Binding: Paperback
Date Published: 22 Nov 2025
With the flick of a switch on 22 July 1929, Ireland was changed forever. When President W T Cosgrave turned on power at Ardnacrusha Hydroelectric Station, it kickstarted an exciting era for the new state.
Inside the heart of Ireland's industrial revolution lies a story of extraordinary human achievement. Powerful People unveils the remarkable lives of those who built, operated, and sustained the Ardnacrusha power station.
Through intimate interviews and personal accounts, readers can now discover the human dimension of Ireland's most ambitious engineering project.
This book is a tribute to the workers who turned a new nation's dreams into reality.
The story of Ardnacrusha is a story of the men and women who constructed and maintained the station and the community they built. It was a time when brothers worked together, sons followed in their fathers' footsteps, and romance between coworkers blossomed.
There were families like the Mackeys, who collectively contributed 121 years of service spanning generations. Meet George Webster, one of the first engineers hired in 1929, and Joe O'Farrell, who returned from Germany to become the station's fourth employee and who later presented Dr Thomas McLaughlin with a stunning silver replica of the plant.
From underwater divers maintaining the Parteen Weir to control room operators, from German-trained engineers to local labourers who became tour guides, these powerful people transformed not just Ireland's electrical grid, but the very fabric of Irish society.
With a foreword by President Michael D. Higgins.