Tuesday, 26 September 2017

When did electricity transform your ancestors' lives?

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1R6t46z_YjERI_4pn-fFzVhWuCsU&hl=en&ll=53.1614374676791%2C-6.66149164284343&z=7
ESB Archives has provided a free curio of information to add to your research into the daily lives of your more recent ancestors and family: an interactive map where you can discover when electricity reached more than 1,300 villages, towns and parishes across the Republic of Ireland.

Connection to Ireland's electricity network transformed our families' lives, but the rollout took nearly 50 years. The Electricity Supply Board was established in 1927, a time when only 45,000 homes had an electrical supply (usually from local authorities and private suppliers), and it was 1978 before the most rural communities were reached.

You can find out more about the creation of the map and ESB's ongoing project to digitise its archive collection at ESB.ie.

ESB Archives is based in Parnell Avenue, Harold’s Cross, Dublin 12 and is open by appointment.