Rural electrification in Ireland – new book

A slightly personal post.

I am from a small village in Dublin, whose claim to fame is that it was the first rural area to receive electricity back in 1947. It may be hard for us to imagine the effect this had on rural life, but it was a life changing event, a revolution.

That was 75 years ago. As part of Oldtown’s marking of this anniversary I had the honour of writing a short book about events around the arrival of power to my village. A key reason for writing the book was to ensure that knowledge is not lost, and to put some focus on Oldtown as the first step in this revolution which changed rural Ireland.

The book can be purchased in Kindle version here – Power to Rural No.1: The story of Oldtown, the first Irish village to be electrified under the Rural Electrification Scheme . A paperback copy is also available, you can complete this form. All proceeds/royalties from the book are donated to this charitable cause.