Recollections of a 90-Year-Old ESB Veteran

My Father, Pat Mc Art, was 90 years old on December 15th. He is an avid reader of EM.

At the age of 34 he sold a small farm in the townland of Ruskey, Co. Donegal and moved a few miles to the bigger town of Raphoe-the year 1950. On moving to Raphoe he searched relentlessly for work, but unfortunately the Ireland of the 40's and 50's saw jobs almost impossible to come by. At that time he was married with a wife and two young children. He was facing the stark realization of having to take the immigration boat. One January morning in 1951 he met one of his new neighbours in the town of Raphoe and mentioned how bad things were on the job front. As fate would have it the same person knocked on his door a few days later to say that a lorry parked in The Diamond had a man seeking to recruit men to work on a new scheme relating to electricity.

'The man' told him; "Seeing as you are a stranger here like myself, I will give you a start. Turn up for work at 8.00am Monday morning and I will have a few weeks work for you." Those few weeks stretched into forty years of unbroken service and a very happy association with ESB, whom my father always maintained was a great employer.

He was employed first as a Labourer, then a Linesman and after his official retirement at the age of 65, he continued to work for the ESB for a further 11 years as a Meter Reader until his real retirement in 1992 at the age of 76!

He can remember vividly his first week's wages - the princely sum of £3.17.1 - a good wage for that type of work at that time. His very first assignment in January 1951 was to work with the gang of men that brought the 38kV line through the Barnesmore Gap. This was the line that was instrumental in lighting up many homes in Donegal for the first time with electricity.

Much of this work was carried out in atrocious weather conditions with little or no protection from the elements. My father recalls a particularly bad winter in an area of North Donegal located between Drumfrees and Carndonagh, where you could travel for miles through wild and rugged countryside without encountering so much as a bush for a shelter. My father remained with Rural until 1961 when he started as a Linesman and moved to Milford and then on to Letterkenny where he still resides. While he very much enjoyed his time as a Linesman, I always got the feeling that he had a special affection for the time he spent on Rural.

As a youngster growing up I became familiar with the names of the men my father worked with back then. I felt they were part of the family as they were the constant topic of conversation, even though many of them I had never met. Names such as: - Martin Scanlon, Des Tigh, Joe King, Martin Gilmartin, Paddy Gilroy, Peter Carr and Christy Monaghan still resound in my head as the names of some of the great people he met and befriended during his time on Rural.

You can take the man out of the E.S.B., but you can't take the ESB out of the Man.

A Proud Son of Tir Conaill, Brave Pat McArt

Pat was born in a place called Kincraigey a spot still dear to his heart The old homestead he'll always remember until the day from this earth he'll depart.

He was born to fond loving parents both so honest and resilient of faith.

Their motto treat God's children all equal and never condemn them or hate Young Pat he travelled to Scotland it was to Clydebank he did go

For to lose your own mother so young sure `twas such a cruel blow. Life was never a big bed of roses for to get work he'd just have to go With the hard times they had to endure they sold the old farm and moved to Raphoe.

He searched there and looked for employment and he had almost given up hope

He got work with the Electricity Supply Board that helped himself and Cassie to cope

Pat dug the holes and erected the poles and even strung the lines on top

And enjoyed the job he was doing for when it came time to retire Pat was unable to stop

He could tell some tales and tall stories of the days when erecting the poles

Some feared the auld thatch might catch fire and lose their life or maybe their souls.

He can still tell many a good tale, yarn or story and give them a twist of his own

Knowledge it comes from a lifetime of learning, but we only have each day on a loan.

When the time it came for Pat to retire he went on to read meters for ten years or more

It kept him fit lively and nimble as he traveled from door now to door.

Pat and Cassie are now in their nineties, those vows they took they remember still yet.

Way back to the dark distant forties when that bond of real friendship was set.