Rolling back the years at Portarlington

A pictorial history of the former Portarlington Power Station was launched on February 7th at the East End Hotel in the town. A huge gathering of former staff and the community attended the launch, which brought back many memories for all those associated with the station.

ESB Chief Executive Padraig McManus, Pat O'Doherty, Executive Director, Power Generation and Paddy Stapleton, Group Manager, Power Generation attended the event where a special tribute was made to former Station Manager, Bob McGee, whose funeral had sadly taken place earlier that day in Kerry. The McGee family, however, had kindly sent a representative on their behalf to the event.

The 130-page book, Portarlington Generating Station 1946-1988, chronicles the entire history through photographs and interviews with many of those associated with it. It was compiled by Jon McCowen and Pat Culleton, both of whom are former employees of the station. Principal of the local VEC school, Niall McElwane, was MC for the night and while he explained he had never worked there he was very familiar with all that went on through his dealing with former pupils who later worked at the station and with sponsorships and other events which ESB had contributed to in the local community.

The book outlines the history of the station from its inception and building, its contribution to the Irish electricity needs down through the years and finally to its closure and demolition. The book is particularly good on the social and economical context of the Portarlington area and the rest of the country at the time the station was built in the late 1940s, as well as when it started to produce electricity in the early 1950s.

"I think is it important to mention first that Portarlington Power Station was unique in that it was the first in Western Europe to use sod peat as its fuel and was to be the forerunner of a number of power stations built by ESB," Jon McCowen remarked at the launch. "One rarely mentioned fact from that time is that everyone concerned was involved in a learning process," he said, explaining that much of the station was built to use coal as a fuel.

Pat Culleton thanked all who helped out in the production of the book. He described the launch as being like a family reunion and was thrilled at the huge turnout, which was far greater than they had hoped for. Any donations received would be given to the local Meals on Wheels group. Pat thanked the staff of ESB Archives & Heritage for their assistance with some of the material.

ESB Chief Executive Padraig McManus said he wanted to be associated with the remarks on Bob Magee. He spoke of the vital, and sometimes forgotten role the station played in the early years of its existence and the part it played in the Irish economy. He also referred to the 'feared' Allenwood/Portarlington football team, which won many championships. "I especially want to thank John and Pat for the huge amount of work they put into this publication and the many people who assisted. It will be a treasure we will value in the company." EM