Powering the Nation: Images of the Shannon Scheme and Electricity in Ireland

Abstract

In 1929, Ireland’s first hydro-electric power station opened on the River Shannon near the village of Ardnacrusha in West Ireland. Initially known as the Shannon Scheme, and now as the Ardnacrusha Power Station, its establishment followed the birth of the Irish Free State in 1922, which signalled the nation’s (partial) independence from British rule. Commissioned by the Cumann na nGaedheal government and managed by the national ESB (Electricity Supply Board), the scheme spearheaded both Ireland’s electrification and transformation. The Shannon Scheme was enveloped in questions over the embryonic nation’s identity and its relationship with technology and modernity. These questions form the core of Powering the Nation: Images of the Shannon Scheme and Electricity in Ireland by Irish design historian Sorcha O’Brien. This is the first in-depth examination of these questions and the first focus on the multi-faceted visual representation of the Scheme in the 1920s and 1930s. The book complements...