#ardnacrusha

[luimnigh]

Fun Fact: In the first half of the 20th Century, Ireland's electricity was mostly from renewable energy sources.

Well, to be pedantic, source singular.

The Ardnacrusha Hydroelectric Dam, completed in 1929, was the largest Hydroelectric Dam in the world at the time, and generated enough electricity to supply the entire country.

By 1935, thanks to rapid expansion of the Irish electrical grid to reach more of the population, it had dropped to 80% of Ireland's electrical output.

Nowadays, it supplies only 2% of the nation's electricity consumption. As not every river is the Shannon, there aren't a lot of other hydroelectric dams around the country, and the most viable route for renewable energy here going forward is wind.

[stijlw]

Seán Keating (1889 – 1977), Night's Candles are Burnt Out, Oil on canvas, 103 x 127 cm

[situatedmodernism-blog]

The effective negotiation of nationalised technology implied by the German attitude to technologie formed an inspirational example for the accommodation of technology into the Irish national imagination

 O’Brien (2013:69) on the Ardnacrusha Scheme

[situatedmodernism-blog]

Analysis of Seán Keating’s Depiction of the ESB development at Ardnacrusha

1 - Keating depicts a young Irish family staring in awe at the hydroelectric dam. The parents are educating their children about the structure. Keating depicts himself as the father.  He emphasises that, in the future, Ireland will put the family at the centre of its society.

2 - At the centre of Keating’s painting a gunman bows to a businessman. Barber notes that  this represents the “triumph of reconstructive capitalism over the forces of revolution”. It also shows an emerging passive attitude to nationalism, that independence could be better achieved by economic means than through violence.

3 - In the corner a priest is shown reading, oblivious to events around him. His inclusion shows the continued influence of the Catholic Church in Irish society. His disinterest in the dam suggests a reluctance of the church to embrace modernity.

4 - On the left hand-side outmoded images of Irish society are shown: the alcoholic and the idle labourer. Keating suggests that they will have less relevance in modern Ireland through their dismal depictions.

5 - A worker is shown examining an unlit gas lamp. This represents the onset of modernity as electricity would soon become a reality for privileged parts of Irish society. Above him a soldier’s corpse hangs ominously, symbolising the end of Civil War and the scars it left on Irish society.

© Cormac Murray 2014

[situatedmodernism-blog]

A German engineer surveys the Ardnacrusha Dam before the water arrives. 1929