport for the workers from the city. He was aware that the contractors were putting up huts at the site but it would be ridiculous to suggest that city workers would leave their wives and families behind them and go to live in these hutments. Whether the city workers came out or not, the contractors had no problem in getting staff. Many of the residents of the valley used every mode of conveyance — car, motorbike, bicycle — to get to work, some of them covering great distances, be it early in the morning or late at night. They wanted work and were prepared to travel for it. The SCB were very generous towards their workers. At Christmas they presented their employees with a turkey and presents for the children. Excursions were organized on a regular basis. These included chartering the tender, Killarney, and taking the staff on a harbour cruise. Another excursion involved hiring seven buses to take the workers to Killarney. The French personnel did not see themselves short either as they arrived to work each day in chauffeur-driven cars. Manual workers on the project were paid 2/5 per hour for a 48-hour week.This was increased in 1954 to 2/7 per hour — £6-4-0 per week. Dumper drivers got 2/8 per hour — £6-14-0 which was increased to 2/11 per hour in 1954 - £7-0-0 per week. Carpenters at Inniscarra were paid 3/7 per hour in 1954 — £8-12-0 per week.

In 1955, the following wages operated: Labourers: 2/7 per hour Labourers in concrete: 2/8 per hour Steel fixers: 2/10 per hour Carpenters: 3/7 per hour Fitters: 3/6 per hour Charge hand ganger: 4/6 per hour Assistant ganger: 3/3 per hour Charge hand labourer: 2/10 per hour Engineers: £7-7-0 per week

In 1955, Maurice Sweeney became the overall boss of the construction work and it was commonly held that he was earning the enormous sum of £25 per week. In comparison, as a young national teacher, Seamus O ’Donoghue was earning £6 per week at the time. Bord na Mona casual workers were earning 2/4 per hour — £5-12-0 per week. Agricultural workers for a 50-hour week earned

Working on the Lee Scheme from £4-3-6 to £4-6-0. Overtime was paid at the rate of 2/3 per hour on weekdays and 2/10 on Sundays. A trained soldier was paid £2-16-0 per week. As with all construction projects, everything did not go according to plan. There were the usual stoppages but the majority o f those did not last very long. The first serious strike at Inniscarra began on 5 January 1954 when dumper drivers went on strike for a rise in pay and better working conditions. Next day the strike took a serious turn when 300 labourers joined the drivers and there was almost a complete stoppage of work. Only around twenty-five carpenters, fitters, and mechanics remained at work. The strike ended on 10 January. The decision was taken on union advice at a meeting held in Cork between the strikers and union officials. The matter was referred to the Labour Court and the Court heard the wage grievance on 2 July 1954.The wage rate of 2/5 per hour for unskilled workers throughout County Cork was fixed in November 1952 and the rate for dumper drivers was fixed at 2/8 per hour. The claim before the Labour Court was for an increase of seven pence per hour all round and an extra increase of two pence halfpenny for dumper drivers. In its findings the Court recom­ mended an increase of 2d. per hour and the extra claim by the dumper drivers was rejected. The next strike took place on 1 April 1954 and lasted just one day. It was an unofficial strike of thirty carpenters who struck for danger money. Work was resumed pending an investigation. In September 1954 the next strike again involved carpenters and lasted thirteen days. One carpenter was dismissed at Inniscarra as he had arrived back late from his holidays. Seventy other carpenters came out on strike in protest and picketed the site. As the strike was unofficial, the other workers passed the picket and there was no serious disruption. After the intervention of the parish priest, the Rev. Canon Kenneally, the dismissed man was given work in Carrigadrohid and there was a full resumption of business at Inniscarra on 24 September. The most serious strike began on 13 February 1955. A ganger was dismissed after a dispute with an official over overtime and fourteen workers downed tools — ten gangers, three rock blasters and one dumper driver. Five days later the strike escalated when a further 150 ceased work in sympa­ thy. That same day, the contractors laid off a further 150 men including eighty carpenters and a large part of the construction work was closed down indefinitely. All labourers and carpenters residing at the camp were told to leave. Work still continued at Carrigadrohid where engineers, mechanics, drivers and clerical staff numbering about a hundred in all continued working at the main site. The Societe issued a statement, which read:

The Societe de Construction des Batignolles regret that owing to circumstances beyond their con­

trol arising from the withdrawal of labour by certain gangers and other workers following the ju s­ tified dismissal o f a ganger, they are obliged to close down indefinitely a large part o f the work being carried out at the Inniscarra site o f the Lee hydroelectric scheme.

Many of the men laid off hailed from different parts of the country and as a result of the closing of the hostel, the majority returned home. Some, however, took another way out and headed straight for the boat to seek work in England. The strike was unofficial and the unions did not support the strikers. No pickets were posted but large numbers of workers gathered outside the site entrance each day. In case there would be any trouble, members of the Garda Siochana were on duty.

Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Left: Workers at Carrigadrohid dam in 1956, l-r, Paddy Buck (Douglas), Neilie Twomey (Carrigadrohid), Tommy Leary (Macroom), Tadgh Meaney (Dromcarra, Macroom) and Paddy Mahony (Neilie Twomey).

Below: Working at Carrigadrohid, 1956 (ESB Archives).

Working on the Lee Scheme 67 Clockwise from top left: Working at Carrigadrohid, 1956; Erection o f scour gate operating gear at Inniscarra, 1956; Workers at Inniscarra dam, 1956 (ESB Archives).

On 18 February 1955, a skeleton staff o f a hundred including engineers, mechanics, drivers, and office staff turned up for work as usual. Soon after starting time, however, the drivers and their assis­ tants refused to continue and work scheduled for that day came to a standstill. They then proceed­ ed to join the men who had taken unofficial action earlier and this brought about the complete closure o f the site. The Lord Mayor of Cork was asked to intervene which he did but without success. The plight of the striking men must have been severe, as they received no unemployment benefit. The strike dragged on for six weeks before a resumption of work was effected, but not before a big shake-up in the operation of the contract took place.

6 8 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Deep drilling and grouting team, 1956 (ESB Archives).

Carpenters, 1956 (ESB Archives).

Working on the Lee Scheme 69 It was a fact that the contractors were spending much more than they were earning. The French personnel who had come over seemed to think Ireland was one of the world’s backwaters, and spent money like it was going out of fashion. The ESB saw that the contract was in trouble, might never be finished or would run well over budget. This was pointed out to the contractors and, after much intense discussion, it was decided to put Maurice Sweeney, a very capable engineer, in charge. From then on the work progressed very favourably. Considering the size of the development, the numbers employed and the type of work involved, the number of deaths during construction was relatively low. In all, four people were killed — two at Carrigadrohid and two at Inniscarra. As a matter of fact, the two who died at Inniscarra were not directly employed on dam construction — they were employees of CIE.

9 N ovem ber 1954: James O ’Mahony, Mangerton Terrace, Blarney. He was employed by CIE and was sent to the site at Inniscarra with a load of pipes. As he descended the steep incline to the dam site, he applied the brakes. These did not function on the trailer. He swerved to avoid a dumper and struck a bank. In an effort to save himself he jumped out of the cab and struck his head on a concrete block, which killed him instantly. The irony about this incident was that the lorry con­ tinued on down the slope and came to a stop, right side up, at the bottom.

9 June 1956: Thomas Walsh, aged forty-seven, Middle Road, Whitegate. He was a helper on a CIE Road Freight Department lorry. The lorry, with a trailer attached, had delivered a load of cement to the dam site at Inniscarra. As he was uncoupling the trailer, he was pinned between the lorry and the trailer. He suffered abdominal injuries and was dead on admission to the North Infirmary.

24 August 1956: John O ’Leary, twenty-two, unmarried, Knockroe, Ballyvoige, Kilnamartyra, Macroom. The accident happened at Carrigadrohid. A joint connecting a steel pipe and a cylinder at the top of the dam was leaking and the deceased was helping to repair it. He was on a platform of two loose planks with no special protection. The job needed only a few minutes’ work to repair it. It was difficult to tighten the joint so he used both hands on the spanner. The spanner slipped and he fell forty feet on to a steel gate. He suffered a fracture of the skull and a penetration of one lung. He died in hospital six days later.

19 November 1956: John O ’Sullivan, 38 Barrett’s Place, Macroom. He was engaged in disman­ tling some scaffolding at Carrigadrohid when he slipped and fell twenty feet on to a concrete sur­ face, sustaining severe head injuries. He was attended on the spot by Dr J. K. Moynihan and the Rev.J. O ’Donnell, Macroom. He was then removed to St Finbarr’s Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries later in the day.

There were also some very narrow escapes. A dumper toppled into the tailrace at Inniscarra, pinning the driver underneath. But for the prompt action of a bulldozer operator, the driver would have drowned. In October 1953 during piling at Rooves bridge, a steel pulley block fell 100 feet seriously injuring Patrick O ’Sullivan, an engineering supervisor.

Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Opening of Carrigadrohid sluicegates, 1956 (ESB Archives).

In the campsite, there was an oratory where Mass was celebrated every Sunday and holiday by priests attached to the Sacred Heart College in Cork. The hut housing the oratory could also, by the use of partitions, be used for recreational purposes. The suggestion of the erection of the ora­ tory came from MrV. L. McEntee, Advisor to the Societe and those associated with him. The camp was blessed and opened by the Most Rev. Dr Roche, Bishop of Cloyne, on 25 October 1953.The Commercial Attache to the French Embassy in Dublin expressed his pleasure at seeing the French and Irish workers joined together in a work of peace. The French engineers engaged on the project had put a cross on the hill overlooking the site as a present to their fellow workers and they hoped it would remain there for the duration of the work and for many years after. M. Andre Gossonant, Chief Engineer of the Societe, said that his firm was anxious to co­ operate fully with the workers and to give them all necessary amenities and facilities, as their inter­ ests were mutual. MrV. L. McEntee said that the contractors to the project had provided the altar in the oratory; the vestments and equipment were the gift of the Joint Advisory Council on which the Societe and workers were represented. To the funds of this Council came the contributions of the work­ ers w ho paid in 3 d. for every £ earned, the company contributing an equal portion. From the fund they gave assistance to those who were ill or in need of help. At the opening o f the camp, the atten­ dants included Aid P. McGrath, TD, Lord Mayor of Cork; the Very Rev. B. Canon Kennealy, PP, Inniscarra; the Very Rev. E. J. Canon Fox, PP,VF, Macroom; the Rev. J. Kenneally, CC; the Rev. D.

Working on the Lee Scheme 71 Group photo at completion o f acceptance tests, May 1958 (ESB Archives).

Hallissey, CC , Inniscarra; the Rev. Dr Ronyane, Bishop’s Secretary; the Very Rev. R . Scriven, M SC, Provincial, Sacred Heart College; Messrs J. J. Horgan, solicitor and Chairman, Cork Harbour Commissioners;}. O ’Connell, Chairman, Cork Regional Branch, Federation of Builders and Allied Employers; C. Connolly, TC, (Representing TU C Executive); Supt P. Chambers, Cork; Supt Ml. Cunningham, Blarney; Supt J. Crotty, Macroom;John R. Neville, Chairman, Macroom U DC.The cross was illuminated in the French colours at night and was a well-known landmark on the Cork- Coachford road. On 16 May 1954, an open-air Mass was celebrated on the site of the Lee scheme at Inniscarra for the repose of those who had died in Dien Bien Phu. It was said at the request of the Irish and French workers and their families, some of whom had relatives engaged in the conflict. The cele­ brant was the Rev. C. Gouffe, MSC, who preached in French. During Mass the Reveille and the Last Post were sounded. Rev. Fr O ’Leary, MSC, recited the Rosary in Irish. A number of French personnel received Holy Communion. France had been involved in Indo-China since 1859. During World War II the Viet Minh - the Communist-led Vietnam League for Independence — began a struggle against the Japanese and the French for independence. After the war the Viet Minh continued the offensive against the French. This war, the Franco-Vietnamese war, lasted from 1946 until 1954. The United States supported the French financially by paying for 80 per cent of France’s military costs in Indo-China. The French, however, were unable to execute a military solution. The last big battle in the country was in Dien Bien Phu where the French were besieged for seven weeks. The final Viet Minh offensive lasted twenty hours and on 7 May 1954, the French surrendered after very heavy losses.

72 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork The workers worked hard at Carrigadrohid and Inniscarra during the week and did not have much free time. A few pints at night satisfied. Gaelic games were popular - the workers participat­ ed in inter-firm competitions and some played with local clubs. Men from outside the county were introduced to the intricacies o f bowling and expanded their vocabulary with such phrases as ‘stand­ ing road’; ‘hind bowl’; ‘fore bowl’; ‘a bowl of odds’; ‘lofting the corner’ and so on. Dances in the local halls were very well supported — this was the era of the ‘Ballroom of Romance’, and the large dancehalls and showbands still hadn’t made their appearances.Those who had extra money and transport roved further afield and visited every dancehall in the county! They danced to the strains of, among others, Mick Delahunty, Maurice Mulcahy, Pat Crowley, Jimmy McCarthy, the Shandrum Ceili Band, O ’Driscolls, Blarney, Michael Geary, the Royal, Bantry, Jimmy Rohan, the Shamrock Ceili Band, Billy Browne, Donie Collins, the Leeside Serenaders, Jack Brierly, the Orpheus Dance Orchestra, Jimmy Fitzgerald, Mitchelstown, Pat O ’Callaghan and Donal O ’Regan. In the summer, the platforms at places such as Rooves bridge, Inniscarra, Carrigadrohid and Dromcarra were very popular. O f course, there was no dancing during Lent. The new Palace Cinema in Macroom drew many patrons, as did the seven cinemas in Cork City — the Pavilion, the Assembly Rooms, the Ritz, the Lee, the Palace, the Savoy and the Capitol, the only survivor.The travelling cinema provided pictures in the local halls.You also had the travell­ ing shows. Every parish had its own Dramatic Society, which staged the popular plays of the time, particularly during Lent. The radio programmes of the era included Take the Floor, Question Time, W ho’s News with Ronnie Walsh, Balladmakers Saturday Night, Living with Lynch and The Real Blarney, which included such artists as the Cork Lyric Singers, Don O ’Hare, Chris Curran, Pat Nevin, Ignatius Comerford, Michael Murphy, James N. Healy, Mary Cagney and Denis Harrington.

Profile - Neilie Twomey

Neilie Twomey, former worker, was born and bred in Carrigadrohid. He came from a family of five with two sisters and two brothers. His mother Jane was from Macroom whilst his father Richard was from Kilmichael and was the local blacksmith in Carrigadrohid. Neilie still lives in the original home — a very old house with walls two feet thick of stone and mortar. Neilie Twomey remembers his time on the Lee Scheme:

Growing up, I used to fish at Ivy Rock — the site o f the cofferdam that was a great pool for salmon. I spent the happiest days o f my life fishing in the Lee. There was a slate quarry near­

by on which the dam was built. Carrigadrohid was a beautiful place before the dam was put there but there was no employment, you either went farming or emigrated ... when the E S B began there was plenty work. In 1947, I emigrated to England to Kilburn in London and returned to work on the E S B project.

Guys came from all over the country to work on the scheme, especially guys who had just finished on the Erne hydro scheme — they had experience, many o f them became the foremen on the Carrigadrohid site. I began my time with others building the cofferdam wall to divert the river so the dam could be built — the overall scheme drilled into fifteen feet o f solid rock. A com­ pressor house supplied air to the blasting site. Frenchman Paul Vignaud was in charge o f the

Working on the Lee Scheme Left to right: Neilie Twomey, 1956; Neilie Twomey, 2006 (Kieran McCarthy).

mechanics of the operation — the trucks, dumpers, RVs, and a miniature railway with a diesel loco, which took away the rock — the blasted rock was tipped into the tailrace. John A . Woods took away the sand and gravel. I worked putting in pipes on the site with the fitter — I then worked in the concrete mixing section for the dam basin — there was no such thing as ready mix in those days. The batching plant was very modem for its day and was unique in southern Ireland. It was hard work — on

occasion, we sometimes worked day and night, the 6 am to 2 pm shift and the 2 pm to 10 pm shift. It was enjoyable but there was never a dull moment. There were funny moments but also tragic moments — I remember two men who were killed, one fell off the scaffolding and one was killed working on the sluice gates. The Lee scheme made a big difference to the local economy — many workers stayed in the locality and invested money in the area. In fact Carrigadrohid became like a Wild West town at weekends with all the money. I always had an interest in football — I started playing minor football around 1942 and was involved when the area won the County in 1959. There was an interfirm football league. The

Lee Scheme Football Club had players from all over from Canovee to Millstreet to Kerry. We played against other firms such as the C IE , which I remember we beat in 1954. A s the company who got the tender to build the dam were from France, the strong French

connection was celebrated each July to coincide with the fall o f the Bastille. I worked on the Lee scheme from June 1952 to 1957 — I was one o f the last men working there and was transferred to the civil works section o f the E S B in the last twelve months o f oper­ ations. After working with the E S B , I then worked in the building ofWhitegate refinery, then with John Paul Builders on the Goulding Fertilisers Jactory down on Centre Park Road — then

7 4 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork to Cork airport to the batching mixing concrete section. I remember the bog we had to build on and the fog, which caused so many problems on that site. I left the airport project to work with PJ. Hegarty’s on Leitrim Street in the city. I worked therefor thirty-two years on such projects as the insurance offices on the South Mall, Wilton shopping centre, Rathduff cheese factory, Hills mills in Clonakilty and Ballyclogh in Malloiv.

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Working on the Lee Scheme

7

Immersed Histories and Lost Antiquities

The Lee valley is plentiful in ancient and modern monuments. Several standing stones, fulacht fiadhs, ringforts, church ruins and graveyards have survived the test of time. Those sites reflect the early story of human society in the Lee valley and are full of experience and memory. With over­ lapping layers of history, one can identify how local communities and their cultures have evolved. The sites submerged by the Lee scheme are important reminders of the region’s cultural heritage, offering insights into the river Lee and all that it has inspired, from ritual to industrial monuments.

Edward Fahy and The Lee Scheme Excavations

In 1956, a num ber o f local archaeological sites were directly affected by the flooding o f two areas of the Lee valley. The lower dam, Inniscarra, created a lake extending almost nine miles westwards to Carrigadrohid, while the lake behind the upper dam extended a further eight miles through the Gearagh as far as Dromcarra. At Inniscarra, land below the 165 feet over sea level mark was affect­ ed whilst in the Inniscarra reservoir, flooding rose to the 215 feet over sea level mark. In all a total of five and half square miles (3500 acres) was affected or submerged by the Lee hydroelectric scheme. W hen the scheme was initiated, the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society pressed strongly for an examination of any archaeological monuments to be submerged. The reservoir basins were surveyed. Edward Fahy, a student archaeologist completing his M A at University College Cork, investigated a number of monuments including Castle Inch, Carrigadrohid Castle, Inishleena Abbey, two standing stones at Carrigadrohid, a fulacht Jiadh and a horizontal mill at Mashanaglass, a bulldn stone at Macloneigh in the Gearagh and a standing stone at Dunisky (O’Kelly, 1975).

Immersed Histories and Lost Antiquities 77 From left to right: Inniscarra upstream face, second day o f flooding, November 1956 (ESB Archives); Sketch o f Edward Fahy who went on to become a lecturer in the Department of Geography, U C C . Today a laboratory is named after the scholar in the Department’s building (Geography Dept, UCC).

Prior to his 1957 Lee valley survey Edward Fahy had amassed a large knowledge and interest in Irish settlement patterns. He had also been a student at the Cork School of Art. He worked with Michael J. O ’Kelly, the curator of Cork Public Museum in Fitzgeralds Park in designing the cases for display when the museum officially opened on 4 April 1945. The building up of the Museum’s collections and displays was a continuing effort and while engaged in that work, he studied for and was awarded with distinction the Diploma of the Museums Association. This required the writing of a dissertation coupled with specialized courses and examinations in England (O’Kelly, 1975). Subsequently Edward Fahy pursued a BA degree, which he obtained with First Class Honours in Archaeology and Geography. He took part in many of Michael J. O ’Kelly’s excavations at this time and built up his experience in fieldwork and excavation techniques. Following his BA, he began work on a Master’s degree in Archaeology and for his thesis, he undertook the excavation of all the sites in the Lee valley, which were to disappear because of the ESB’s hydroelectric scheme. The results were fully published in 1956 and 1957 in the Journal o f the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society.

Mashanaglass Horizontal Mill

The site, excavated in 1955, which attracted most attention was the ruins o f Mashanaglass horizontal mill, a working scale model of which was on display in the Cork Public Museum for many years. In 1955, Edward Fahy noted that Mashanaglass Holy Well was located on a narrow steep-sided glen running east west some one hundred yards from the eastern bank of the Sullane river (two miles east of Macroom). The glen floor was drained by a stream of water one metre wide and six inches deep. The stream flowed past the well and then disappeared for a time before re-emerging to join the river Sullane (now the site of Carrigadrohid reservoir). The well was known locally as Tobar an Ratha or ‘well of the fort’. Prior to its excavation the site consisted o f a three-walled dry-stone structure built o f sandstone slabs o f rectangular plain sides. Religious objects and personal mementoes had been affixed to the tree alongside it. During the excavation large numbers of white pebbles were found in the sods surrounding the well.These were recorded as Hail Mary stones, as it had been customary for pilgrims to drop them in the well or leave

7 8 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Ground plan of the them on the site as part of the Mashanaglass horizontal rounds at the holy well. The water mill complex (E. Fahy, 1957). from the well was also said to cure sick babies. One of the old customs was to immerse the infants in the water. If the child turned pale or pink it would die but if it turned red it would live. The excavation work of Edward Fahy revealed that the well was in fact one of the most unique water mills of its kind ever discovered in Ireland. The actual well was the wheelhouse o f a horizontal mill. The stream, which crossed the site, had been ponded behind an earthen dam with stone revetments, in order to provide the quantity o f water needed to drive the water wheel. The dam was located thirty-five yards east o f the mill and evidence discovered suggested that the narrow water channel, which led from the pond

to the mill, was regularized by a STREAM TAPPED UNDERGROUND^^^. sluice gate. The sluice gate allowed MASHANAGLASS 1 HORIZONTAL AMLL; vx the water through the thirty-metre- SKETCH PLAN 1 I OftKilNAL 1 LtAIL-RACE long headrace where it then entered Yds. I \ I I a down-sloping stone-lintelled flume + (or chute). From the flume, the water turned a horizontal wooden wheel, which was located within a spacious hole in the ground. The wheel then moved clockwise. It was attached to a timber mill shaft, which in turn moved one of a pair o f millstones in the millhouse above the wheel. Another millstone lying on the moving stone remained stationary. Hence grain could be crushed. The adjustment of the gap between the millstones was controlled by a horizontal lever, which raised or lowered the water wheel and shaft. The water flowing through the wheel complex was led away through an artificial tailrace and then ran into the natural streambed at a lower point down the glen. There was a ridge extending from the wheelhouse to the southern side of the glen, which provided an artificial causeway giving access into the floor of the millhouses. In 1955, Edward Fahy discovered that the upper parts of the earthen dam creating the pond area had collapsed after abandonment of the site. There was also an overflow channel, which had been eroded away by the glen stream. In addition, the wheelhouse had been allowed to collapse and over many years, the site had choked up with mud and silt, which sealed the collapsed timbers of the

Immersed Histories and Lost Antiquities 7 9 Conjectural restoration o f the Mashanaglass horizontal mill (E. Fahy, 1957).

MILL-HOUSE HOPPER / SUSPENDED (CONJECTURAL MST0R.AVON) OVER STONES

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millhouse, wheel and wheelhouse floor. Above that twelve inches of peaty matter had completely wiped all surface signs of the mill. Excavation of the mud revealed the plank-covered floor of the wheelhouse as well as the remains of the water-wheel. The wheelhouse floor comprised five oaken planks laid side by side. The water-wheel consisted of an oaken hub or nave into which twenty-three scoop paddles were morticed and locked into positions with dowels — when found, no complete paddle remained attached to the hub. After the mill had been abandoned, the wheel had been left lying on its side on the wheelhouse floor. Over time the weight of the hub collapsed onto the scoop paddles breaking them and leaving them criss-crossed and jumbled beside the hub. When the hub was examined, there were at least twenty-three paddles as evidenced by the slots in the hub. In all, frag­ ments of eleven scoops were found and each had been cut from a single piece of wood. The rest had decayed away.

80 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Clockwise from top left: Reconstructed timber o f mill (E. Fahy, 1957); Side view o f Edward Fahy’s model o f Mashanaglass horizontal water mill in Cork Museum (Kieran McCarthy, thanks to Dan Breen, Cork Museum); View o f interior of Edward Fahy’s model of Mashanaglass horizontal water mill in Cork Museum (Kieran McCarthy).

The remains of four millstones were uncovered on the site. They were found amongst the head­ race and tailrace. On the southern side of the glen Edward Fahy opened four trenches at right angles to each other. In the most easterly cutting, a deposit o f charcoal-flecked earth was discovered. Excavation revealed an elongated shallow pit, the ruins of a flue of a grain-drying kiln, which lay almost north south across the access ridge to the millhouse. Within the pit, there were also the charred remains o f a fire.

Immersed Histories and Lost Antiquities 8 l Plan o f excavated Fulacht Fiadh at FULACHT FIADH AT MASHANAGLASS Mashanaglass (E. Fahy, 1956).

BROKEN BUR.NT STONE AND BROWN SOIL

gnexcAst SECTION W/E BROKEN BURNT STONE HEARTH COOKING PIT

Edward Fahy published the above results in the Journal o f the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society in 1956. He also had an interest in experimental archaeology and decided to reconstruct the Mashanaglass Mill, but on a much smaller scale of 1 inch to 1 foot. All the parts of the wooden floor of the wheelhouse were copied exactly including the various holes, pegs and other features. The nave of the wheel was carved in oak and all of the twenty-three paddles were individually carved and morticed into place. Edward Fahy did much work in experimenting with the weight of the millstones and the angles of the flume. W hen all the adjustments were correct and the scaled-down millstones were set so that the revolving stone brushed lightly and evenly over the lower stone it was not possible to attain a stone speed of less than eighty-four revolutions per minute. The model of the mill was on display

82 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Overview o f the Gearagh from Toames, part o f Carrigadrohid reservoir (Kieran McCarthy). argdoi dm 2007 dam, Carrigadrohid

m (ESB Archives). (ESB MJk'wWiWm * jX .-I '■ ;^r-r - '^>^>’'€4-.-’

Forerf amenities on Carrigadrohid reservoir, A p ril 2007 (Kieran McCarthy). Sunset on Inniscarra reservoir, November 2006 (Kieran McCarthy). South bank o f Inniscarra reservoir, Rooves Beg, adjacent Rooves bridge (Kieran McCarthy). S un set at Innishleena, Inniscarra Reservoir September 2007 (Kieran McCarthy), Aerial view o f Inniscarra dam and reservoir, 2007 (Kieran McCarthy). Inniscarra dam, M ay 2006 (Kieran McCarthy).

View upstream from atop of Inniscarra dam, 2006 (Kieran McCarthy). in the museum in Fitzgerald’s Park in Cork City and many a Cork child did play with Edward Fahy’s model. What remains of the full-scale mill is very little. The holy well can still be viewed in the Mashanaglass area amidst thick overgrowth trying to take the site back. The site is also not marked on sheet 79 of the Discovery Series Ordnance Survey.

Carrigadrohid Standing Stones

Edward Fahy completed further excavations in the early stages of Inniscarra reservoir close to Carrigadrohid. Situated on the flood plain of the Lee river valley adjacent the river, Edward excavated a standing stone. He found another stone lying on the ground next to it. No finds were recovered at the site. The first stone was sixty centimetres in height whilst the second stone was just over two metres high. The wider valley sides of the area are rich in sites from Bronze Age Irish prehistory (dating to around 2500). M ultiple sites are noticeable north o f the R618 extending just west o f Aghabullogue east to Berrings where fulacht fias or Bronze Age cooking sites and lone standing stones and stone

Plan o f excavated standing stone at Dunisky, Carrigadrohid (E. Fahy, 1956).

Immersed Histories and Lost Antiquities 8 3 rows can be seen. T h ey are all at least one hundred metres above sea level and all located near streams. The archaeological inventory for mid-Cork notes four fulacht fias, identified as oval mounds of burnt material, in the townland of Carhue Lower, which lies adjacent to Inniscarra reservoir. In terms o f material evidence, towards the end of June 1907 and between Aghabullogue and Rylane near St Olan’s Well, two men building a fence discovered gold ornaments, associated with a num­ ber of beads and two bronze celts found in the Coachford district. Named the Mount Rivers hoard, it was sent to the National M useum in D ublin where it is now on display. T h e museum authorities

attributed a date o f 700 B C to the hoard, the period known as the Late Bronze Age. Bronze Age sites can also be explored down on the southern side of the Lee through Rooves and Aglish.The meaning for the standing stones themselves can be ritual or functional, such as a boundary, but the cooking sites are evidence of communities living along the Lee river valley nearly 7000 years ago.

Inishleena Abbey

Inishleena, a reputed early Christian monastic site, was situated on the northern bank of the river Lee, a short distance below the point where it is joined by the Dripsey river, just east of the paper mill complex. The site stood on the flood plain of the valley and therefore suffered the ravages of periodic floods. Tradition has it that Inishleena was one of the small monasteries founded by St Senan on his way from Cork by Inniscarra to Inis-Cathaigh (Iniscattery) on the Shannon. The abbey probably disappeared at the time of the Danish invasion in the early tenth century. It is

Site of Inishleena/ Inishluinge abbey; 1938 (Site Monument Record, C ork C ity Library).

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84 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork believed that the stones of the abbey were taken about 1716 and used to build the house at Cronodymore. Excavated by Edward Fahy, the ‘abbey’ site and burial ground was enclosed by a low, wide, tree- lined bank with a stone retaining wall. To the north, at the foot of a rock cliff, stood a well with a sandstone rubble and red brick canopy. It was traditionally associated with the abbey and therefore was regarded as a holy well. The site was excavated, except the burial ground area, to establish the nature of structural remains, if any, within the enclosure, and to examine the holy well. The entire enclosure, measuring 64 feet by 47 feet (19.5 m by 14 m) except the burial area, was excavated and the remains of the foundations of a three-roomed building of unusual plan were exposed. The foun­ dations extend over the entire area. The succession o f events at Inishleena was clearly traceable at the site. The first activity was the construction of a two-roomed building. One room measured 37 feet 4 inches by 19 feet 10 inch­ es (11 m by 6 m) and the other was 20 feet (6 m) long and 15 feet (4.5 m) wide. A n additional room was added to the building later. If the tradition regarding the house at Cronodymore is correct, then

Immersed Histories and Lost Antiquities Present day site o f Inishleena abbey, marked with an x (Kieran McCarthy).

the building at Inishleena was in ruins by 1716. The next significant activity on the site was the conversion of the south-eastern corner into a burial ground some time around 1800. There was no evidence to support the claim that Inishleena was an early Christian monastery. The three-roomed building does not appear to predate the seventeenth century. From the little evidence available it was hard to guess the purpose of the three-roomed building. Edward Fahy was tempted to class it as a folly.There was no evidence to suggest that it was ever lived in. Among the finds was a millstone, which might suggest it was a ruined mill. But the dried-up water channel in the field passed so far from the building that it could not have been used to drive a millwheel. The holy well was a modern structure since it incorporated red brick in its walls. The only object recovered during the excavation was the bowl of a clay pipe of early-seventeenth- century origin. It was clear that the pipe was dropped during the building and covered by mortar droppings, which fell at the time. A bulldn stone was recovered from the site. It was an irregular sandstone slab, 2 feet 7 inches (78 cm) long by 2 feet 4 inches (71 cm) wide and its thickness varied from 5 inches to 10 inches (13 cm to 26 cm).The bowl-shaped hollow was 11 inches (28 cm) in diameter and over 4 inches (10 cm) deep. It was referred to as the ‘christening stone’.The water contained in the bulldn was said to be a cure for warts. It is now in the garden of Cloghroe National School. Less than half the quern stone remained. W hen complete it measured 1 foot 5 inches (43 cm) in diameter and the central hole was 3 inches (7.5 cm) in diameter. About one-third of the millstone remained. Originally it was 2 feet 5 inches (73 cm) in diameter, 7.75 inches (18.5 cm) thick and its eye was 4.75 inches (12 cm) in diameter.

86 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Castle Inch

The historical background of Castle Inch, in common with that of the majority of our minor castles, is difficult to construct with any degree of accuracy. Indications are that Castle Inch was built in the latter half of the fifteenth century by the Barretts, a family ofWelsh extraction, who arrived in Ireland with the Anglo Normans. The Barrett land extended in a narrow strip from a point just south of Mallow to the hills south of Ballincollig. Castle Inch commanded the east-west movement through the valley, but more specifically, controlled two river fords near Inniscarra. The Barretts became subject to the McCarthys in the fifteenth century But the two families were not hostile to each other. They even doubly intermarried in the sixteenth century. However, the alliance did not last and the McCarthys dispossessed the Barretts of the Castle in the closing years of the sixteenth century, probably in 1597. The failure of the cause of James II brought the McCarthy connection with Castle Inch to a close. Its lands became forfeit and along with some neighbouring townlands, were, in 1695, granted to the Bandonians in compensation for the fine that Justin McCarthy had placed on their town in 1689. Castle Inch was allowed to fall into decay. Charles Smith, in his History of Cork, referred to its ruins in 1750. It is possible that the castle was stripped of its roof, floors and doors at that time. Much of its south-west angle had collapsed by the late nineteenth century. By 1900 the major portion of the north-east angle and garderobe (privy) had fallen. In 1903 a storm brought down much of its south and west walls and half of the main vault. In the first decades of the twentieth century, some of the ruins were removed for building purposes. The final curtain fell on this five-hundred-year-old tower house in November 1956, when it was swamped by the rising waters of the Lee.

Upriver view o f Castle Inch, September 1956 (ESB Archives).

Immersed Histories and Lost Antiquities 87 wmiUUliwuinuu

CASTLE INCH

FIG. 1

Top: Plan o f Castle Inch, (E. Fahy, 1956); Right: Top o f Castle Inch appearing at low water levels in Inniscarra reservoir, opposite the waterworks, 1990s (Seamus O ’Donoghue).

8 8 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork W hen surveyed by Edward Fahy, the castle was in a very ruinous condition. Only the south­ east angle remained to its full height. The curtain wall enclosing the site had extensively collapsed. Excavation was undertaken to try to determine the full layout of the castle. The tower house itself was rectangular in shape, 41 feet (12.5 m) long and 30 feet (9 m) wide. Two towers projected from the main building — the eastern tower contained the garderobe shaft and the western tower, with at least two single-roomed storeys with vaulted roofs. The building, which had four storeys, was 61 feet (18.5 m) high and the entrance was in the western end of the northern wall. Flights of mural stairs in the north and east wall led up to each floor.There were spiral stairs at top floor level, w hich opened to the wall walk. The ground floor consisted of two rooms — a storeroom, measuring 29 feet (8.5 m) by 16 feet (4.8 m) and a vaulted room measuring 8 feet (2.4 m) by 7 feet (2.1 m), which may have been used as a dungeon. Actually, this small room was the ground floor of the south-west tower. Mural stairs led upwards to what was the first floor. Very little of this was preserved, only the southern wall, which contained a fireplace and a wall oven. Again very little of the second and third floors remained. Two tobacco-pipe bowls were found on the first floor o f the south-west tower and they date from the seventeenth century. A third bowl was found in the rubble near the main entrance and this dates to the second half of the seventeenth century. An iron knife was found 6 inches (15 cm) below the surface of the garderobe dump. It is just over 5 inches (12.7 mm) long and has two bone grips riveted to its broad flat tang. An iron spoon was found on the floor of the tower in the curtain wall. It had no handle. Two beads were found on the first floor of the south-west tower. One bead is two fifths of an inch in diameter, is black in colour and appears to be made of jet. The other bead is a quarter o f an inch in diameter. Its body is o f hard red pottery and a band of black glass encircles the perforation. Both were associated with an early-seventeenth-century clay pipe.

Other Submerged Sites

Cork and Macroom Direct Railway

The Cork and Macroom Direct Railway was an important contribution in the development of Macroom as a key market town in the economy of County Cork. Sir John Benson, an eminent Cork City architect and engineer, initially proposed the Cork and Macroom Direct Railway. It was incorporated in 1861 and was chaired by Sir John Arnott and Joseph Ronayne. Five stations lined the thirty-seven-kilometre track and the line cost £6000 per mile.The line was opened on 26 May 1866 and in agreement with the Cork Bandon and South Coast Railway Company utilized the terminus at Albert Quay. However, in the 1870s, the company built its own terminus at Summerhill South in Cork City. In 1925, the Cork and Macroom Direct Railway amalgamated with the Great Southern Railway and the Summerhill terminus closed. Trains to Macroom operated from Albert Quay. In 1929, the station buildings were acquired by the Irish Omnibus Company and eventually by CIE, who have retained the station buildings. Between 1866 and 1925, the company had six locomotives, over twenty- seven coaches and over 117 wagons.

Immersed Histories and Lost Antiquities Photo call on the closing days of the Cork and Macroom Direct Railway line, 1953 (ESB Archives).

Formerly the Lee bridge which provided a crossing for the Cork and Macroom Direct Railway line (Kieran McCarthy).

9 0 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork W hen it became evident that part of the line would be flooded because of the Lee hydro develop­ ment, the decision to close the line was taken. Neither CIE, who had taken over the running of the railways from GSR, nor the local inhabitants cared about its future. On 10 November 1953, the last trains ran on the line. So ended the history of a line that prospered under private ownership and suffered a rapid decline so common to many of the smaller lines, which lost their identity in the amalgamation of 1924.

Nadrid House

Nadrid House was originally owned by the Matthew family. It is a mid-sized Georgian country house, one o f three Clarke properties in the area. In the early 1900s, a daughter o f one o f the Clarkes, Amy Marguerite, married Captain Horace Lionel Matthews. They spent a long time in India with the British army and came back and took over the running of Nadrid House. The couple nurtured the estate, which became renown for its eleven acres of gardens. At one time, ten full-time garden­ ers were employed. The Matthews family also employed many other people in Coachford. During the early 1950s, the ESB compulsory purchased Nadrid House from the Matthews. As part of the hydroelectric scheme, the site of the house was initially planned to be flooded. When it was not destroyed, the Matthews leased the building back from the ESB. Part of the

Nadrid House, 2007 (Kieran McCarthy).

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Immersed Histories and Lost Antiquities 91 deal encompassed the giving of Farran Wood to the Irish State on the proviso that the people of Nadrid and Coachford should not pay to use the amenity. The appearance of pay booths at Farren in recent years has led to some discontent amongst local people regarding the honouring of that agreement.

Dripsey Paper Mills, c. 1800-1880

Dripsey or An Dripseach can be translated as ‘muddy river’. The region was one of the most indus­ trialized areas in the south of Ireland in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.The tiny village of Dripsey once boasted a paper mill, a cheese factory and one of the last original working woollen mills in Ireland. It is just south of the village that the Dripsey river joins the river Lee (or Inniscarra reservoir). The industries contributed to the development of linear settlement extending over a mile along the road to Cork. Dripsey village began in the townland of lower Dripsey and grew with the develop­ ment of paper mills by Jimmy Batt O ’Sullivan of Dripsey. He was a well-established and esteemed manufacturer in the last decades of the 1700s. Jimmy Batt O ’Sullivan was connected to a cotton mill, linen mill, mills that turned out sheeting, camp equipage, sailcloth and bagging and finally paper mills, both hand- and machine-operated, including one at Healy’s Bridge, run by his father

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92 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Section of fu st edition Ordnance Survey map o f Dripsey area, 1836 (Cork City Library).

Bartholomew. O ’Sullivan reputedly opened Dripsey Paper Mills in the year 1800. In the early years of operation, O ’Sullivan invested ^50,000 in contemporary machinery in his mills at Dripsey and Blarney. Much of the Dripsey paper was exported to England. The mill was the first to manufacture ruled paper. The sap of the red willow, a tree that grew in abundance on both banks of the Dripsey river, formed the main colour constituent of the formula O ’Sullivan used for lining paper. Jimmy Batt O ’Sullivan devised a colouring process for the Bank of England notes made at Dripsey for the Treasury in London. In 1804, he was producing watermarked paper. Dripsey Paper Mills was reputed to be one of the largest paper mills in Ireland. It had six vats, six presses and three waterwheels. It gave employment to 400 people. O ’Sullivan brought over English and Scottish workmen to work in the mills, those who had experience in the English paper-making industry. In the early 1800s, Jimmy Batt O ’Sullivan had stables on a farm beside Dripsey School. About the year 1812, he leased a farm of 207 acres at Agharinagh, just west of the mills, known as The Acres. Through his farming ventures, O ’Sullivan became a member of the Royal Agricultural Society and brushed shoulders with the upper echelons of society. In 1813, O ’Sullivan held a large ploughing rally and invited many guests to a big party — a sales promotion, to encourage the owners of big houses to replace linen tablecloths with his continuous sheet paper coloured and decorated for that purpose. The Dripsey complex attracted the attention of some of the contemporary and

Immersed Histories and Lost Antiquities 93 Ruins of Dripsey Paper Mills, early 1950s (Martin McCarthy).

leading political and civil figures including the Lord Mayor of London from 1822 to 1823, Sir Christopher Magnay. The Magnays had property interests in Ireland and at the time had an office atWinthrop Street, Cork (Sheehan, 1979). The economic downturn of the late 1810s after the end of the Napoleonic wars resulted in O ’Sullivan selling off Dripsey mills and other industrial assets. By 1817, Dripsey Paper Mills was owned by Reeves and Co. who in turn were bought out in 1823 by Sir Christopher Magnay. Dripsey Paper Mills is shown in the first edition Ordnance Survey (Ireland) map of Cork in 1836. The map is a very important document in reconstructing the industrial complex. An extensive millpond is shown and mill buildings are clearly depicted. The river Lee formed the southern boundary of the industrial complex. Across the six acres, in addition to the mill building, there were stone-built passages, storehouses, dams and water conduits, fed from a large pond to the west of the mill. The pond was a back-up from the dam on the Dripsey river close to the paper mill and to this day the pond field directly in front of the present Dripsey National School is often referred to as Blackpool Field. There were two entrances, one for the many carters who brought rags daily to the mills, the other to the administrative block. The carters on entering the eastern entrance travelled along a passage on which there were several gate pillars and store­ houses before they reached the boiler house. At the western end the three-acre pond in Blackpool Field fed a big millwheel at the mouth of a long millrace. Blackpool was the nickname given to the village of mainly mudwall houses that cropped up in the townland of Agharinagh immediately west of the paper mills and housed many of its workers. There were some stone-built houses, too, in the three-quarter of a mile stretch o f‘Blackpool’ along the main road, and a hedge school. There were also some scattered houses on the other side of the road. Closer to the paper mills there was one authorized public house and two sheebeens. In 1846, Mr Alfred Greer took over the Dripsey complex. Alfred was a Quaker merchant who

94 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork was born in Dungannon in County Tyrone. His first wife was Helena Carroll but on Helena’s death he married Peggy Bowen Colthurst in 1853.They resided in Dripsey House, which lay adjacent to the Paper Mills. At one time, at least four hundred people worked in Dripsey Paper Mills — a large community, the majority of which would have lived in the Dripsey area. Output trebled within the paper industry in the 1830s and 1840s. However, paper production had become more mechanized and the smaller mills, which made handmade paper, could no longer compete with the produce of mills using continuous paper-making machinery. The number o f mills in the country dropped dramatically during the 1840s. B y 1852, all the eleven mills in the Glanmire valley had ceased in operation. There were only three mills left in the county, at Dripsey, Towerbridge and Transtown. Many mills closed because manufacturers were unwilling to invest in new technology and the local market was limited — paper mills in Dublin and England were better placed and prepared to serve the larger markets. John Francis Maguire in his description of the 1852 Cork National Exhibition stated that the Dripsey Paper Mills exhibited cream or ivory notepaper. Charles Gibson’s History of Cork, published in 1861, records:

Paper is manufactured at Dripsey by M r Alfred Greer who has also another coarse paper mill at Glenville on the Bride, distant ten miles from Cork. The excise duty paid on the paper man­ ufactured at these mills averaged during the last five years between £9000 / £10000. M r Allen has paper mills for the manufacture o f brown, sugar and tissue paper on the Shournagh near St A n n ’s, Blarney and M r Phair has one at Butlerstown, Glanmire, near Cork.

Dripsey Paper Mills continued to function for several years following 1861 and after the death of Alfred Greer, his son, M r A. Greer, operated the factory. In Henry and Coughlan’s Directory of Cork for 1867, the Greer warehouse was based at 10 and 11 Academy Street, Cork City, and was one of nine paper warehouses in the city. D uring the 1860s, British government excise duty on the man­ ufacture of paper strained the financial position of Dripsey Paper Mills. Shortly afterwards, during an overhaul o f the plant, one of the heavy iron bearings was accidently broken. Sufficient capital was not available for the cost of replacement and so around 1880, the once flourishing Dripsey Mills closed. Large stocks of paper were still on hand, however, and for a few years longer they continued to supply some of their old customers. For the Cork Industrial Exhibition of 1883, Messrs A. Greer and Co. Ltd are listed as having an exhibit of paper from their Dripsey Mills (Irish Tourist Association, 1944). W ith the demand for scrap iron during the World War I, most of the papermaking machines at Dripsey were scrapped for armament purposes. Portions of the buildings were later converted into a cheese factory under the management of Miss Peggy Bowen Colthurst. Peggy was the youngest of the four children of Robert Bowen Colthurst. The other children were Mary, Jack and Robert. Educated at Oxford University, she was awarded a degree in 1904. She returned to Dripsey to help her family on the farm. The family farm comprised three hundred acres at Dripsey Castle and demesne, a farm at Cronody as well the Greer property, which came into the Bowen Colthurst pos­ session on the marriage of her mother. For a number of years, Peggy grew flax on the land and

Immersed Histories and Lost Antiquities Ruins of Dripsey stored it in a portion of the Paper Mills, early 1950s (Martin McCarthy). paper mill. The enterprise was not successful. There are still fields in Dripsey know n as the Flax Fields (Sheehan 1972). The risk of food short­ ages arising out of the out­ break ofWorldWar I induced the British Committees of Agriculture to ensure supplies were met. One of the key issues was the need to replace male labourers who had gone to the front line in France to serve military service. During her college days Peggy Bowen Colthurst had an association with the Committees. She was asked to assist in the food campaign by training English land girls on her farms in Cork. She began a cheese factory at the closed and now idle paper mill. The nearby Dromgownagh farm was ideal for dairying and a place to train ‘land’ girls, and the farm buildings and residence at Dromgownagh were enlarged to accommodate them. Several farmers in the area became regular suppliers. Others supplied Coachford creamery or made butter at home. Miss Breth, an Englishwoman, becam e ch ief cheesemaker. H er assistants were Miss Horne (another Englishwoman), Miss Grebon and Miss Gibbons from Mayo and Miss O ’Hara from Galway. In all there were around twenty girls, who were also the first women to wear slacks in the area. Staff and local hands were also employed on the farms — John Mullane was chief ploughman at Dromgownagh and on the Cronody farm. Mr Sutton was the farm steward. The principal markets were in England, in particular Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham (Sheehan, 1972). Peggy’s brother was Captain Jack C. Bowen Colthurst of the Royal Irish Rifles who was stationed in Dublin during the 1916 Easter Rising. He ordered the execution of Francis Sheehy Skeffington and two journalists, Mr Dickson and Mr McIntyre, and personally shot a teenage boy. The British authorities, both military and civil, tried to downplay the event by court-martialling the Captain in June 1916 on whom they pronounced a verdict of insanity. The entire Bowen Colthurst family fell into disfavour with the Sinn Fein movement. After the re-organisation of the volunteers in 1919, active reprisals were taken against the family in Dripsey. Farmers were asked to discontinue supplying milk to the cheese factory and employees at Dromgownagh were asked to resign. Despite threats, the boycott was not fully carried out (Sheehan, 1972). Employees of the farm were intimidated and assaulted and on the night of 14 August 1920, the farmyards of suppliers to the cheese factory were visited and milk churns smashed with pickaxes. The cheese factory closed. Shortly after the forced withdrawal of supplies, the Dripsey cheese factory, Dripsey House, Dromgowna House and Dripsey R IC barracks were burned as acts of reprisals. As for the ruinous structure of Dripsey Paper Mills, at the outbreak of World War II scrap iron merchants again got busy and completed the work begun by their predecessors in selling off scrap

Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork metal. Up the early 1950s, the buildings were partly standing.The old mill shaft was the only portion intact, a tower completely clad in ivy. The Lee hydroelectric scheme in the mid 1950s covered the entire site with water, immersing its history into the depths of Inniscarra reservoir for ever.

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Effects of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme

The Lee valley is renowned for its beauty. The geography of the visible valley is fractured and diverse. It is a region transformed through the centuries by people. The many archaeological mon­ uments, from Stone Age tombs to the solitary Norman or Irish castle, to the nineteenth-century churches, demonstrate how the Lee river valley residents have used its scenery and resources to nourish body and soul. The landscape has witnessed large-scale feats of engineering, from Inniscarra dam and the associated reservoir to one-off housing. In contrast, the natural environ­ ment is still essentially rural, with a strong farming population. The townland names on the Ordnance Survey Map tell a story — especially that of the impact of human history on the natural landscape. This impact was made over thousands o f years. For those who lived through the years of the creation of the Lee scheme, the effects on the physical landscape can still be remembered. The scheme made its biggest impact on those who lost land and homes. Some who had spent a lifetime and money in developing their lands and improv­ ing their homes had to leave. For the most recent generation, those changes are part of modern folklore, and their memory is limited to the present landscape. Inniscarra and Carrigadrohid dams still have some very beautiful spots. One cannot but be entranced with the scenery, and standing on what remains of the port road crossing the Gearagh when the water is high the view up or down the river is enchanting. However, when the water is low there are some unsightly places — the Gearagh looks like a lunar landscape as black stumps of trees stick up above the water, and the flat mud-brown land in Mashanaglass is not something to boast about. Likewise, the Coomroe at Carrigadrohid is hardly a sight to behold when the water is low.

Effects of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme 9 9 View upstream from Carrigadrohid dam of river bee, pre-flooding in 1956 (ESB Archives).

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New Infrastructure

When the dams were completed over sixty acres of rough land, spoil dumps and derelict sites in the vicinity of the stations at Inniscarra and Carrigadrohid were planted with 100,000 trees to improve the appearance o f the area. The species o f tree planted was designed to provide transmission line poles on reaching maturity. The Lee scheme involved the building of new roads and the raising o f existing ones over a total length of eleven miles.This included several embankments with reinforced concrete culverts through them.Three major new bridges were built across the reservoirs to replace those that were submerged. These bridges were Rooves bridge (a mile south of Coachford), Bealahaglaishin bridge (on the main Macroom/ Crookstown road about two miles east of Macroom) and Lee bridge (at Macloneigh about two miles south west of Macroom). All the bridges are o f reinforced concrete. In the construction o f the bridges, 6500 cubic yards (4970 cb. m) of concrete and 950 tons (965 tonnes) of steel reinforcements were used. Rooves bridge is supported on reinforced precast concrete piles up to 65 feet (20 m) long and driven to rock. Lee bridge is also supported on piles up to 60 feet (18 m) long, but these are not driven to rock. It was too difficult to reach rock and the piling went to set.This is more or less solid earth and the piles are prac­ tically undrivable at that point. At Bealahaglaishin bridge piling was unnecessary as rock foundation was found at ground level. For inspection and maintenance of the bridge bearings, holes and surface boxes were provided in the bridge deck, one in each side of the roadway, near each set of bearings. Through these holes a specially made light tubular steel cradle can be lifted up from floating craft underneath.

100 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Carrigadrohid dam, top left, beginning o f flooding, October 1956 (ESB Archives).

The Gearagh region, 1948, pre flooding (ESB Archives).

The roadworks involved the shifting of about 221,000 cubic yards (168,966 cb. m) of earth and about 17,000 cubic yards (13,000 cb. m) of rock. The principal roadworks were at: (a) Rooves bridge: new approach roads on the north and south bank of the river were constructed at a cost o f £50,430. (b) Near Oakgrove: a new road was built at a cost of £15,393.

Effects of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme IOI (c) Dunisky: a road diversion was built costing £45,560. (d) Bealahaglaishin bridge: approach roads were built costing £23,038. (e) The Gearagh: a road diversion was constructed on the north bank o f the river costing £27,981. (f) Toames: a road diversion was built costing £12,428. (g) Inniscarra: a new road on the north bank of the river was built. It was not constructed until after the flooding of the valley. The old road had been built along the contour of the slope. One half of the road had been excavated and the other half had been filled in. The ESB were of two minds whether to build the new road or not. They waited to see how the old road would behave once the reservoir was filled. They weren’t happy and in the interests of safety a new road was built higher up at a cost of £9600.

When the scheme was completed the roads and bridges were taken over by the County Council. However, in the case of the three new bridges, the County Council is responsible for the maintenance of the carriageway, while the ESB is responsible for the maintenance and painting of the bridge railings. The total cost of the John Paul contract, roads and bridges, was £509,362.

The Port Road crossing the Gearagh, winter 1956 (ESB Archives).

102 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork New road at Carrigadrohid, 1956 (ESB Archives).

Construction of Bealahaglaishin bridge, pre flooding, 1956 (ESB Archives).

Effects of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme 103 Clockwise from top left: O ld Rooves bridge, downstream elevation view from left bank, pre flooding, c. 1955; Rooves bridge during flooding or creation o f Inniscarra reservoir, December 1956; O ld Rooves bridge and the preparation o f the new, 6June 1954; Aerial ■<*> picture o f Rooves area, c. 1956, preflooding (ESB Archives).

O ld and the new, Rooves bridge, 15 February 1956 (ESB Archives).

104 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Resource Demand

When the Lee hydroelectric scheme was constructed in the 1950s, the demand for electricity was increasing. However, at that time, most of the country’s needs (70 per cent) could be met from our own natural resources — hydro, turf and home-produced coal. For the country as a whole, using natural resources to produce electricity was praiseworthy indeed. We didn’t have to pay huge import bills for fuel, nor were supplies subject to outside influences. If international conditions deteriorated, as they did during the war years, the ESB would have been able to provide sufficient electricity using native fuels. As far as electricity was concerned, we more or less controlled our own destiny. So in 1953, harnessing the Lee, or indeed any river, was sound policy. Today it is a different story, as demand for electricity over the years has grown and grown. The percentage now produced using native fuels is quite small and any plan to harness one of our rivers might not be a sound investment.

Creating a Lake Ecology

W hen electricity is generated by the use of fuel, this fuel has to be paid for and the need for fuel is continuous. A hydroelectric power station, once it has been completed and the plant installed will go on producing electricity more or less indefinitely. The installations will need maintenance, but the fuel costs are reckoned as part of the capital costs of the scheme and the ‘fuel’ is the power of the water. The only emissions from the hydro station are water and electricity. It does not pollute the air or water. Neither does it damage the greater environment. The dam has reshaped the local environment and it replaces a river ecology with a lake ecology.

Ger Manning, ESB, at Carrigadrohid dam fish hatchery, October 2006 (Kieran McCarthy).

Effects of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme 1 0 5 Borland Fish Pass for Lee Stations

Fish arc attracted by flow

Gate Position allows 254mm of water to flow over top Sluicc Gate Shut

106 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork The first major effect of the Lee scheme was on fish life. Salmon, whose lifecycle takes them up and down the river, are most affected. The river Lee was famous for its salmon fisheries. It had one of the earliest run of salmon on Irish rivers, the best season being mid-March to June. Prior to this the weather was too cold with an easterly wind. Spring fish averaged ten or eleven pounds. However, the best fishing was preserved. The best salmon flies were Lady Caroline, Lee Blue, Silver Blue, Hail Mary, Stoat’s Tail, Thunder and Lightning, Blue Charm, Silver Doctor, and Lee Grey. One of the heaviest salmon caught in the Lee with a rod and line was a forty-five-pound fish hooked by S. Haynes in 1902.There was even a stream called after this fisherman.The experienced angler knew every hole in the river in which a fish may be hiding: Cais; Poll na Lady; Castle Hole; Poll Daniel; Half Hole; The File; Poll Adhmaid; Cock’s Comb Rock; The Gut; The Orchard Pool; Madarai and Goleen, to name but a few. The numbers of salmon caught in the Lee prior to the building of the dam were quite consid­ erable. For example, in 1951 over 15,000 salmon were caught. Once the construction began the numbers began to fall and from i960 onwards there was a collapse of salmon stocks. Investigations carried out between 1957 and 1969 showed that the hydroelectric scheme and attendant factors such as impaired water quality and predation by pike and brown trout on juvenile salmon stages in the constructed reservoirs were responsible for the collapse from i960 onwards. For example the average annual catch of salmon over the nine-year period 1949 to 1958 was 8497. In the nine-year period i960 to 1969 the average catch was 753! With the construction of the dams the ESB acquired all fishing rights in the reservoirs and the Board is very conscious of its responsibility for its fisheries in all the rivers and lakes under its control. The ESB were fully aware that the migration of salmon up and down the river would be affected by the building o f the dams. To counteract this, Borland fish passes were built both at Inniscarra and Carrigadrohid to allow for salmon passage. The passes are called after a Scottish design engineer named Borland. The then Chief Civil Engineer of the ESB, Joe McDonnell, did a lot of design work with Borland before the passes were perfected. Anthony Murphy who later became Chief Civil Engineer, ESB, patented the fish passes on the Lee on the Borland design. Passes consist o f a shaft extending from the tailrace to the top o f the dam at the power station. Water flows through the pass and attracts fish into the lower chamber at tailrace level. The lower gate is closed and the fish are lifted up to the top as water fills the shaft. O nce at the top, the fish are released into the reservoir to continue their journey to the spawning grounds. Smolts can travel downstream over the spillway or through the fish pass or through the turbine shafts. O nce the dams were closed the salmon had to get to their spawning grounds by a new route — through the fish pass. W hen the sluice gates were closed at Carrigadrohid on 23 O ctober 1956, the fish pass did not come into operation until 4 November. Some salmon were held up at the dam and the ESB fisheries manager made very gallant but unsuccessful attempts to remove the salmon. It was then decided to remove the salmon from the tailrace after they were first stunned by electricity. Nets from two punts, each equipped with generators and manned by three men, sealed off the tailrace. Electricity was pumped into the water at one end. The men slowly worked their way down, driving the partially stunned salmon before them. At the net the current was cut off and the unconscious salmon removed. As soon as a sufficiently large number of fish was caught they were transferred in an oxygen-equipped iooo-gallon tank to Lismore Hatcheries where they were

Effects of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme released into closed streams.They were kept there until they were ‘ripe’ for spawning and then they were stripped of their eggs. When the eggs were hatched and the young fish grown, they were returned to the Lee. It may be of interest to note that when the stunned fish were removed, three large pike were found among the salmon. The voracious fish were removed and killed. W hen they were cut open, a fair-sized trout in spawn was found inside the smallest of the three fish. The trout had been swallowed whole. The counts of fish at Inniscarra dam indicated that the fish pass was working well and adult salmon passed upstream without difficulty in the years 1956 to 1959. The count of salmon from i960 onwards showed a sharp decline, reaching a low in 1972 with only thirty-seven fish counted upstream. Smolts moving downstream in fast-flowing rivers tend to avoid pike that prefer slower- moving waters. The ESB have made strenuous efforts to improve the salmon stocks in the Lee catchment. A salmon hatchery was established at Carrigadrohid in 1971 with the objective of producing smolts for release. Over a thirty-six-year period, the ESB have released millions of various life stages of salmon into the river Lee as follows: eyed ova (0.46 m), fry (4.13 m), parr (2.3 m) and smolts (3.06 m).The number of salmon that reach the dam at Inniscarra is over 1000 and it is estimated that at least 800-1000 salmon are caught downstream of the dam on rod and line each year. The fisheries division of the ESB continued through the eighties and during the early years of that period the Board invested heavily in sea farming. The Carrigadrohid hatchery played an important part in this development and formed the backbone of the sea farming production success through the 1980s and right up to the time the ESB exited in 1995.The fish were transported to the various sea farms, the longest journey being a thirteen-hour passage to Donegal. The smolts, having spent twelve months to two years in the sea cages were ready for harvesting when they weighed between three and five kilos. As the fishing division expanded the need for larger number of smolts became a necessity. The cheapest way to fill this need was to build cages for rearing smolts. The first cages were built in Scotland in the late sixties. The cost of production dropped, the fish adapted better to cage life and the rearing of smolts was very successful. The ESB experimented with freshwater cages for the rearing of smolts and it was the first company to construct a salmon smolt cage unit in fresh water. This method proved to be so successful that in Scotland by 1992 half the salmon smolt industry production came from freshwater cages. In the production of smolts the fry were taken from the hatchery in July when they weighed two to four grams and were put into freshwater cages in the Inniscarra reservoir just below Coachford. The fish were fed automatically. They were held in the cages until the following March or April when they weighed thirty to forty grams. At this stage the smolts were transported to the sea cages and allowed to mature. Some of the smolts were released into the Lee below the Inniscarra dam and allowed to grow to maturity in the wild. In the late eighties helicopter transport was introduced. This proved very effective for the transport o f smolts to the lower reaches of the Lee. In 1989, Salmara was incorporated as a subsidiary of the ESB. Over the following five years the company expanded to become the fifth-largest producer of salmon in the world. The bulk of this production was based on smolts produced in the Lee reservoirs. Ninety per cent of the production was exported to the USA, Japan, Singapore and many places in between. In 1995 the ESB decided to exit commercial sea farming and sold its enterprise to the

Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork private sector. At this time Salmara had 285 employees including fifteen commercial divers, and the com pany owned fifteen large vessels. The ESB is determined to improve the number of Lee native stock salmon and re-establish the upper fisheries above Carrigadrohid in tributaries like the Sullane and the Laney so that the stock is self-sustaining. On the Lee, the ESB, in conjunction with the SWRFB, have put a progressive salmon-managing programme on a scientific basis and hope for the type of progress achieved on the Shannon where the initiative has been very successful. Part of the fisheries programme involves, of necessity, the interception of the returning salmon at Inniscarra to examine the proportion of wild and stock salmon returning. (Stock salmon have been reared in the hatchery at Carrigadrohid and released as smolts below Inniscarra. These smolts have been clipped to help identification.) The stock salmon are stripped of their eggs for use in the hatchery in Carrigadrohid. The wild salmon are released into the reservoir above Carrigadrohid from where they return to the spawning grounds in the shallow waters. Another part of the programme is the release of fry and fingerlings in a restocking initiative in the upper catchment. Having lived in fresh water for about two years, a physical change takes place. Now, as smolts, the great migration begins as they head for the North Atlantic. The smolt run on the Lee derived from the planting programme above the dam is expected in the May/June period. To assist migration at this time, a modified generating protocol at both dams is put in place. The smolts come down the river through the fish passes and turbines, generally travelling at night. During this period the turbines are put on night-time generation to facilitate the smolts on their seaward journey. It is intended that this programme will allow more smolts to pass the dams safely and reach the sea — and the more that reach the sea, the more that will likely return to the river. The re-stocking with fry above the dams was initiated in 1994, when over 1,100,000 fry were released. While many wouldn’t have reached the smolt stage in 1995, nevertheless, thousands of smolts did appear at the dams. 1996 was an important year as the majority of fry released in 1994 were ready to begin their journey to the sea. 1997 and the ensuing years were particularly inter­ esting as the grown salmon should be returning to the Lee. Officials of ESB Fisheries Conservation carefully monitored the return. They have high hopes that the salmon stocks in the upper reaches will be improved and that the improvement will continue to grow in the long term. Currently, Ger Manning, ESB, and biologist Denis Doherty work in the fish hatchery at Carrigadrohid. Over one million salmon smolts are reared each year at the dam. These go to stock many Irish rivers and lakes, but over a hundred thousand are released into the river Lee, below the dams. They go to sea for some years but return to the river Lee to spawn, sustaining the stocks in the river, both for commercial fishermen and recreational anglers. While the Lee above the Inniscarra dam has lost its attraction as a salmon-fishing river, it is now very well suited to coarse fishing. The reservoirs and particularly Inniscarra lake are generally regarded as Ireland’s foremost bream fishery. This appears to have happened very quickly in the past few years. However, the rise to prominence of Inniscarra lake as a bream fishery has been gradual. This is a new fishing ground — bream fishing was very popular in the north but stocks are dwindling as bream are now netted and used as fertilizer. The bream story began in 1974 when the Southwestern Regional Fisheries Board (SWRFB) introduced 150 bream into the Carrigadrohid reservoir. The bream disappeared and the fishing

Effects of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme 109 authorities thought that all the bream had perished. However, in 1989, large stocks of bream were discovered in Inniscarra lake. Today excellent shoals exist in Inniscarra with catches in excess of a hundred pounds, and fish weighing an average of one to two pounds are quite common. (A small bream is called a skimmer and a large one is known as a slab or a dustbin lid.) The bulk o f these bream fishermen come from England where the attraction of Inniscarra lake is promoted in angling magazines. Brochures extolling the lake are circulated throughout the U K and, of course, word-of- mouth also promotes the area. There is very little angling in England that comes up to the facilities offered in the Lee reservoirs. Local coarse and pike anglers also regularly fish the area. Fishing for bream is very different to fishing for trout or salmon. Many of the coarse fishermen use a pole, twenty-five or thirty feet long, rather than a fishing rod. The bait consists of maggots, worms and sweetcorn — bream love sweetcorn.The fisherman also uses ground bait — a variety of breadcrumbs rolled into balls and thrown into the water to attract the fish from the bottom. Unlike casting for trout, very little skill is used. The fisherman just drops his hook, which may be barbless, in the water, and waits for a bite. (Bream anglers consider their type of fishing to be very skilful.) This comes very frequently and the catch is hauled in — it appears that the fish just give themselves up. However, the fishermen maintain they come to catch fish and not to be waiting around all day for a few bites. They derive their enjoyment from catching the fish, which they retain in keep nets until the day’s fishing is over. The fish are then weighed and placed back into the water. This bream angling development, though still in its early stages, is proving to be a great benefit to the local economy and regions such as Macroom and Coachford are benefiting most. Many of these fishermen bring the entire family with them when they come and you can imagine the amount of money that is spent in the locality. The Lee valley at present is supplying great fishing, good hospitality and excellent food. As it is only beginning and bream angling offers considerable economic potential for the region, proper infrastructure needs to be put in place to maximize this resource. The SWRFB and ESB partnership secured funding under the Tourism Operational Programme. The plan developed the three-kilometre length of road at Inishleena into a competition stretch suitable for two hundred anglers. As well as having an abundance of bream the other great attraction of the Lee is the purity of the water. Despite what people may think, the waters of the Lee are very clean. The deep still waters of the reservoirs are also ideal spawning and nursery conditions for pike. A reduction in the pike population was achieved from 1965 onwards. Pike are no longer culled in the river Lee. As a matter of fact, pike fishing is actively marketed on the continent and fishermen, particularly from Germany and Switzerland, are regular visitors to the Lee reservoirs. The number of pike caught is restricted to one per day per fisherman. Those who lived along the banks of the river Lee in pre-harnessing days used the river as a swimming pool. The locals knew every suitable and safe swimming area. Families had been using the river for years, and the location of the safe areas was passed down from one generation to the next. Access to the seaside was impossible in those days as transport wasn’t readily available, so the river was the next best thing. In summer the people of the Lee valley congregated at specific places along the banks to swim and have picnics. Since the building of the dams the river as a swimming amenity has been lost forever. No more do the residents know the safe places for swimming. In most places the banks of the lakes are too

110 Generations; Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Swimming by the Lee at Dripsey, pre flooding, 1950s; Back row, Charles O Leary, Senan McCarthy, Jerry Cremin, Tadhg Me Carthy, Jack Buckley; front row, Pat Gilmore, Billy O ’Cornell, Jerome O Leary (Laurence Buckley).

steep and the water gets deep very quickly. There is some swimming done in the Lee but not to any great extent, as most people are wary o f the depth o f the lakes. N o doubt the loss o f this amenity is greatly felt along the Lee valley. Seamus O ’Donoghue notes that:

Looking back on pre-dam days I can recall the fun and enjoyment we all had by the river at Leemount below Coachford. O n a fine Sunday the bank of the river was black with people. The very young had their swimming place, as did the older people. The more adventurous among us did their swimming in the deeper parts o f the river. Periodically, diving boards were erected, only to be swept away in the very first flood. Boatbuilding was tried. Efforts were rewarded with a galvanized boat that did float. In the evenings, after work, crowds assembled there and enjoyed a refreshing swim and indeed a good bath (bathrooms were in scarce supply in those days) after a hard day’s work. I never heard that anybody had ever lost their life there. What we enjoyed at Leemount, children and adults enjoyed the same amenity up and down the river like the people of Dripsey who had their own safe swimming area near Fitzgibbon bridge.

Reduction of Flooding

Before the dams were built the river Lee, like most other rivers, was prone to flooding at various places along its course. Particularly bad was the area below the dam near Inniscarra bridge. Flooding at Oakgrove near Carrigadrohid was also quite common. The building of the dam has eliminated entirely all flooding above Inniscarra, but the flooding at Inniscarra bridge hasn’t been

Effects of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme I I I eliminated entirely. However, the dam has significantly reduced the frequency and scale of the floods here. In the Lee catchment area the ESB has a network of automatic rain gauges, which feed in infor­ mation every half hour. From this information the ESB analysts can estimate six hours in advance the likely volume and duration of a flood. When a flood seems likely the flood plan is set in motion. Residents living below the dam are informed of the likelihood of a flood. To reduce the level of the reservoir before the floodwaters arrive, the generators are put on full load, which means the maximum amount o f water goes out through the turbines. The flood inflow to the lakes increases the lake levels as the floodwaters arrive at the dam. Peak inflow is greater than outflow so some of the floodwaters are stored in the reservoir and the level rises. If the rain subsides, a flood downstream is avoided. If the reservoir continues to rise it becomes necessary to increase the discharge and flooding may occur. In no circumstances can peak discharge be greater than peak inflow. The dams were originally designed for a flood with a return period of a thousand years, which was the normal standard at that time. The design standards were reviewed during the 1980s and the dams were upgraded where necessary to bring them in line with best international standards. The dams are now capable of safely handling a flood with a probable return period of ten thousand years. ESB analysts have estimated that this is equivalent to a discharge of 1150 tonnes per second at Inniscarra. Any discharge at Inniscarra under 230 tonnes per second will stay within the banks and will not cause any serious flooding. Since the commissioning of the power stations that dis­ charge has been surpassed on the following occasions: 22-26 September 1957, 11-15 December 1964,12-17 February 1966, 5-12 December 1978 (this flood produced the biggest volume of water and the peak of that flood was 580 cubic metres per second) and 5-8 August 1986. The biggest peak inflow occurred in January 1990.

Waterskiing

As one source of pleasure is lost, others are created. In the Lee reservoirs there are long and wide stretches of deep water, which are not tidal and so ideal for rowing and waterskiing. The sport of

Early skiing days, Cork harbour, c. 1940 (Barry Galvin).

112 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork waterskiing has enjoyed a long and eventful history and has closely paralleled the development of recreational boating in its appeal to the public. Waterskiing was invented in the United States in 1922 when Minnesotan Ralph Samuelson built the first pair of skis and was towed on them behind an outboard-powered boat. In the 1920s and early 1930s waterskiing became an exhibition sport on both sides of the Atlantic. Waterskiing is about fifty years old in Ireland. The Irish Water Ski Association was founded in the 1960s. It later became the Irish Waterski Federation when the Irish Association and Northern Ireland Water Ski Association combined their activities. Today, there are fourteen waterski clubs and two hundred members of the Irish Water Ski Federation. In 1963, the Cork Powerboat and Waterski Club was formed in Monkstown in Cork harbour to promote waterskiing and powerboat racing. Sean Kennedy, Denis Buckley and Des Clarke were involved in setting up the club. The Cork Power Boat Championships were held in the Lee along­ side the marina — powerboats were rare in the sixties and this was a unique sight. Skiing developed as an aside. In 1966, the Cork Powerboat and Waterski Club moved to Byrne’s Farm, Fergus, and powerboat championships were held there annually for a number of years. The Club spent six years at Fergus until they moved to Farran Wood in 1972 to the site of where the National Rowing Centre is now. Sean Kennedy was the Club Chairman at that time. The forestry department was approached as well as the ESB - Farran had not yet been developed as a forest park. The Club was there before any of the National Park was put in place with its seats, tables and other pathways. Despite the 300 members in the Club in the 1970s, there was a limitation on development of the clubhouse and facilities. The younger people wished to bring the sport to a more competitive level, and many went on the ski circuit. In the 1970s, Ronan Kennedy and his brother Ray were amongst the top competitors in skiing. Munster, Cork and Irish championships were held on the reservoir, and hundreds of Cork people looked on every Sunday. In the early 1980s, powerboat racing was developed even further on the lake. Sean Kennedy canvassed people to break the Irish National Power Boat Record of a hundred miles an hour on water, an exceptional speed in those days. The Club needed further financing so fundraising was important. One initiative was the Santa Claus on Skis. Sean Kennedy dressed up as Santa and skied across the lake, then came down a makeshift chimney into the clubhouse and gave parcels to the kids. It became the principal fundrais­ er every year from 1970 to 1990. Today, a perpetual trophy to the m em ory o f Sean Kennedy exists for the Irish Junior Skiing Championships. To raise further finances, the Club attended various regattas during the summer months, at venues such as Schull, Glandore and Kinsale.The Kennedys gave half-hour demonstrations, effectively putting waterskiing on the map. There were also major demonstration days in Farran — the Cork Parachute Club came out on one occasion, and para­ chuted onto the lake on skis. On Sean Kennedy’s death in 1991, the Cork Powerboat and Waterski Club was on the verge of folding, At the AGM , the Galvin family put in a proposal to take over the Club. Barry Galvin was from Monkstown and spent much of his leisure time on the water. He also did a lot of motorcross, racing competitively at an international level in the 1960s. At the 1991 AGM in Farran, it was debated that the rowing would move to the Farran side as there was more space, and skiing would move to the Dripsey side. The riverbank was cleared and a small dock created.

Effects of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme Left to right: Ronan Kennedy, August 2007 (Ronan Kennedy); Barry Galvin in action completing a slalom course, Inniscarra reservoir (courtesy Galvin family collection).

The National Championships are regularly held on Inniscarra reservoir. The Wakeboard National Championships were held on 18 and 19 August 2007. The Galvins have coached and trained Janet Gray, a blind skier, who became a world champion at her disabled level. The current disabled world champion, Eamonn Prunty, skis at Dripsey, and won the World Championship in Australia in May 2007. Barry Galvin (Junior) has w on the National Championships consecutively since 1987, w hich is a world record in itself. All five of the Galvin family compete at waterski championships. Barry’s children Shane, Barry and Daniel are at the top level in the country, and Barry is at the top in Europe. The three events of traditional water skiing are jumping, slalom and tricks. In jumping, the object is distance and in 1988 Barry Galvin set a record distance of 52.3 metres. In slalom, the con­ testant negotiates a zigzag course of six buoys and the boat speed is increased by two mph until a maximum speed for the division of competition is reached. Thereafter the rope is shortened in pre­ measured lengths, and the winner is the one who rounds the most buoys without a miss or fall. The Cork Powerboat and Waterski Club at Dripsey is open from April to October. There are thirty-five members at the moment and despite the bad weather, the Galvins were very busy in 2007. Most of the client base comes from Donegal, Belfast and Roscommon, and many enjoy wakeboarding - the sport developed in the early 1990s and is almost more popular than skiing.The industry allows for the interest and makes specific wakeboard boats. Aidan and Lily Fitzpatrick set up Carrigadrohid Skiing Club in 1980, just upstream of Carrigadrohid dam. Three generations of the family are now skiing, including daughters and grand-daughters. Aidan skied for a number of years at O ’Brien’s bridge, Limerick, meeting his future wife Lily in the process. They bought a boat and started a club, and skied in Oysterhaven for two years before discovering a site overlooking Carrigadrohid reservoir. They created a road and club house on the old quarry site, and the Lee scheme submerged the old access road. In the early years, Aidan and Brian Fox ran the club as a part-time endeavour.

114 Generations; Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Where the Dripsey river meets the river Lee, 2007 (Kieran McCarthy).

Sunny days at Cork Powerboat and Waterski Club, summer 2007 (Kieran McCarthy).

Effects of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme 115 Today, with local and corporate support, the Club has forty members, and the support of the EM C and the U CC. The Club has hosted the American National team for a training camp. One of the Club’s key roles is training for the disabled — in 1993, the Club raised awareness of the sport and competition as well as raising funds on the Shannon. Aidan and others skied down the river Shannon to Killaloe. In 1994, the Club hosted the European Disabled Championships, at which fourteen countries were represented. Like the Galvins, they were also involved in developing the skiing technique of the disabled world champion, Eamonn Prunty. In 2001, Brian Fox and Aidan trained disabled skiers on the Sea of Galilee in Israel and Lily is currently on disabled skiing world councils.

Boating and Rowing

Corkman Denis O ’Flynn established the Cork Boating Centre on Inniscarra reservoir in 1966. Denis lived at Ballyvolane House, now the site o f the Glen Club in C ork City. B y trade he was a cattle exporter but had a large interest in boating. He was inspired by the boating on the lakes of Switzerland and applied to the ESB at Ardnacrusha for a licence. He proposed three sites. The first site was opposite Farran Woods, which he did not choose. He was based at Ballytrasna for a few weeks at a site adjoin­ ing John Lehane’s farm. He settled eventually at the third proposed site at Inishleen Abbey. Seven boats were bought from Galway and one from John Geary in Carrigtwohill. In the early days, ex-army tents were used as accommodation, which were bought at Nortons on Lavitt s Quay. A club house was built as well as a timber jetty which extended out into the reservoir. In 1966, one could hire a boat at five bob an hour. A boat and outboard engine cost seven shillings and sixpence an hour with petrol. The enterprise was a success and in the 1980s Denis’s nephew, Noel O ’Flynn, took over the running of the venue.

Skiing enthusiasts, r Barry, Shane, Daniel and Barry Galvin, August 200].

Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Carrigadrohid Skiing Club in action (Kieran McCarthy).

The site was thronged during the high summer season. One could hire a boat by day and barbeques and discos were held in the evenings. The Loinge Club was formed and buses of people came out from Cork. A scout jamboree was held one year in the mid 1980s and an adjacent field filled with tents with permission of the landowner, Paddy O ’Mahony.The Argonauts Kayak Club also used the site in the mid 1980s. Regatta organizers on Inniscarra reservoir hired boats from Noel. The Cork Trout Anglers Association held the Pope Cup on the reservoir. The Association was based at 25 St Patrick's Street and hired boats at Inishluinge. The weigh-in was at the West County Bar in Lower Dripsey. The first rowing regatta was held on Inniscarra reservoir in 1975. At that time, still- and lake- water coursing was becoming popular. In 1974, Shandon Boat and Rowing Club wished to mark its centenary the following year with something different from the norm. Mick O ’Callaghan was Captain of the Club at the time. The organizing committee were members who Mick had rowed with as a youth, John Cashell and Andy O ’Connor. The senior member was Mick Collins, Vice- President of Shandon Boat Club. They laid out six lanes, two thousand metres from Farran to the rowing centre at R ooves bridge. M ick O ’Callaghan recalls:

We made a timber starting platform.The lanes were made o f 12,000 metres of bailing twine and 700 / 800 one-gallon plastic containers, painted orange. Boats started from a platform made out of pallets, rope and concrete. The E S B were very helpful as were the local farmers at Rooves bridge. Mr McSwiney, the local farmer, gave us a section o f his land for the day. We made slipways out o f pallets.

Effects of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme 1 1 7 toating at Inishleena, 1969 (Martin McCarthy).

hating at Inishleena, 1969 (Martin McCarthy).

Inishleena Sailing Club club hut, 1980s (Noel O ’Flynn).

I l 8 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Inishleena Sailing Club club hut, 1980s (Noel O ’Flynn).

Rowing on Inniscarra reservoir, 1990s (Seamus O ’Donoghue).

Effects of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme 1 1 9 In July 1976, the Home International Regatta was held over one day on Inniscarra Lake. It was an international rowing competition between Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales. On the second day, Shandon Boat Club held their annual regatta. D uring the 1980s and 1990s, regattas took place intermittently on the reservoir. There was no set plan — the Irish Championship was held on the reservoir, while club regattas took place over the former site of Inisleena abbey. The Cork Regatta was held there once or twice. The Dripsey channel held the Intervarsity College Rowing Championships, and U C C Rowing Club trained here also. In the early 1990s, the move to using multi-lane courses intensified — Cork City Regatta recognized the need for development and moved out to the reservoir in 1992. In 1997, the Irish Championship was held on the reservoir where it has taken place ever since. The European Junior Championships took place at Farran in 1999. In the late 1990s, Cospoir, the sport-development body in Ireland, wanted to upgrade international facilities and approached the National Rowing Union. Cork City Regatta Committee proposed the Farran venue, and a stretch of water was nominated on Inniscarra reservoir and recommended by an international expert. It

National Rowing Centre, was deemed as the best place to build the Farren, August 2007 National Rowing Centre in the country. (Kieran McCarthy). The first part of funding was secured by the then Minister of Sport, Bernard Allen. Mick O ’Callaghan headed up the drive for the project with the help of an RPS design team and O ’Shea’s Builders and Cummor Builders, Blarney. Work started on the build­ ing in 2001, and phase one involved putting slipways in place. The boat storage facility was completed in 2004. Phase two finished in 2007, with dressing rooms, restaurants and

Opening of National Rowing Centre, Farren, May 2007 by Minister John O ’Donoghue with Michael O ’Callaghan on right (National Rowing Centre).

120 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Sailing on Inniscarra reservoir.; offshore Inishleena, summer 2007 (Kieran McCarthy).

Inishleena amenity area, September 2007 (Kieran McCarthy).

offices. The National R ow ing Centre is currently the headquarters o f Irish R ow ing Team. For the past seven years, the C ork Regatta has been held on the lake. It is one o f the premier regattas in the country. Monkstown Boat Club hold their Annual Regatta there as well as Skibbereen and Muckross Boat Club. Musgraves hold a triathlon every year for Our Lady’s Hospital on the first week of September. Leonard Godsill and Barry Galvin founded Inniscarra Sailing Club in 2002 and currently have about forty members. Boating and kayaking are also very popular on the reservoir.

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Effects of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme 121

9

Staff Memories

The Lee hydroelectric scheme is still very much at the heart of people’s memories in mid Cork and in the wider region. This chapter is based on a series of interviews conducted by ESB archive staff with former and present-day workers during the summer of 2007. There are lessons to be learned from the Lee hydroelectric scheme. All of the workers interviewed, past and present, touched upon ideas o f pride and identity. M any were young adults when they arrived to the building works. They talk about the idea of inheritance, the way of life, memories and talents being passed down from older to younger colleagues — the passing of the torch, so to speak. The story of the Lee scheme is as much about real people and real events as the facts and figures. The life stories presented touch upon Cork’s place in the world — ambition, intellectual engagement, commerce, politics, community development, art and education are all represented. The Lee scheme is also about the power of creativity and imagination, and the evolution of ideas. It was and still is about taking risks and pushing out the comfortable boundaries of life. For each person written about in snapshot in this chapter and highlighted in pictures in this book, many more are represented through their life experiences. The Lee scheme should encourage us all to ponder on the power of the individual and their contribution to society, whether at a local or international level. For the social scientist, the Lee scheme poses questions for further study and debate, framing, enhancing and evolving old and new historical narratives. For the visitor, the scheme is about a region of continuous making and inspiration.

Staff Memories 12 3 Jerry Kelleher (Civil Works Supervisor, retired)

The Lee scheme was cause for much disquiet. The impact of flooding had an impact on lives; people had been living in the area for centuries. In the early stages, the river was surveyed. The next worry was the value for land. People were meeting informally and asking questions. Someone settled in Macroom, after that the project rolled on.

Bernie O’Connell (Day Worker)

Before the Lee scheme, on a summer’s day, one could walk across the river. M y first memory of the Lee scheme was running down the valley after school seeing how much the water levels had risen. I remember when my neighbour, Mr O ’Mahony of Dripsey, left his house. The water was up to the back door.

Ferdie O ’Halloran (Cvil Engineer, retired)

I worked on the initial stages of the dam. Jerry Mahony in Marina housed and looked after the young staff. Frank Clynch looked after the construction team. Seamus Ertin and I were in charge of setting out the dam works. I remember we came out in a baby Ford. We had to know the valley, know the history of the water flow, we selected carefully the sites of the dams. The completed surveys of the valley were important to the design of the stations.

Seamus Madden (Clerical Officer, retired)

The Lee scheme was the talk of the town at that time of construction. I got a job as store keeper. I originally applied to Michael Murphy, accountant on the site. He first asked me if I could write. I started on a Friday, 3 September 1956. I stayed there until the end o f construction. The stores were at the end of the housing block. There were petrol pumps for the vans and trucks. There were two vans, one to get supplies from the city, the other to bring more materials and stocks around the site. Steel girders were delivered to the store. Receipts were sent up to Michael Murphy. The chief man there was Tom Atkinson.

Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Patrick O ’Leary (Day Worker, retired)

In late 1956,1 worked with M AN in Carrigadrohid and Inniscarra putting in the turbine intake gate guides. The chief man, M r Baum, was madly pro- Hitler and you dare not comment on the war. I was paid by the ESB. After finishing with M AN, I was lucky that the German firmVoith were starting the following Monday morning and were looking for men. One ofVoith’s men had no English, but we managed to communicate with each other. I learnt a bit o f German and he learnt a bit of English. We got along like that.

Ned Sweeney (Control Room Operator, retired)

I came from Clare to Inniscarra in January 1956 to start wiring in the control room plant. It was a cold winter’s morning. I arrived on a 350 BSA Gold Star bike.There was ice on the road and I was not familiar with the roadway. I pulled up outside the door in Inniscarra and met Jimmy O ’Driscoll (RIP). He asked me two questions — where are you from boy? (everybody was addressed as boy.) I said from Clare, and his next question was, when are you going to win an All-Ireland final? It took another thirty-eight years to do so, I suppose. From the office, you could see the big towers, the cables in between and the buckets of cement suspended. They were just putting the finishing touches to the parapet of the dam. I remember over on the left-hand side, you had a commemorative cross about forty feet high, made out of galvanized steel sections and painted blue and white. It commemorated the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. It was put up for SCB, the French firm who built the dam. I had my first breakfast there for one-and-sixpence in the site canteen. It was all you could eat, bacon, egg and sausage. It closed up a month afterward. The big day did come when G2 (G2, the 4 M W set in Inniscarra, was the first o f the three generating sets to be commissioned) gave its first turn. We were all there, waiting expectantly. I was standing by the generator commutator. One of the Germans was Arlo Rashley, whose father fought in the eastern front.The war was just over eleven years then. His dad got back safe­ ly and was not held prisoner. Herr Leitil was originally in the submarine unit. He was one of the few survivors. R olf Reiniker was the most cheerful of the lads. He was a happy-go-lucky type of guy. I became friendly with Rolf. He was a biker, had a bike as well — he used to come home with m e at weekends to Ardnacrusha. The first weekend he came home, the house went on fire, he came in very handy. I was very interested in history and asked the German guys where they were from and about their dads and how they got on in the war, what were their experiences like.

Staff Memories 125 Flor Deasy (Fitter, retired)

I had a job on the old Bandon Railway, burning and scrapping parts. I was lucky a friend of mine, Cyril Foley, was in the dam. at that time. He told me to come out and apply for a job. I was lucky to get it. Jack Higgins was the supervisor and Dermot O ’Shea was the superintendent. They sent me with the Germans installing the plumbing for the station. We also did a lot of welding and fitting. Jack Higgins was an excellent supervisor, he pushed me on and I stayed on once the stations opened. Every year, I worked on maintaining the runner blades ot the turbines, bringing out the profile of the blades.

Eddie Murphy (Plant Controller; retired)

I remember the campsite where the people who worked on the con­ struction lived. There was also a church there, and I served as an altar boy for about a nine-month period. Little did I realize at that time that ten years later, in 1964,1 would be applying for a job as electrician. Being a lad of twenty-two years of age, my abiding memory was being asked at the interview would I do shift work. I got the job and trained in the control room every Friday. I did my time with Philip Ryan. He was in the army for a good number of years before he joined the ESB. I remember that his training was fairly strict. I went on my first shift in the control room at very short notice in the first week of September. M y supervisor Jack Higgins was stuck for staff. It took off from there. I was working with men in their fifties. I looked up to them. They helped you on any way possible. They were very forthcoming with information, and great friends.

D.J. O ’R e g a n (Plant Controller, retired)

I went for an interview for the ESB in Dublin. The ESB had advertised for an electrician’s job.The job was in Ringsend but to be honest I had no interest in living in Dublin. Christy Quinn gave me a job at the Marina ESB plant in Cork. On 1 February 1971,1 came to Inniscarra. I worked with one lad Paddy ‘The Dam’ O ’Connell who worked on the construction of the dam. The last guys I worked with on shift work were Liam Lyons and Ted Madden.

Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Jim O ’Neill (Hydrometric Officer, retired)

I was responsible for the management of water, deciding on the levels of the lakes. Controversy arose downstream especially with regard to flood­ ing of houses and land. People thought the ESB dams were the problem. W e have alleviated the problem substantially. Safety was a big issue. Design reviews were carried out on all dams in the country. We conducted a study o f the Lee catchment area. The heaviest o f rainfalls are in the upper end of the catchment in the Ballyvourney. When I came to Inniscarra in the mid 1980s, we had no idea how much rain was falling in the upper catchment. Rainfall instruments were located at both dams so we put electronic equipment out there. The instruments collect the data on rainfall, which is transmitted to Inniscarra hour by hour. We know now how much rain falls and that gives us a six-hour gap to make decisions on the reservoir levels and river flow. At that time people were suspicious of the place. We endeavoured to change all that. We went on a PR campaign, giving local people a tour of the Lee stations. We explained what we were doing and why. We convinced some people, others we didn’t.

Ted Madden (Plant Attendant)

There was an excitement when we started to look at the Tidy Station Awards. A sub-committee of five or six guys was set up - Liam Buckley, myself, Pat Cronin, Colm O ’Driscoll and a few others. Everything was cleared out, floors cleaned, walls painted, windows polished. The parapet of the dam was cleared. Roses were planted in the garden. Frank Scott came down for the ESB and checked everything. We won the award in 2001.

P at K elly (Plant Controller)

One thing about working in Inniscarra and Carrigadrohid, being such small places, was that you were given responsibility very quickly. Declan Reilly was my supervisor (RIP). He judged how you were getting on and the level of responsibility that you could cope with. You could be working in the fisheries or back in Carrigadrohid or in Bantry mini- hydro.You were never stuck in any one position. The old water-control system was wired in 1957. It was upgraded to

Staff Memories 12 7 make it PLC compatible. The new boards arrived and were fitted into the dam control chamber. I had two apprentices from Lesotho in South Africa. At one stage, it was like the United Nations on top of the dam wall. They were building a large dam in Lesotho and the guys were over on a training course with the ESB.

Colm O ’Driscoll (Day Worker)

I started in 1984. M y father had worked here for thirty-seven years previous to that. I came here on my eighteenth birthday. It is a fabulous place to work. I have made a lot of friends. I am very close to home. There are no traffic problems in the morning.The Lee scheme has always been part of my life and part of my family. My father used to come home in the evening telling us stories. M y father worked in construction as well. He used to tell me that in the mornings at eight the roads would be black with bicycles. It was and still is a great place for employment. Between the two of us, my father and I, we have sixty-one years’ service. I started work on the same day as John O ’Leary. Pat Hayes, a close friend o f mine, started a year later. I worked with Owney Riordan, Liam Lyons and Mick Shine. I was on shift work for twelve years. I loved shift. When automation came in I reluctantly went back on day shift. I enjoyed the time o ff in between shifts.

Jerry Browne (Plant Controller)

Declan O ’Reilly was my supervisor when I started. Declan was a Cobh man and a great sportsman. He brought the best out in all of us. I worked on commissioning the Curramore mini-hydro station in Bantry. All ESB’s hydro stations are now controlled from a central point. The project was driven by Bob Cullen, former manager of Ardnacrusha and the Lee and got off the ground in 2003. A software contruction group, Honeywell, were approached to design the system. The stations on the Lee, Shannon, Erne and Liffey are now controlled by Turlough Hill. Ten dams with a total of twenty-two generators can be controlled by two people.

Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Ger Manning (Fisheries)

I am responsible for fisheries. It was a fledging commercial industry in the 1980s. The ESB had an interest in commercial and native fish stock. Each year we feed the fry and in the last week of April, we take them out of the hatchery and place them in six-metre tanks. We don’t stress them, we feed them, dose them for parasites; the Lee, though, is a clean river. We release them into the Lee, the Toon and the Sullane rivers. In 2004, w e captured 300 females (3 to 4 kg in size) in the fish pass. 500 males as well as a wild fish were caught. W e came across the biggest fish that year — 10 kg, w ith 10,000 eggs.

Jack O ’Keeffe (Station Manager and Supervisory Engineer)

W hile working as Station Manager I was responsible for managing remedial civil engineering work by our own staff and by external contractors. Rock protection measures were placed downstream of the dam to ensure the dam foundations would not be undermined. A new fifty-metre auxiliary spillway was built at Carrigadrohid. To ensure very severe floods could be handled, the spillway gates at Carrigadrohid would have to be fully open before the auxiliary spillway would be used. The chains and gates of the spillway gates were upgraded at Inniscarra during 1987-1993. A new control system for Carrigadrohid was also set up in 1991.

M arguerite Allen (Canteen Manageress)

In 1993,1 came out to Inniscarra on holiday relief for a chef. I loved the place.That was fourteen years ago. It says a lot about a place if you’re here that long. I start the day preparing the breakfast. It can vary w ith the lads. Lunch is at one. During the summertime, when the overhauls are on, there w ould be teas. It’s like a big family.

Staff Memories 12 9 Gerard Keely (Safety Officer)

All my family have been in the ESB going back to the Shannon scheme with my great uncle, Mick Teidt. He spent a further thirty-two years in Poolbeg. I came to the ESB in 1994. Dad had me tipped off — be wary of power stations ... watch this, watch that. I was anxious approaching day one. I worked as a day worker under Jerry Kelleher. I progressed to the position o f shift controller, after I was trained in plant operations and completed a DIT Plant Operations Certificate. I also did a few weeks in the Portlaoise training school. I then went on shift training for six months. The lads here are sound. I was promoted to the position of safety services officer after the introduction of the hydro control centre. We have gone 1300 days w ithout an accident. O u r ow n staff are great.

Bob Cullen (Ardnacrusha and Lee Stations Manager, retired)

The staff in the Lee stations are probably the best in the ESB. As a group, they get on exceptionally well. I came from the project side to the oper­ ational side, from Moneypoint and then to Arnacrusha. M y focus was to try and improve the public perceptions of Inniscarra and Carrigadrohid. We had a number of floods during 1995 to 1996. It became apparent after public complaints downstream that we needed to set up a programme to inform the local populace of our operations. Floods are a natural occur­ rence. We manage the floods as best as we can. We explain to locals how we manage them. The programme continues to the present day.

Yvonne Richmond (Administrative Officer, retired)

The job was completely different to anything I did before in ESB. In Inniscarra, you had to know everything that went on in the station. It involved payroll, invoicing, management accounting. When I first arrived, I saw a massive dam with a wall of water behind it. People I worked with had great reports of the people and the place. I spent eleven happy years in Inniscarra. It is a special place; maybe because it is so small, that it is like a family more than just a work location; everyone appreciates everyone else. We do get along with each other; people work hard but there is always a sense of humour and fun; the harder they work, the more the sense of fun comes out.

130 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Danny Gibson (Apprentice Fitter)

I was still at school when I applied for an apprenticeship position in ESB. I got an interview and was lucky to get a job. There were over 2000 applicants. There was an exam and a fitness test required. W hen I heard I was going to Cork, I was a bit sketchy about coming down from Dublin. I didn’t know what to expect. I came down the avenue in Inniscarra and was impressed. I went up on top of the dam wall and looked around — you could look around for hours and hours on end. The first person I met was another Dub, Gerry Keely. The Cork lingo took me a while to get used to. It took me a good year to come to grips with. I have my own projects, for example completing maintenance work on G2.

Joe Kavanagh (Control Room Operator)

We have achieved a lot in the Lee stations in the last decade. I was here for the fortieth anniversary andY 2K. I remember the closing of the loop to the West Cork stations.The Lee scheme has added to the amenities of the region, fishing, sailing boating, skiing. The National Rowing Centre was established at Farran Wood. Our lake is the rowing centre of the country. I wish to thank the public who avail of and value the amenities. Long may the Lee stations continue on the banks of my own lovely Lee.

Staff at Generator 1, Iniscarm dam, 2007. Left to right:Jerry Browne, Michael Shine, Pat Hayes, Pat Cronin, Colm O ’Driscoll, Liam Buckley and Damien Byrne (ESB Archives).

Staff Memories 131 Staff in control room Inniscarra dam, 2007. Left to right: Paddy carrigadrohid Buckley, John O ’Leary, Neilus Hayes, Dan Shine, Danny Gibson, Yvonne Richmond, James Hegarty, David Coleman and James Hurley (ESB Archives).

Staff at R oll o f Honour, 2007. Left to right: Pat Kelly, Gerard Keely and Niall Casey (ESB Archives).

I 32 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork From left to right: Liam Buckley, Plant Manager, Lee Stations; Luke Shinnors, Executive Director, Human Resources (Alan Murphy).

From left to right: Pat O ’Doherty, Executive Director, Power Generation with Cork Lord Mayor Clr Donal Counihan and Liam Buckley, Plant Manager, Lee Stations, in front o f the restored waterwheel which was commissioned to mark the 50th anniversary of the Lee stations and dedicated to all who worked and continue to work on the Lee hydroelectric scheme (Alan Murphy).

Staff Memories 133 ii« ; * t : r" _ :s*i.ii B li 8®6 • * JHL • i -! ".-aSg? :Hii!t:tJ;!:ir:rn: : - :Kipv!

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i i li l i l §3l iW» n !

u: - : •• , . liiailgiSittiiBBlBiictwKHji.; jlj ••: IO

Beyond the First Fifty Years

Fifty years is an appropriate milestone to remember the people who put together the scheme and who operated it. It is opportune to take time out, to reflect and to meet old and dedicated friends. The Lee stations have given great service to the community, providing the country with cost- effective electricity; eighty million units per year o f cheap fu el at that. We are honouring the fifty years and honouring the people who put it here and who keep it here.

(Liam Buckley, Lee Stations Plant Manager, 2007)

In the mid-twentieth century, the Lee scheme was part of a wider Irish government strategy in developing the modern state. The state was only thirty years old and economically was not going through the Celtic Tiger years. Broadening development was linked very closely to the country’s balance of payments. The Lee stations, as well as other hydro and later peat and coal stations were a major part of a drive towards self-sufficiency within a closed, protected economy. The government of the day was striving to meet a very rapidly increasing electricity demand. From 1939 to 1957, there was a 350 per cent increase in demand.The ESB has grown hand in hand with the social fabric of the nation. It electrified the nation and developed the modern Ireland we recognize today. The Lee scheme was the last of the large-scale hydroelectric projects to be built, following the Shannon, Erne and Liffey schemes. For the politicians and policy makers, those projects were visionary. Minister Morrissey approved the Lee scheme on 1 December 1949. It was planned to build two power plants with associated dams, one at Inniscarra and one at Carrigadrohid. This involved creating two long narrow lakes, running upstream and westwards towards the town of Macroom. The Lee

Beyond the First Fifty Years Cork County Council visit at Inniscarra station, May lgyo (ESB Archives).

scheme was an ambitious construction project, which provided significant employment for people from Cork and from all over Ireland in a decade of limited employment prospects. The human interest story attached to the Lee scheme is also important. There was a permanent change to the environment of the river as the reservoirs gradually filled up from October 1956. A total of thirty-nine families were moved to higher ground. The scheme involved flooding 3500 acres of land along the Lee valley and the creation of three new bridges and eleven miles of new road. It was planned to produce eighty million units of electricity every year. The scheme cost £4.5 million. Construction began in 1952 and ran for five years until 1957, when President Erskine Childers carried out the official opening on 30 September of that year. Inniscarra dam, at forty-five metres high, is the biggest buttress dam on the ESB system and it holds back thirteen kilometres or forty-five million cubic feet of water. Its construction was a tremendous feat of engineering for its time. The generators that were built in the 1950s are still working today. Th ey receive regular overhauls every year.Their basic structure is exactly the same. At Inniscarra, there is generator no. I, a 15 M W unit manufactured by Brown Boveri. Inniscarra generator no. 2 is a 4 M W unit also manufactured by Brown Bovari. Carrigadrohid generator no. 3 is an 8 M W unit manufactured by Siemens. The manufacturer of all three turbines was J.M. Voith, Germany. Technology has improved through the years and has been incorporated into the Lee stations. In the 1970s, auto rain recorders were installed at Inniscarra and Carrigadrohid. In the early 1980s improved catchment radio rain recorders were put in — these give advanced warning to predict

1 3 6 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Clockwise from top left: Maintenance o f generator 1 at Inniscarra station, 1980s; Maintenance works, James Hurley and Florence Deasy, 1980s; Repairs in workshop, Liam Kelleher and James Hurley; A ll hands on deck, installing the rotar; Transformer maintenance works, 1980s, Bernie O ’Connell and Ed Meagher (ESB Archives).

Beyond the First Fifty Years 1 3 7 changes in the flow of water. The 1990s coincided with the refurbishment of switchgear, the replace­ ment of instrumentation, the PLC control of Carrigadrohid, and the refurbishment of spillway gates and sluice gates. In 1998, the PLC automation of Inniscarra plant and automation of both Inniscarra units were set up to allow one-man operation of the Lee dams. During 2004, further automation and remote control systems were installed to enable the Lee stations to be remotely operated from a central hydro centre at Turlough Hill in the Wicklow mountains. The introduction of the O TT system means that staff can now pick up hydrometric information from their mobile phones. Safety is paramount at the Lee stations, and the care of the dam structure, people, environment, property and plant is essential. There are three operating modes. Firsdy, there is the normal operation mode, which is the week-to-week routine work. Operational targets are passed to the national grid and used when needed at peak daily consumption times. Secondly, there is the operating mode for low flow conditions. We use storage of water during the start of the year to accommodate electricity supply to the city during the summer period when the water levels and inflows are low. The third operation mode is put into place in the event of flooding. The Lee scheme does not eliminate flooding but does have a major effect on reducing floods. W hen inflows in the catchment exceed the capacity o f the turbines to discharge water, lake levels will rise. If inflows and levels con­ tinue to rise, a decision may be made to spill the excess water through the sluice gates at Carrigadrohid or the spillways at Inniscarra. Both dams have spillways to spill extra waters. A new bypass spillway was built in the early 1990s at Carrigadrohid to accommodate a one-in-ten-thousand-year flood. The river Lee has a quite short and a flashy catchment of 306 square miles. Floods can be very quick and violent. There is a six- to eight-hour response time. Inniscarra lake has a maximum storage of twenty million cubic metres whilst Carrigadrohid lake has a maximum storage of twenty-five million cubic metres. The average rainfall per annum is sixty inches.

L-r, Liam Buckley, Jerry Long, Flor Deasy, Jerry Power, Pat O ’Leary & Mary O ’Leary (ESB Archives).

138 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Clockwise from top: Inniscarra dam 1980s, l-r, James Hurley, M ick Reardon, N iall Casey, Paddy O ’Leary, Florence Deasy, Kieran Murphy, Colm O'Driscoll, Dan Sullivan, Bernie O ’Connell, Mark Dineen and Jerry Horgan; Barry Galvin and Bob Cullen, 1990s; Staff members, Pat Minahane, Ted Madden and Brian O ’ Callaghan, 1990s; Launch of Working W ater D V D , 1990s, l-r back row, Liam Kelleher, Pat Hayes, N oel Hodge, Pat Minihane, Gene Hayes, Liam Buckley, Jerry Kelleher; Front row: Jim O ’Neill, Pat Ryan, Patrick O ’Leary, Jack O ’Keeffe, Denis Keohane and Declan O ’Reilly; Two staff from Rheidol Poiver Station in Wales welcome Bob Cullen and Janies Hurley as part of Lee Station staff visit in April 1997 (ESB Archives).

W hen the reservoir lakes are full, there is no option but to spill water downriver. The stations are manned up for twenty-four hours if a flood is imminent, until the flood has receded. It may become necessary to spill floodwater through the spillway gates at Inniscarra or through the sluice gates at Carrigadrohid, although there is enough storage in the lake to take small flash floods. A flood can be halved passing through Inniscarra dam. However, the Lee in areas downstream such as Carrigrohane is a natural floodwater basin. The dams reduce flooding but cannot eliminate the risk. There is tremendous expertise required in the management of the dam to cope with these scenarios, and a long list of people to inform downstream in the event of flooding.

Beyond the First Fifty Years 139 Pat Naughton, ESB Hydro Manager (Alan Murphy).

Left to right: Batt O ’ Keeffe T D and ESB Deputy Chief Executive, Aidan O ’Regan

(Alan Murphy). 1 1 1

140 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Liam Buckley, Plant Manager, Lee stations (right) and Joe Kavanagh, Organising Committee (left) make a special presentation to Deputy Chief Executive Aidan O ’Regan (centre) (Alan Murphy).

Danny Gibson, the youngest member of the Lee stations, blows out the candles on the celebration cake (Alan Murphy).

Beyond the First Fifty Years 141 Presentation o f National Industrial Safety Organisation awards to Lee station staff in 2001 (ESB Archives).

Michael McNicholas, Director o f Power Generation, presenting the cup to Bob Cullen, manager, Ardnacrusha and Lee stations in 2001 (ESB Archives).

The Lee scheme is ot major value to the nation. In the last six years, the Lee stations have had an average 92.5 per cent efficiency performance rate, which is an exceptional figure for a fifty-year- old plant. The design has stood the test of time, producing high-quality, efficient, clean and renewable energy. The care, commitment, dedication and technical skills of past and present ESB staff have contributed significantly to its ongoing success. The Roll of Honour in Inniscarra dam honours 261 past staff. In the beginning, both plants were fully manned; in the early 1960s, a remote-control link was established between both stations, which could be controlled from Inniscarra control room. By 1988, technology had advanced to such a degree that one man could control both dams, and in 2004 a hydro control centre began operating fromTurlough Hill in Wicklow, with after-hour control o f all hydro stations. In the event of flood control and subsequently initiated safety measures, all alarms are relayed to the hydro control centre and Inniscarra staff. Alarms are also relayed to an outside security company. The Lee plant controllers, technical officers and plant manager all have home laptops and can view any ongoing developments. The system of rain gauges at both dams plus lake levels can relay information and give historic breakdowns over the previous twenty-four hours.

142 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Iniscarra dam, May 2006 (ESB Archives).

Canon Coakley P P and the staff at the 50th Anniversary Mass, September 2007 (ESB Archives).

Beyond the First Fifty Years 143 Pat O ’Doherty, Executive Director, Power Generation with Cork Lord Mayor, Clr Donal Counihan in front o f the restored waterwheel marking the 50th anniversary o f the Lee stations (Alan Murphy).

144 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Staff members, l-r, Ger O ’Mahony, Kevin Claffey, Ger Keely, John Wall and Bernard O ’ Connor (ESB Archives).

The Lee scheme has made a huge contribution to Cork and to the nation. In 2008, the stations and their generation of electricity will inject €3 million into the local economy. There are several other positive aspects in the development o f the Lee scheme. The reservoir at Inniscarra is an essential source o f water for the Cork area. Most of the major industry in lower Cork harbour is now supplied with water from the Lee, which is abstracted and treated at the Cork County Council water works at Inniscarra. The establishment of the National Rowing Centre and the tremendous development of local amenities such as fishing (both coarse and salmon), waterskiing, picnic areas, scenic walks, boating and sailing and the preservation o f the Gearagh have all been made possible by the Lee hydroelectric scheme.

Beyond the First Fifty Years 145 Appendices Appendix I

Progress of Rural Electrification in County Cork 1947-1959 (source: ESB Archives)

Areas com pleted during the year ending:

31 March 1948 31 March 1953 31 March 1957 Inniscarra Castletownbere Ballinspittle Carrignavar Crossmahon 31 March 1949 Cloughduv M urragh Lombardstown Drishane Newm arket W hite’s Cross Kilavullen Tirelton Mitchelstown 31 March 1950 31 March 1954 Churchtow n Aghinagh 31 March 1958 Coachford Ballyhooly Belgooly Dromahane Buttevant Bere Island Great Island Conna Clondrohid Knocknagree Donoughmore D ungourney Kildorrery 31 March 1951 31 March 1955 Lisgoold Glounthane Ballinhassig Lismire Douglas Ballyhea Newcestown Baltimore Ballynoe Ballinascarthy Boherbue 31 March 1959 Monkstown Bweeng Ballyvourney U nion Hall Castlelyons Clonmult Gortroe Kealkil 31 March 1952 Grenagh Kilnamartyra Lisavaird Rossmore Aghada 31 March 1956 Castlemagner Ballindangan Barryroe Ballingeary Schull Carrigtwohill Ovens Doneraile Dromtarriffe Freemount Inchigeelagh Innishannon Kilbrittain Kilcorney

Appendix 1 Appendix 2

Progress of the Rural Electrification Scheme (source: ESB Archives)

Period Poles Line Strung Consumers Areas Erected (KMS) C onnected C om pleted

Year Ending March 31

1947 1300 63 N il N il

1948 15,986 1160 2203 7

1949 32,002 2783 9262 30

1950 40,972 3352 13,688 45

1951 42,423 359i 15,083 49

1952 46,008 3967 18,067 49

1953 48,059 4345 18,818 60

1954 68,382 6065 23,477 75

1955 9i , 39i 7998 27,316 99

1956 112,616 9994 34,257 80

1957 9 i ,794 8277 34,627 60

1958 61,696 5371 17,725 45

1959 50,113 4345 14,997 40

i960 47,982 4171 13,458 40

1961 43,757 3738 11,570 40

1962 30,155 2651 9515 26

1963 22,062 1962 8829 19

1964 29,616 2497 10,820 12

1965 27,737 2414 n ,773 7

1966 21,219 1820 9882 -

1967 n ,034 915 4742 -

1968 16,665 1284 8075 -

Totals 952,969 82,763 318,904 792

150 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Appendix 3

Relevant Legal Authority and Hydroelectric Schemes (source: Boole Library, U C C & ESB Archives)

To facilitate the easy acquisition of land, Ddil Eireann passed the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act 1945 and it came into law on 12 November o f that year. This act gave wide powers to the E S B once Sean LemassTD, Ministerfor Industry and Commerce, had authorized the project. Ministerial authorization was necessary before a hydro scheme could go ahead.

Section 6: (1) For the purpose o f carrying out an approved scheme it shall be lawful for the Board to do, in accordance with such scheme (with such additions, omissions, variations and deviations as shall be found necessary in the course o f the work) such of the following things as are, expressly or by implication, provided for by such scheme, that is to say: (a) impound, hold up, divert, take, and use the waters o f the river... and the waters of river or stream tributary to, and of any lake, pond, or canal on or connected with the said river ... (b) embank, dam, dredge, deepen, widen, straighten, divert, and otherwise alter the river ... (c) embank, dam, dredge, alter the level of, and otherwise affect any lake, pond or other water on or connected (directly or indirectly) with the river ... (d) remove, alter, repair, or reconstruct any sluice, weir, dam, embankment, quay, harbour, landing place, boathouse, or other similar work in the river ... (e) construct and maintain sluices, weirs, dams, embankments, and other similar works (including passages for the ascent and descent offish) ... (h) subject to the provisions o f this Act, close, divert, remove, submerge, or otherwise interfere with any public road or bridge ...

The section dealing with the acquisition of land states Section 7: (1) For the purpose o f carrying out an approved scheme or doing something which the Board is authorized by the next preceding section to do for that purpose, the Board may do all or any o f the following things, that is to say: (a) acquire any land either permanently or temporarily and either by agreement or compulsorily. (b) acquire either permanently or temporarily any easement, wayleave, fishery, fishing right, water right, or other right whatsoever over or in respect o f any land or water. (c) ... (d) divert, close, remove, submerge, or otherwise interfere with ... any private road, way or bridge, or any canal or other artificial watercourse;

Appendix 3 Entry on land, etc., before conveyance Section 8: (i) A t any time after making the approval order and before conveyance or ascertainment o f price or compensation, the Board may (subject to the subsequent provisions o f this section) do any o f the following things, that is to say: (a) enter on and take possession o f any land ... (b) terminate, restrict, or otherwise interfere with any easement or other property or right ... (c) divert, close, remove, submerge, or otherwise interfere with any private road, way or bridge or any canal or other artificial waterway, or any artificial water course ...

(3) The Board shall not: (a) enter on or take possession o f any land under this section without giving the occupier o f such land at least one month’s notice or, in the case o f an occupied dwellinghouse, three months’ previous notice in writing o f their intention to do so, or (b) exercise any easement or other right or interfere with any right or property under this section without giving to the owner of such easement, right, or property at least one month’s previous notice in writing of their intention so to do. (The notice could be sent by prepaid post in an envelope addressed to the owner at his usual or last know n address.)

Compensation Section 26: (1) The amount o f the price or compensation to be paid by the Board for any land acquired ... shall, in default o f agreement, be fixed under and in accordance with the Acquisition o f Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act 1919. (The same condition applied to the termination, restriction, etc. of any easement, wayleave, fishery, etc.)

S ection 27: (1) A ll claims for the price o f or compensation in respect o f any land, easement ... shall be made within one year . . .

Duties of the Board in regard to public roads and bridges Section 33: (1) If any road or bridge is closed during construction work the Board must construct and maintain a temporary road or bridge sufficient to carry traffic of similar kind. (b) the Board (unless relieved therefrom under the next following subsection o f this section) shall, at or before the completion o f the execution o f such works, do whichever o f the following things they shall think proper, that is to say: (1) restore the said closed road or bridge, or (2) after consultation with the Minister for Local Government and Public Health, construct a new permanent road or bridge sufficient to carry the like amount (in quantity and character) o f traffic ...

Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork The same section states that if the new road or bridge is substantially an improvement on the existing road or bridge, the Local Authority must contribute to its construction. The cost of maintenance of any new bridge (not the road surface) is borne by the Board.

Section 33: (2) where the Board is empowered by this act to close, submerge, or remove permanently a public road or bridge for the purpose o f the execution of any works ... and the Minister for Local Government and Public Health, is satisfied that, having regard to all the circumstances o f the case, a new road or bridge (as the case may be) in lieu o f the road or the bridge so closed, submerged, or removed is not required, the Minister may by order declare that the foregoing subsection of this section shall not apply ... and the Board shall be relieved from all obligations in relation to such road or bridge ...

Appendix 3 Appendix 4

Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act 1919 (source: Boole Library, U C C & ESB Archives)

T he preamble to this act reads

Be it enacted by the K ing’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent o f the Lord’s Spiritual and Temporal and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority o f the same, as follows:

The Act lays down the rules for assessment of compensation. Section 2: In assessing compensation, an official arbitrator shall act in accordance with the following rules: (1) N o allowance shall be made on account of the acquisition being compulsory; (2) The value o f the land shall be taken to be the amount which the land if sold in the open market by a willing seller might be expected to realize ... (3) The special suitability or adaptability o f the land for any purpose shall not be taken into account ...

Arbitration Procedure Section 3: (1) In any proceedings before an official arbitrator, not more than one expert witness on either side shall be heard unless the official arbitrator otherwise directs ... (4) The official arbitrator shall be entitled to enter on and inspect any land which is the subject o f proceedings before him. (5) Proceedings under this Act shall be heard by an official arbitrator sitting in public ...

Provisions as to Costs Section 5: (1) Where the acquiring authority has made an unconditional offer in writing o f any sum as compensation to any claimant and the sum awarded by an official arbitrator to that claimant does not exceed the sum

offered, the official arbitrator shall, unless for special reasons he thinks not to do so, order the claimant to bear his own costs and to pay the costs o f the acquiring authority as far as such costs were incurred after the offer was made ... Where an official arbitrator orders the claimant to pay the costs, or any part of

the costs, o f the acquiring authority, the acquiring authority may deduct the amount so payable by the claimant from the amount of compensation payable by him.

Decision of Arbitrator Section 6: (1) The decision o f an official arbitrator upon any question o f fact, shall be final and binding on the parties,

and the persons claiming under them respectively ...

Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Appendix 5

List of Persons Affected by the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme (source: ESB Archives)

Total: 4485 acres, 1 rood, 15 sq. perches The names in bold print denote the dwellings acquired by the ESB

Name Townland Area acquired a - r - sq. pers.

Michael J. Crowley Fergus 8-3-1. Wm. O ’Mahony Fergus 15-3-12. Daniel Healy Castleinch 5- 3- 19- Cornelius Carroll Walshestown 36-0-10. Tim and Margt. Healy Walshestown 53-318 Patrick O ’Sullivan M onallig 73- 3- 32. Classes 3 -1-2 4 . Denis O’Riordan Annahala East 45- 3- 30. 2-0-21. Patrick J. Buttim er Annahala Bog Annahala East 61-9-13. 9-1-27. Denis T. Murphy Annahala Bog 44-0-27. Annahala East 0-2-13. Thos.T. Murphy Annahala West I - 3- I 4* Gearagh East 65-0-08. Edward Meaney Tullatreada 101-2-20. Denis Cotter Tullatreada 0-1-36.

M rs J. Buttim er Coolacoosane 65- 3 -7 'O N O M Major R.C. Alexander Nettleville Demesne Loughleigh 1 1 Patk. O’Connell Curraleigh 57- 2- 15* 0-3-2. Philip Murphy Cronody 94-2-27- Thos. C. Ryan Agharinagh 3-0-21. Major Bertram Bell Inishleena 111-2-26. and Magooly 0-0-37. John O ’Sullivan Castleinch 23-3-10 (Reps.) M. Hegarty (deed.) Curraghbeg 8-3-2. Timothy Kelleher Curraghbeg 3-0-27.

Appendix j 1 5 5 Mrs H. Nicholls Teergay 34-2-27. Patk. O ’Sullivan Toom sbog 10-0-15. John J. Murphy N adrid 52-1-14- John O’Brien Castleinch 14-0-17. John O ’Leary Curraghbeg 28 -1-8 . Jos. Cahill (now Carmel Murphy) Caum 11-2 -6 . Denis and Eliz. Murphy Curraghbeg 17-0-38. Thos. P. Murphy Annahala East & 243-2-37. Annahala Bog Richard Cronin Annahala East - Mrs Julia Blake Annahala West 23-0-23. Barry Murphy Fergus 47- 3- 34- Mrs Margt. Creedon Annahala West 53- 3- 16. Gearagh Daniel Browne Carhue 37- 1- 34- Mrs Nellie Browne Raleigh South 5 7-1-4 . John Holland D unisky 94-1—38. John McSweeney Curraghbeg 35-1-8. Jeremiah O ’Leary Annahala West 40-1-30. Matthew Murphy Crossmahon 6-2-30. Jeremiah Cronin Fergus 14- 3- 14- Kyrle Allen Clashanure Fishery Edw. McCullagh Mashanglass 16-0-33. (Rep.) J. Hennigan (deed.) Annahala East 1-0-20. Mrs Mary Howard Carhue Lower 9-1-13 - Alfred Allen Clashanure 50-2-11. Earl O f Bandon Toom sbog 108-3-35. Patk. O ’Sullivan Nettleville Demesne 34-0-26. Richard O ’Sullivan Nettleville Demesne 11-2 -4 . Timothy Cahill Coolnagearagh 26-1-28 . John S. D ow n ey Mashanglass 32- 1- 34- Daniel Lyons Coolacoosane 14- 3- 5- Mrs Mary Patchett Carrigadrohid 10-0-4. (Reps.) D. Murphy (Deed.) Aglish 1-0 -16. Michael J. Roche Agharinagh 10-1-25. JohnT. O ’Mahony Agharinagh 7 - I - 1 . Cornelius Moynihan Carrigadrohid 2-0-39. James Riordan Leem ount 14- 3- 3- Mrs Kate Godsil Dromkeen Annahalabog 89-3-20.

Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Timothy Murphy Inchinashingane do (Addtl.) 27-2-3. 3-2-0. Michael Kelleher Glebe Dundareirke 6 1-1-0 . John Buckley Inchinashingane 8-1-31. Daniel Murphy Dunisky 8-2-0. J. H. Kenneally Mashanaglass 78 -1-22. Daniel Desmond Ballineadaig 24-2-9. James A. Kelleher Mashanaglass 28-2-27. Patk. E. O ’Farrell C oolcour 17-12-18. Cornelius Lucey Nettleville Demesne 0-0-18. (Reps.) J. Herlihy (Deed.) Coolacoosane 5-1-29. James W iseman Mrs B. Cullinane Tooms E. Dunisky 19-0-28. Wm. O ’Brien Lehenagh 32-0-3. Mrs Ellen Lee Fergus 5-1-30. 1-1-8 . Cornelius Lucey Sleveen West 4 2 -1-2 1. John O ’Mahony (Deed.) Nadrid 23-1-24. Mrs Julia O ’Sullivan Carrigadrohid 2 -1-3 . James Kelleher Annahala East 7-2-6. John Lehane Rooves More 89-0-21. Daniel Buckley Coolnacarriga Classes 78-3-6. Richard Gleeson Ballineadig 6-3-24. Mrs M. Sheehan Agharinagh 0 -1-8 . 0 -1-5 . Timothy Looney Classes 6-0-24. John Regan Fergus 25-2-32. Mrs B. Cummins Gilabbey

Daniel J. Gleeson Ballineadig 3 —1 — II- John Collins M onallig 12-0-0. John and Brdgt. Richardson Aglish 0 -1-14 . E.T. Fitzgibbon Inishleena Ex-gratia.

Patk. Hogan Carrigadrohid 47-1-35. Lt Gen. Sir A.C. de Wiart Caum 8-3-31- Edw. R in g M agooly 3-1-34- Mrs M. T. Riordan Loughleigh 9-1-0. Patk. Dunlea Loughleigh 19 -1-16 . S. E. Williams C oolcour 4 5-1-26. John Buckley Tullatreada 0-2-35.

Appendix 5 1 5 7 Denis Buckley Loughleigh 12-2-7. Owen O ’Riordan Loughleigh - Peter O ’Sullivan Rooves More 5-0-30. Timothy Burke Faha 20-2-13 2-0-27. Jeremiah Cashman Tullatreada 16-2-32. Edmond Murphy Magooly 3-0-9. J. McLeod-Pratt (Reps.) Fishery Monallig Classes 14-3-8. D. Duggan (Deed.) James R in g Agharinagh 9-0-7. Michael Buckley Tooms West 2 -1-17 . John Riordan Um m era 16-3-12. Morgan O. B. Neville Ballytrasna 19-0-7. Capt. H.L. Matthews Nadrid Dist. Gate Lodge 6-0-38. Mrs A. Matthews Patk. J. H ealy C oolcour 79-2-38. 1 1 M M OO

Daniel Kelleher C oolcou r VO 00 Patk. Buckley Fergus 27-2-12 . Timothy Murphy Cronody 3 1-1-20 . John Kelleher Mashanglass n - 3- 34- Timothy Kenneally Carrigadrohid 3 -1-2 2 . John Lynch Sleveen East 5 -1-8 . Water 2 -1-7 . John Riordan L oughleigh 0-0-29. Mrs LM . Herbert Killinardrish 9 -1-3 2 . Patk. O ’Regan R ooves B eg 4-0-6. Aileen Leader Nadrid - Loss ofWater Supply 12-3-27. Michael Costello D unisky 22-2-1. Thos. Byrne Fergus 28-0-28. Daniel O ’Leary Rosnascalp 28-0-1. Mrs M. O ’M ahony Faha 12-1-36. Daniel Murphy Coolalta 13-0-20. I-3-33- John Kelleher Inchinashingane 33-0-26. John Beaty Ballineadig 2 7-1-0 . Daniel Kelleher Raleigh South 2 3 -1-8 . Patk. Murphy K ilgobnet 20-1-36. Miss M. Hallinan K ilgobnet 20-1-36. Timothy McGrath K ilgobnet 20-1-36.

158 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Jeremiah Murphy Walshestown 12-1-13. Cornelius Manning Annahala East 1-1-0. Cork County Council Council’s interest in four vested cottages. Replacement of wells. James Kearney Annahala West (Labourer’s Plot)

James O ’Mahony Farranavarrigane 2 7 - 1 - 2 6 .

Cornelius Murray Sleaveen West 4 3 - 1 - 2 4 . (Inc. half o f river) Mortimer O ’Sullivan Cronody 7- 3- 8.

Mrs A.M. Woodley Leem ount 0 - 2 - 2 .

John McSweeney Tooms West 1 - 1 - 9 .

Mrs Nora Malone Farran 0 - 0 - 2 3 .

(Reps.) John Creedon Mashanglass 1 0 - 0 - 4 .

Mrs Mary T. Healy Dromkeen 1 - 0 - 1 0

Joseph McSweeney Rooves More 2 6 - 2 - 5

Patk.J. Donovan Loughleigh 0 - 3 - 2 0

1 - 0 - 2 5

(Reps.) C. O ’Callaghan Inchinashingane 6 - 0 - 6 . John O ’Riordan Miss N . Tobin Annahala East 1-0-19. (Reps.) M. Donovan (Deed.) Curraleigh 3- 3- 35- Jeremiah McSweeney Tooms West I5- 3- 29-

Toomsbog 2 - 0 - 1 5 .

(Reps.) E. Coughlan (Deed.) Aglish 5 - 2 - 1 7 .

James Coughlan Umm era 38- 3- 27-

Mrs M. Lehane Carrigadrohid 5 7 - 2 - 2 1 . (Incl. half o f river)

Daniel Manning Annahala West 0- 2- 2 .

CIE 2 3 - 2 - 2 0 . Michael Healy Carrigadrohid 0-0-16.

Denis Cronin Farranavarrigane 1 3 - 2 - 2 5 . Jeremiah Creedon Sleaveen East 9- 3- 28.

Denis Collins Dunisky 2 5 - O - 3 2 .

Mrs Ellen Lehane D unisky 3I-I- 39-

Ballytrasna 0 - 2 - 0 .

Daniel Kelleher Gearagh West 7 7 - O - 7 . Annahala West

Edw. McSweeney R oovesm ore 0 - 0 - 2 2 .

John O ’Leary Agharinagh 20 - 2 - 6 .

Appendix 5 I 5 9 Cornelius Lucey Annahala West 4-2-31. Annahala Bog Timothy O ’Sullivan Cronody 14-0-3. Michael Callanan Curraleigh 2-1-13- 9 - 1 -1 . Mrs M. O ’Riordan Tullatreada 2-2-18. Miss A. Barry Crossmahon

Mrs J. Lehane Crossmahon 3-I-I 7- John McSweeney D unisky 6-3-9. Robert McCullagh Caum 45-0-8. John Lordan Tulatreada Denis McSweeney Ballytrasna 8-1-0 . (Incl. half o f river) Andrew Lyons Ballytrasna 15-2-9. (Incl. half of river)

Thomas O ’Shea Annahala West 30-1-19- Annahalabog II- 2 - 37- Timothy Creedon Tullatreada 16-1-8 .

Jer. J. Kelleher Um m era 2 1-1-3 7. Tim . J. Richardson Aglish 40- 3-I 7- Denis Finnegan Farran 0-0-6. Corn. O ’Callaghan Faha 0 -1-38. Wm. Kelleher Curraleigh 2-0-14. (Incl. half o f river) (Reps.) T. Lynch Mrs Nellie Noonan C ronody - 1 1 Is) O U)

H. & E. O ’Sullivan Faha >1 Mrs J. Bradley Faha 0 -1-6 . Patk. Burns Dunisky - Patk. O ’Connell M agooly 0-1-24. Wm. O ’Driscoll (Deed.) Annahala West 0-2-2. Mrs Bradley (Labourer’s Plot) Mrs Bradley Annahalabog 1-0-23. John Dennehy Inchinashingane - Timothy Murphy Coolalta - 1 1 —l 1 to Denis Cremin Carrigadrohid O O Patk. O ’Donoghue Nadrid 0 -1-2 1. Timothy Lyons Carrigadrohid 0-0-29. Michael Murphy Coolnacarriga 0-2-0. John Buckley Drom keen _

Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Michael Holland Carrigdarrery (Incl. 36 pers. 0-2-38. Dunisky o f river) 1-2-34. Mrs Hanora Sheehan Ummera Disturbance. Cornelius Desmond Inchinashingane - T. Murphy Rooves More Disturbance. Mrs Harrington Ballytrasna Disturbance. O 0 t—1 - 1 1 4

(Reps.) James Cronin Tooms West - Denis Horgan (Dist. loss o f spring well etc.) Daniel Creedon Tullatreada 0-0-24. John Browne Drom keen 6-0-21.

Patk. O ’Mahony Tooms West 5- 1- 34- Jeremiah Dunne Killinardrish 9 -1-16 . (Incl. half o f river) Timothy Crowley Nadrid 0-2-21. 0 CO t< (Reps.) Patk.J. Murphy Inchinashingane 1 1 Denis Collins Faha 0 -1-6 . Mary Buckley Rooves More - Mrs H.A. Cashman Tullatreada 0-0-34. (Reps.) Timothy Cronin Annahala West - Daniel Cronin Blarney Castle Estates Carrigyknaveen etc. - Mrs M. O ’Mahony M agooly 0 -1-24. Inishleena 0-0-24. Mrs M. O ’Mahony Faha 1-1-19 . Inishleena 0 -1-10 . John Horgan Annahala East 5-3-32. Timothy Murphy Annahala West 35-0-25. Gearagh West 8-0-34. Mrs A. Matthews Farran 6 5-1-4.

Appendix 5 Appendix 6

Particular of New Bridges of Lee Hydroelectric Scheme

Rooves Bridge Bealahaglashin Bridge Lee Bridge

Total Length 759 ft (231 m) 280 ft (85 m) 360 ft (n o m) W idth o f R oadw ay 20 ft (6 m) 24 * (7.3 m) 18 ft (5.5 m) W idth o f Footpath 5 ft (1.5 m) 5 ft (1.5 m) 5 ft (1.5 m) Maximum Height 65 ft (20 m) 30 ft (9 m) 26 ft (8 m) Number of Spans 11 7 9

Cost £ 97,122 £24,837 £44,825

Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Select Bibliography

Aalen, F.H.A., Whelan K. & Stout M., 1997, Atlas o f the Irish Rural Landscape (Cork University Press, Cork). Ahern, M., c. 2000, Inniscarra Looks Back, Through the Avenues o f Time (St Colm an’s Press, Cork). Ballincollig Community School, 1988, ‘A Computerised Record of the History and Gravestone Inscriptions of St Peter’s Church, Carrigrohane, County Cork’, Journal of the Ballincollig Community School, Local History Society, Vol. 5. Barry,T., 1949, Guerrilla Days in Ireland (Irish Press, Dublin). Bartlett, W H ., c. 1840, The Scenery and Antiquities o f Ireland (George Virtue Publishing, London). Brenneman, W L . & Brenneman, M .G ., 1995, Crossing the Circle at the Holy Wells of Ireland, (Virgin Press, London). Cody, B.A , 1859, The River Lee, Cork and The Corkonians (J. Barter & Sons, Cork). Coleman, J.C., 1950, Journeys into Muskerry (Dundalgan Press, Dundalk). Croker,T.C ., 1824, Researches in the South o f Ireland (Cork). Crookshank, A., 1978,‘A Sketch of Irish Landscape Painting’, Eire. Cusack, M., 1875, A History o f the City and County o f Cork (Messrs Bolster, Cork). Donnelly, J., 1975, The Land and the People of Nineteenth-Century Cork (Routledge & Kegan Paul, London). Devoy, R., 2005,‘Cork City andThe Evolution of the River Lee Valley’ in Crowley, J.S., Devoy, R., Linehan, D. and O ’Flangan, P. (Eds), Atlas of Cork City, pp. 7-16 (Cork University Press, Cork). Dickson, D., 2005, O ld World Colony, Cork and South Munster, 1830-1830 (Cork University Press, Cork). E.S.B. 2006, The River Lee Hydro Electric Scheme, ESB Educational Pack. Farmer, D.H., 1975, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (Oxford University Press, Oxford). Fehily, P C ., 1980, Cork Harbour and City Water Supply Scheme, Inniscarra Watemmks (Cork County Council, Cork). Foster, F., 1989, The Oxford Illustrated History o f Ireland (Oxford University Press, Oxford). Fitzgerald, J., c. 1899, Legends, Ballads and Songs o f the Lee (Handwritten, City Library). Gibbings, R., 1945, Lovely is the Lee (J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd., London). Gibson, C.B., 1861 (Reprint 1974), History of the County and City o f Cork (The Fercor Press, Cork). Gordon, Col. 1811, Grand Jury Maps of Cork County. Guy, 1891, Cork City and County Directory (Guy & Co. Cork). Griffith, R ., 1853, Primary Valuation o f Tenements in the County o f County Cork (House of Commons, England) Healy, E. & Moriarty, C . & O ’Flaherty, G. (Eds), 1988, The Book of the Liffey: From the Source to the Sea (W olfhound Press, Dublin). Healy, J.N., 1981, Castles of County Cork (Mercier Press, Cork). Interpretative Panels, Gearagh National Heritage Site.

Select Bibliography Interpretative Panels, The Aghinagh Way, Carrigadrohid. Irvine, J., 1964, A Treasury of Irish Saints (Dolmen Press, Oxford). Jenkins, S.C., 1992, The Cork & Muskerry Light Railway (The Oakwood Press, Oxford). Kerrigan, P., 1995, Castles and Fortifications in Ireland, 1485-1945 (Collins Press, Cork). Lewis, S., 1837, Topographical Dictionary o f Ireland (Dublin). McCarthy, K., 2003, Discover Cork (O’Brien Press, Dublin). McCarthy, K., 2006, In the Steps o f St. Finbarre, Voices and Memories o f the Lee Valley (Nonsuch Ireland, Dublin). McGrath, W., 1981, Tram Tracks of Cork (Tower Books, Cork). Meinig, D.W. (Ed.), 1979, The Interpretation o f Ordinary Landscapes, Geographical Landscapes (Oxford University Press, Oxford). Mitchell, F. & Ryan, D.,1986, Reading the Irish Landscape (Town House, Dublin). Murnane, E., The First HundredYears, 1899-1999, Cork County Council (C.C.C. Publication, Cork). O Coindealbhain, S., c. 1925, The Story o f Iveleary (Dundalgan Press, Dundalk). O ’Donoghue, B., c. 1990, Parish Histories and Place Names ofWest Cork (Kerryman Ltd., County Kerry). O ’Donoghue, S., 1996, The Flooding o f the Lee Valley (Tower Books, Cork). O ’Faolain, S., 1963, Vive M oil (Sinclair-Stevenson, London). O ’Flanagan, J.R., 1944, The Blackwater in Munster (Tower Books reprint, Cork). O ’Sullivan, A., 2000, Crannogs, Lake-Dwellings o f Early Ireland (Town House, Dublin). Power, D. (Ed), 1995, Archaeological Inventory o f County Cork, Mid- Cork Volume (Government of Ireland Publications, Dublin).

Ring, D.P., 1995, Macroom, Through the Mists of Time (Castle House Publications, Macroom, County C o rk ). Rynne, C., 1999, The Industrial Archaeology of Cork City and Its Environs (Government of Ireland, Dublin). Scott,Y., 2003, ‘Refreshing the Landscape’, Irish Arts Review, pp. 60-61. Snoddy,T., 2002, Dictionary o f Irish Artists (Merlin Press, Dublin). Smith, C., 1750, A History o f Cork (Cork). Sweetnam, D., 1995, Irish Castles and Fortified Houses (Town House, Dublin). Townsend, H., 1815, General and Statistical Survey o f the County o f Cork (Edwards and Savage, Cork). Windele,J., 1846, Guide to the South o f Ireland (Messrs Bolster, Cork). Webb,J. & Donaldson, A, 2006, A Hidden History, Guide to the Ballincollig Gunpowder Mills and Regional Park (Nonsuch Ireland Ltd. Dublin).

Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork Index

Acquisition of Land (Assessment of Compensation) Act 1919, Brinny, County Cork, 61 35, 154 British Committees o f Agriculture, 96 Aghabullogue parish, C o u n ty C o rk , 5, 12, 24, 83, 84 Brittany, 33 Aghada, County Cork, 21 Bronze A ge sites, 83-4 Agharinagh, County Cork, 31, 93 Brow n Bovari, 136 Aghinagh, County Cork, 9, 11 Brow ne, Billy, 73 Aghinagh Heritage Group, 9 Brow ne, Jerry, 128, 131 Aglish, County Cork, 31, 84 B uck, Paddy, 67 Allen, Alfie, 35 Buckley, D enis, 113 A llen, Bernard, 120 Buckley, Liam, 2, 127, 131, 133, 135, 138, 141 Allen, Marguerite, 129 Buckley, Paddy, 132 A n g lers R est, R ooves bridge, 35, 61 Buckley, Patrick J., 37, 39, 40 Anglers Rest fishing grounds, 16 bullan stones, 77, 86 Annahala, C o u n ty C o rk , 31, 37, 43-4, 61 Bunsheelin river, 5 flooded, 59 Burke, Brother Dominic, 19 Annahalabog, County Cork, 31 Butt Bridge, Dublin, 33 archaeological sites, 6, 9, 11-12 , 30, 99 Byrne, Damien, 131 submerged, 77-97 Ardnacrusha power station, 116, 125, 128, 130 Cagney, Mary, 73 Argonauts Kayak Club, 117 Canovee, C o u n ty C o rk , 61, 74 Arnott, Sir John, 89 Carhoo/Carhue Lower, County Cork, 84 Atkinson, Tom, 124 Carhue Lower, 31 Carrigadrohid Castle, 11, 13, 77 Ballinacurry, County Cork, 61 Carrigadrohid dam, 2, 11, 29, 31, 40, 77, 125 Ballinagree, County Cork, 9 canteen, 65 Ballincollig, County Cork, 16, 61, 87 construction of, 54-8 Ballincollig Regional Park, 14 fatalities, 70, 74 Ballineadig, County Cork, 31 scenery, 99 Ballingeary, County Cork, 5, 5-6 workers, 67, 68, 6g B allyclogh, M allow, 75 Carrigadrohid pow er station, 30, 31, 138 Ballytrasna, C o u n ty C o rk , 31, 37, 45, 59, 116 landscaping, 100 Ballyvourney, County Cork, 127 planning, 27-33 Bandon, County Cork, 87 road, 103 Bandon Railway, 126 Carrigadrohid reservoir, 1, 9, 11, 66, 78, 135 Bank o f England, 93 bream, 109-10 Bann river, 21 fish hatchery, 103 Bantry, C o u n ty C o rk , 73, 127, 128 fish passes, 107 Barrett family, 87 flooding, 59 Baum, Mr, 12$ lands affected by, 31 Bealahaglaishin bridge, 59, 100, 102, 103, 162 maximum storage, 138-9 Bealick, County Cork, 31 salmon hatchery, 108, 109 Belfast, 114 water sports, 111-21 Benson, Sir John, 89 Carrigadrohid Skiing Club, 114, 116 Berrings, County Cork, 83 Carrigadrohid townland Birmingham, 96 standing stones, 77, 83-4 Black Valley, County Kerry, 25 Carrigdarrery, County Cork, 31 Blackpool Field, Dripsey, 94 Carrignacurra Castle, 5, 6 Blarney, County Cork, 14, 70, 72, 73, 93, 120 Carrignaneela Castle, 5 boating, 116-21 Carrigrohane Castle, 16-17 Boggeragh mountains, 2 Carrigtwohill, County Cork, 116 B ord na M ona, 65 Carrigyknaveen, County Cork, 31 Borland Fish Passes, 106, 107 Carroll, H elena, 95 Bowen Colthurst, Captain Jack, 96 Casey, Niall, 132, 139 Bowen Colthurst, Peggy, 95-6 Cashell,John, 117 Bowen Colthurst, Robert, 95 Castle Inch, County Cork, 31, 60, 77 B ow en family, 11 excavation, 87-9 bow ling, 73 C aum , C o u n ty C o rk , 31, 58, 59 Bray, C o u n ty W icklow , 20 Chambers, Supt P., 72 bream, 109-10 Channel Tunnel, 33 Breth, Miss, 96 cheese factory, Dripsey, 96 B ride river, 2 Childers, President Erskine, 136 bridges, 100-2, 162 cinemas, 73 Brierly, Jack, 73 Civil Engineering Department, ESB, 28 Clady river, 21 Cosgrave,W.T., 21 ClafFey, K evin, 145 C ospoir, 120 Clare, County, 21, 33, 125 C otter, D an, 59 Clarke, D es, 113 C otter, M rs, 65 C larke family, 13, 91 C o tte r family, 6 Clashanure, County Cork, 31, 35 Counihan, Donal, 133, 143 Classas, County Cork, 31 crannogs, 6 Cloghroe National School, 86 Creedon, Joe, 8 Clonakilty, County Cork, 75 Cromwell, Oliver, n C lon m el, C o u n ty Tipperary, 39 C ron in , Pat, 127, 131 Clynch, Frank, 124 Cronody, County Cork, 14, 31, 61, 95, 96 C oachford, C o u n ty C o rk , 11-14 , 35, 37, 84, 9 1-2 , 100, 108 bridge, 41, 43 fisheries, no Cronodymore, County Cork, 85 Coachford Creamery, 96 Crookstown, County Cork, 100 C o b h , C o u n ty C o rk , 128 Crossmahon, County Cork, 31 Colaiste na Mumhan, 5-6 Crotty, Supt J., 72 Coleman, David, 132 C row ley, Pat, 73 C ollins, D onie, 73 Cullen, Bob, 128, 130, 139, 142 Collins, M ick, 117 Cummor Builders, 120 Comerford, Ignatius, 73 Cunningham, Supt. M., 72 Commission of Enquiry into Resources and Industries in Curraghbeg, County Cork, 31 Ireland, 21 Curraghkippane, County Cork, 16 Connolly, C., 72 Curraleigh, County Cork, 31 Coolacoosane, County Cork, 31 C urram ore m ini-hydro station, 128 Coolalta, County Cork, 31 C urran, C hris, 73 Coolcour, County Cork, 31, 37 Cooldaniel, County Cork, 7, 9, 31 Dail Eireann, 30 Cooldoraragha river, 8 dances, 73 Coolnacarriga, County Cork, 31 De Cogan, Milo, 16 Coolnagearagh, County Cork, 31 D e C ogan family, 9 Coras Iompair Eireann (CIE), 70, 74, 89, 91 Deasy, Flor, 126, 137, 138, 139 Corcoran, Kevin, 8 Delahunty, M ick , 73 Cork, County Derrysaggart mountains, 2 O S map, 1836, 93, 94 Dickson, Mr, 96 rural electrification, 149 D ie n B ien Phu, 72, 125 wage rates, 66 Dineen, Mark, 139 C o rk A irport, 7$ D oherty, D enis, 109 C o rk and M acroom D irect Railway, 89, 91 D onegal, C ounty, 39, 108, 114 Cork and Muskerry Light Railway, 13, 14 Donoughmore, County Cork, 14 Cork Bandon and South Coast Railway Company, 89 Douglas, County Cork, 67 Cork Boating Centre, 116 Down, County, 33 Cork City, 2, 4, 16, 39, 89, 117 dramatic societies, 73 cinemas, 73 Dripsey, C o u n ty C o rk , 37, n o , 117, 124 construction, 74-5 D ripsey Castle, 95 Directory, 1867, 95 D ripsey Cream ery, 43 electricity, 19-20 Dripsey House, 96 French workers, 65 Dripsey National School, 93, 94 monastery, 4, 14 Dripsey Paper Mills, 92-7 Cork City Regatta, 121 D ripsey river, 2, 41, 43, 84, 92, 115, 120 Cork Corporation, 15, 20, 28 Dromanallig, County Cork, 5 Cork County Council, 43, 102, 136, 145 Dromcarra, County Cork, 8, 9, 67, 73, 77 development plan, 1967, 15 bridge, 7, 8, 29, 30 Cork Examiner, 23, 24, 59 castle, $ arbitration hearings, 37, 39-40 flow m eter, 28 C o rk H arbour, 113 Dromgownagh, County Cork, 96 Plan, 1972, 15 Dromkeen, County Cork, 31, 59 Cork Harbour Commissioners, 72, 112 Droumcarra, County Cork, 31 Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, 77 D ublin, 19, 95, 126, 131 C o rk Industrial E xhibition, 1883, 19, 95 D ublin E lectric L ight C o ., 19 Cork Lyric Singers, 73 Dundareirke, County Cork, 31 C o rk N ational E xhibition, 1852, 95 D ungannon, C o u n ty Tyrone, 95 C o rk Parachute C lub , 113 Dunisky, County Cork, 31, 59, 102 Cork Power Boat Championships, 113 standing stone, 77 Cork Powerboat and Waterski Club, 113-14, 115 Cork Public Museum, 78, 83 Edison, Thom as, 19 C o r k R egatta, 120 E lectricity (Supply) (Am endm ent) A ct 1945, 30, 35, 37, 41 Cork School of Art, 78 Electricity Supply Board (ESB), 2, 9, 27, 126, 128, 130, 135 Cork Trout Anglers Association, 117 see also Lee hydroelectric scheme Cork Workers Council, 6$ established, 19-21

Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork and fisheries, 108-9, IJ0 Glen Club, Cork City, 116 Lee scheme conceived, 15-16 Godsill, Leonard, 121 relevant legal authority, 151-3 G olden, Henry, 24 rural electrification, 22, 24-5 Gortsmoorane, County Cork, 31 E M C , 114 Gosses Rock, 28 employment, 63-75 Gossonant, Andre, 71 fatalities, 70, 74 Gouffe, Rev. C., 72 rates o f pay, 65-6 Gougane Barra, County Cork, 2, 3, 4 recreation, 73 Gouin, Ernest, 33 staff members, 139-42 Goulding Fertilisers, 74 staff memories, 123-33 Great Island oil station, 21 strikes, 66, 68 Great Southern Railway (GSR), 91 Entee,V.L., 71 Grebon, Miss, 96 E rne hydroelectric schem e, 2, 21, 27, 33, 128, 135 Greer, Alfred, 94-5 Ertin, Seamus, 124 Grenville, Sir Richard, 17 E SB Fisheries Conservation, 109 European Disabled Championships, 116 Hallissey, Rev. D., 71-2 Harrington, Denis, 73 Faha, County Cork, 31 Hayes, Gene, 139 Fahy, Edward, 77-8 Hayes, Pat, 128, 131, 139 Carrigadrohid excavation, 83-4 Haynes, S., 107 Castle Inch excavation, 87-9 Healy, James N ., 73 Inishleena Abbey excavation, 84-6 Healy, Patrick J., 37, 40 Mashanaglass excavation, 78-83 Healy’s Bridge, 92-3 Farran, C o u n ty C o rk , 31, 37, 120 Hegarty, James, 132 Farran W ood , C o u n ty C o rk , 13, 91, 113, 116, 131 Hegarty, P.J., 75 Farranvarrigane, County Cork, 31 Hell Hole, 15 Federation o f Builders and Allied Employers, 72 Henry and Coughlan, Directory of Cork, 95 Fergus, C o u n ty C o rk , 14, 31, 37, 43, 113 H enry II, K in g, 16 Finbarre, St, 3, 4, 7, 14 Higgins, Jack, 126 fish passes, 106, 107 Hodge, Noel, 139 fisheries, 107-11, 129, 145 holy wells, 78-9 Fitzgerald, Jimmy, 73 Home International Regatta, 117 Fitzgibbon Bridge, 40-1, 43, 60, 110 H oneyw ell, 128 Fitzpatrick, Aidan, 114, 116 Horgan, Jerry, 139 Fitzpatrick, Lily, 114 H organ,John, 37, 40, 61 flooding Horgan, Messrs J.J., 72 dams opened, 58-61 H orne, Miss, 96 reduction of, 110-11 Hurley, James, 132, 137, 139 Foherish river, 2 Foley, Cyril, 126 Inchigeela, C o u n ty C o rk , 5, 6, 8, 12 Fox, Brian, 114, 116 Inchinashingane, County Cork, 31 Fox, Father EJ., 71 Inchineil, County Cork, 8, 9 Foynes, County Limerick, 33 Inchinossig Bridge, Ballingeary, 4, 5 France, 31, 33, 71, 72, 74, 96, 125 Inchisine, County Cork, 31 Freeman’s Journal, 19 Indo-China, 72 fulacht fias, 83 -4 Inishleena, County Cork, 31, 43, no, 117 boating, 116, 118, 119, 120, 121 G aelic games, 73 Inishleena Abbey, 14, 41, 60, 77, 116 Gaeltacht, 5-6 excavation, 84-6 Galvin, Barry, 113, 114, 121, 139 Inniscarra, C o u n ty C o rk , 5, 71, 72, 84 Galvin family, 114, 116 Inniscarra dam, 2, 15, 29-31, 36, 40, 77, 125, 143 Galway, 20, 116 camp, 63-5, 126 Galway, County, 96 construction of, 47-54 Garda Siochana, 66 fatalities, 70 Gearagh, the, County Cork, 8, 9, 10, 30, 31, 40, 43-4, 61, 99 flood reduction, in -12 antiquities, 77 oratory, 71 flooded, 59 salmon, 108 pre-flooding, 101 scenery, 99 road diversion, 102 strikes, 66 Geary, John, 116 Inniscarra Lake, 15, 120 Geary, M ichael, 73 Inniscarra power station, 2, 14-15, 24, 30, 136, 137 G erm any, n o , 125 automation, 138 G ibbons, Miss, 96 demonstration, 23 G ibson, Charles, 95 landscaping, 100 G ibson, Danny, 131, 132, 141 planning, 27-33 Glaise river, 2 road, 102 Glandore, C o u n ty C o rk , 113 Inniscarra reservoir, 1, n , 14, 38, 92, 97, 135, 145 Glanm ire valley, 95 bream, n o

Index 167 fish farm ing, 108 flooding of, 58-61 fish passes, 107, 108 infrastructure, 100-2 flooding, 60 lake ecology, 105 intake pump, 14 land acquisition, 35-45 lands affected by, 31 list o f persons affected, 155-61 maximum storage, 138-9 planning, 27-33 pump house, 16 staff m em ories, 145 water sports, in -21 waterwheel restoration, 133, 144 Inniscarra Sailing Club, 121 work schedule, 32, 47-61 Intervarsity College Rowing Championships, 120 Lee river Irish Army, 4$ catchm ent area, 3, 27 Irish Countrywomen’s Association (ICA), 22 fisheries, 39, 40, 10 7 -n Irish Estates Ltd, 63 flooding reduced, n o -n , 130, 136, 138-9 Irish Junior Skiing Cham pionships, 113 name of, 3-4 Irish National Power Boat Record, 113 new bridges, 33 Irish Omnibus Company, 89 Lee Scheme Football Club, 74 Irish Water Ski Federation, 113 Lee valley, 1-2, 30 Iveleary, County Cork, 5 description, 2-17 submerged antiquities, 77-97 James II, K in g, 87 Leemount, County Cork, 31, no Japan, 108 Leeside Serenaders, 73 John, King, 9 Lehane, John, 61, 116 John Paul & C o ., 33, 74, 102 Lehenagh, County Cork, 31 Joint Advisory Council, 71 Leitil, H err, 125 Journal o f the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, 78, 82 Lemass, Sean, 30 Lesotho, 128 Kavanagh, Joe, 131, 141 Liffey hydroelectric scheme, 2, 21, 27, 128, 135 Keely, Gerard, 130, 145 Lim erick, 20 Keely, Gerry, 131 Linehan, Jerry, 24-5 Kelleher, D aniel, & Sons, 37, 39 Lismore Hatcheries, 107-8 Kelleher, M r and M rs James, 59 Lissarda, C o u n ty C o rk , 37 K elleher, Jerry, 124, 130, 139 Liverpool, 96 Kelleher, Liam, 137, 139 Local Government, Department of, 15, 41, 43 Kelly, Pat, 127-8,132 Loinge Club, 117 Kenmare, County Cork, 33 Long, Jerry, 138 Kenneally, Rev. Canon B., 66, 71 Lough Allua, 6 Kenneally, Rev. J., 71 Loughleigh, County Cork, 31 Kennedy, R ay, 113 Lucey, D r C ornelius, Bishop o f C o rk , 35, 37 Kennedy, Ronan, 113, 114 Luighe, son of Ith, 3-4 K ennedy, Sean, 113 Lyons, Liam , 126, 128 Keohane, Denis, 139 Kiely, Gerard, 132 McCarthy, Cormac, n Kilbarry Hill, County Cork, 7 M cC arthy, Jimmy, 73 Kilgobnet, County Cork, 31 McCarthy, Justin, 87 Killarney, County Kerry, 65 McCarthy family, n , 87 Killinardrish, C o u n ty C o rk , 30, 31 McDonnell, Joe, 107 Kilmichael, County Cork, 8-9, 73 M cG illigan, D r Patrick, 21 Kilmore, County Cork, 5 M cG rath, P., 71 Kilmurray, County Cork, n -12, 3$ McIntyre, Mr, 96 Kilnamartyra, Macroom, 70 McLaughlin, DrT.A., 21 Kilsallaghan, County Dublin, 22 McLaughlin and Harvey, 33 Kinsale, C o u n ty C o rk , 113 M acloneigh, C o u n ty C o rk , 100 gas field, 21 bullan stone, 77 McMullen, M.J., 19 Labour Court, 66 McNicholas, Michael, 142 land acquisition Macroom, County Cork, 2, 9, n , 67, 71, 72, 78, 100, 124, 135 arbitration hearings, 37, 39-40 cinema, 73 Laney river, 2, 9, 109 electricity, 20 Laoghaire, K in g, 11 fisheries, no Leary, Timothy, 67 land acquisition, 37, 40, 61 Lee Bridge, 10, go, 100, 162 railway, 89, 91 Lee Fields, 16, 17 M cSw iney, Edw ard, 61 Lee hydroelectric scheme, see also employment Madden, Seamus, 124 ancient sites submerged, 77-97 Madden, Ted, 126, 127, 139 assessment of, 135-45 Magnay, Sir Christopher, 94 conception of, 15-16, 23 Magoola/y, County Cork, 31, 43 effects of, 99-121 Maguire, John Francis, 95 employment in, 63-75 Mahony, Jerry, 124 fiftieth anniversary mass, 143 Mahony, Paddy, 67

l 68 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork M allow, C o u n ty C o rk , 75, 87 O ’C onnor, A ndy, 117 M A N , 125 O ’Connor, Bernard, 143 M anchester, 96 O ’Doherty, Pat, 133, 143 Manning, Ger, 105, 109, 129 O ’Donnell, Father J., 70 Marina oil station, 21, 126 O ’Donnell, Patrick, 41, 43 M arsh, W ., & Sons, 39 0 ’Donoghue,John, 120 Martin river, 2 O ’Donoghue, Seamus, 60, 65, no Mashanaglass, County Cork, 31, 59, 77, 99 O ’D riscoll, C o lm , 127, 128, 131, 139 holy well, 78-9 O ’Driscoll, Jimmy, 12$ horizontal mill, 78-83 0 ’D riscolls,The, 73 Mashanaglass Castle, n Offaly, County, 39 M atthew s, Captain H orace, 37, 39, 40, 61, 9 1-2 O ’Flynn, Denis, 116 estate of, 36, 38 O ’Flynn, Noel, 116 M atthew s, M rs, 61 O ’Halloran, Ferdie, 124 Matthews family, 13 O ’Hara, Miss, 96 M ayo, C ounty, 96 O ’Hare, D on, 73 Meagher, Ed, 137 O ’Keeffe, Jack, 129, 139 Meaney,Tadgh, 67 O ’Keeffe, Pat, 140 Milesians, 3-4 O ’Kelly, M ichael J., 78 Millstreet, County Cork, 74 O ’Leary, Father, 72 Minahane, Pat, 139 O ’Leary, John, 70, 128, 132 Mitchelstown, County Cork, 73 O ’Leary, Mary, 138 Monallig, County Cork, 31 O ’Leary, Patrick, 125, 138, 139 M o n ey Point station, 21, 130 O ’Leary, RJ., 139 M onkstow n Boat C lub , 120 O ’Leary family, 6 M orrissey, D aniel, 30, 35, 135 O ’Mahony, Father Denis, 4 Mount Rivers hoard, 84 O ’Mahony, Ger, 143 Moynihan, Dr J.K., 70 O ’M ahony, James, 70 Muintir naTire, 22, 24 O ’M ahony, M r, 124 Mulcahy, Maurice, 73 O ’Mahony, Paddy, 117 Mullane,John, 96 O ’N eill, James, 139 Murphy, Anthony, 107 O ’Neill,Jim, 127 Murphy, Eddie, 126 O ’Regan, Aidan, 140, 141 M urphy, John J., 61 O ’R egan, D.J., 126 Murphy, Kieran, 139 O ’R egan , D onal, 73 Murphy, Michael, 73, 124 O ’Reilly, Declan, 128, 139 M urphy, Philip, 43, 61 O ’R iordan, Denis, 61 M urphy,Tim othy, 37, 39 O ’R iordan, John, 37, 39 Musgraves, 121 O rpheus D ance Orchestra, 73 Musheramore, County Cork, 9 O ’Shea, Con, 24-5 O ’Shea, Dermot, 126

Nadrid, County Cork, 12-13, 31, 37, 61, 9 1-2 O ’Shea’s Builders, 120 National Farmers’Association (NFA), 40 O ’Sullivan, Bartholomew, 92-3 National Industrial Safety Organisation (NISO), 142 O ’Sullivan, M ajor J., 39, 40 N ational M useum o f Ireland, 84 O ’Sullivan, Jimmy Batt, 92-4 N ational R o w in g Centre, 113, 120, 131, 145 O ’Sullivan, John, 70 National Rowing Union, 120 O ’Sullivan, Patrick, 70 nature reserves, 9 Ovens, County Cork, 37 Naughton, Pat, 140 Oysterhaven, County Cork, 114 Nettleville Demesne, County Cork, 31 Neville, John R ., 72 Palace Cinema, Macroom, 73 N eville, M organ, 37, 39 Paul, John, 33 N evin , Pat, 73 Pettit, E.G., 39 Norman invasion, 11 Phelan,J., 39 North Infirmary, Cork, 70 pike, n o North Monastery School, Cork, 19 Pius IX , Pope, 19 North Wall oil station, 21 Poolbeg oil station, 21, 130 N orto n , W illiam , 32 Port o f C o rk , 39 Nortons, Lavitt’s Quay, 116 Port Road, the Gearagh, 102 Portlaoise training school, 130 Oakgrove, Carrigadrohid, 28, 101, in Powell, A .E ., 39, 40 O ’Briens Bridge, County Limerick, 114 Power, Jerry, 138 O ’Callaghan, Brian, 139 Power Generation, 142 O ’Callaghan, M ick , 117, 120 Prunty, Eamonn, 114, 116 O ’Callaghan, Pat, 73 O ’Carroll, Sabina, 11 Quinn, Christy, 126 O ’Connell, Bernie, 124, 137, 139 O ’C on n ell, J., 72 radio, 73 O ’Connell, Paddy ‘The Dam,’ 126 rain gauges, 112, 127, 136, 138

Index 169 Raleigh, County Cork, 31 Simmington, Tommy, 33 Rashley, A rlo, 125 Singapore, 108 Reardon, Mick, 139 Sinn Fein, 21, 96 Reeves and Co., 94 Skibbereen and Muckross Boat Club, 121 regattas, 117, 120 Sleaveen, County Cork, 31 Reilly, Declan, 127 Smith, Charles, 6, 87 R ein ik er, R o lf, 125 Societe de Construction des Batignolles (SCB), 31, 33, 65, 66, Richmond, Yvonne, 130, 132 70, 71, 125 Ringsend oil station, 21 Societe Parisienne pour Industrie Electrique (SPIE), 33 R iordan, O w n ey, 128 South Glebe, County Cork, 31 River Lee Survey Plan, 29-30 Southwestern Regional Fisheries Board (SWRFB), 109-10 road building, 100-2 Southern Star, 58 Roche, Dr, Bishop of Cloyne, 71 strikes, 66, 68 R o h an , Jimmy, 73 Sullane river, 2, 10, 59, 78, 109, 129 Roll of Honour, 132, 142 Sullivan, Dan, 139 Ronayne, Joseph, 89 Sutton, Mr, 96 Ronayne, Rev. Dr, 72 Sweeney, Maurice, 65, 70 Rooves, County Cork, 31, 61, 84 Sw eeney, N ed , 125 pre-flooding, 104 swimming, n o-n Rooves Bridge, 13, 35, 38, 43-4, 60, 73, 104, 117, 162 Switzerland, no aerial view, 28 construction, 70, 100 Tarbert oil station, 21 old bridge, 104 Teergay, County Cork, 9, 31 Roscommon, County, 114 Teidt, M ick , 130 Rosnascalp, County Cork, 31 Tidy Station Awards, 127 rowing, 116-21 Toam es, C o u n ty C o rk , 37, 102 Royal Agricultural Society, 93 Tobin, Nellie and Margaret, 59 R o yal band, 73 Tooms, County Cork, 31 Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), 96 Toomsbeg, County Cork, 31 rural electrification, 22, 24-5, 149, 150 Toon river, 2, 9, 129 Rusheen, County Cork, 61 Tourism Operational Programme, no Ryan, Hugh, 21 Towerbridge paper mills, 95 Ryan, Pat, 139 Transtown paper mills, 95 Ryan, Philip, 126 Tullatreada, County Cork, 31 Rylane, County Cork, 84 Tully, James, 15-16 Tunis, 33 Sacred Heart College, Cork, 71, 72 turf-burning stations, 21 St Anne’s Church, Shandon, 1 Turlough Hill, 21, 128, 138 St Ann’s, Blarney, 14 Twomey, Neilie, 67, 73 -5 St Finbarr’s Hospital, Cork, 70 St O la n ’s W ell, 84 U CC Rowing Club, 120 St Petersburg, 33 U ib h Laoghaire, 5, 9 Salmara, 108-9 U m m era, C o u n ty C o rk , 31, 37, 59 salmon, 107-9, 129 United States of America (USA), 33, 72, 108, 112-13 Sam uelson, R alph, 113 University College Cork (UCC), 77, 78, 114 Scattery Island, 84 Schull, C o u n ty C o rk , 113 Vietnam, 72 Scorff river, Brittany, 33 Vignaud, Paul, 73-4 Scotland, 108 V oith ,J .M ., 125, 136 Scott, Frank, 127 Scriven,Very Rev. R ., 72 Wakeboard National Championships, 114 Scully, M r, 40 Wall, John, 145 sea farm ing, 108 Walsh, Thomas, 70 Senan, St, 84 Walshestown, County Cork, 31 Shamrock Ceili Band, 73 water sports, 111-21, 145 Shandon Boat and Rowing Club, 117, 120 waterskiing, 112-16 Shandrum Ceili Band, 73 Welwood, Mr, 39 Shannon Airport, 33 Whitegate, County Cork, 70, 74 Shannon hydroelectric scheme, 2, 21, 28, 128, 13$ Wildlife Act, 1976, 9 Shannon river, 84, 116 W inters, Lt C o l J.J., 37, 39-40 Sheehan, Father P., 24 Woods, John A., 53, 74 Sheehy Skeffington, Francis, 96 W orkin g W ater D V D , 139 Shehy mountains, 4 W orld W ar I, 20, 95, 96 Shiel, Michael, 24 W orld W ar II, 21, 96-7, 125 Shine, M ick, 128, 131, 132 Shinnors, Luke, 133 Young Farmers’ Clubs, 22 Shournagh river, 2, 14 Siemens Schuckert, 21, 136 Silent Valley scheme, 33

170 Generations: Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork