Rural Electrification Scheme came to central Mayo village 72 years ago
By Tom Gillespie
SEVENTY-two years ago this month the lights went on in Breaffy when the Rural Electrification Scheme came to the area and over 300 of the 400 homes in the district got electric current.
The local committee, who canvassed the householders, was spearheaded by the late Mr. Laurence Barrett.
The Connaught Telegraph’s edition of February 24, 1951, reported on the historic switching-on of the electricity supply in the village.
The report read: Seldom if ever does the peaceful farming area of Breaffy, Castlebar, hit the headlines, but, however, the severe evil forces of the elements failed to stop them doing so when all the local residents, on Monday, February 19, turned out to give a really enthusiastic welcome to the coming of electric light at the official switching-on ceremony held, and which, incidentally marks the completion of the ESB network embracing Belcarra and Breaffy, under the Rural Electrification Scheme.
That the electric current has become a reality in the above area is indeed a great boom to all households in the area and marks the most progressive step in history, but more than that - it can be said that it is a great triumph for the local committee whose painstaking work, and that alone, resulted in its achievement.
The switching-on ceremony was performed by Rev. Gerard Kearney, C.C., and a sumptuous banquet was provided by the local organising committee.
Fr. Kearney, in his address, paid tribute to the committee who had done so much work and such a thorough canvass which made the bringing of rural electrification to Breaffy possible.
To this canvass the people responded heartily so that the scheme was carried through in record time.
Looking back, Fr. Kearney said this could be regarded as the beginning of something new and the end of something old.
When one thinks of Ireland one naturally thinks of agriculture, because agriculture was their basic industry.
He advocated the use of electricity to increase agricultural production as the Danish and other people had done.
The Danes had gone ahead more faster that we had, and he would attribute a lot of that to their adoption of modern electricity on the farm.
The power now given them, if properly applied, would bring their farms up to the standard of other countries, and perhaps even higher than most.
There was also, of course, the advantage of being able to use electricity for heat at a very cheap rate.
Concluding, he hoped that the people of the district would use the same energy inputting electric current to work that they used in getting the ESB.
Proposing a vote of thanks to the ESB, Mr. Joe Blowick, Minister for Lands, and Belcarra native, said while brighter, better light was undoubtedly a great advantage electricity should be used on a much wider scale than that.
Mr. Blowick complimented the officers of the ESB from top to bottom for the magnificent way they did their work as well as the local committee.
Brigadier General D.A. Browne, Breaffy House, seconding the vote of thanks, said: “We must keep the young people on the land and we must stop emigration.”
If they did not succeed in making local areas attractive to young people they would not stay at home.
He believed electricity in the homes would make a great difference to the manner in which the young generation would be brought up in the future.
Mr. Laurence Barrett, who was chairman at the function, associated himself with the remarks of the other speakers and said that this night was indeed a very happy night for them and a bright and cheerful night in the homes of the people, a night they would not be likely to forget for a long time.
The advent of rural electrification was to them a sign of a better, easier and more progressive life for the farmer and in the home.
With this amenity country life could be compared with town and city life.
Mr. Barrett paid tribute to the committee who had worked with him to bring this project to the success it undoubtedly was, and wished everyone present an enjoyable night.
Replying to the toast to the ESB at the banquet held in Hazelhill House later, Mr. J.K. Hehir, rural area organiser, ESB, said that out of 400 homes in the area over 300 had been connected.
It would be very hard, he said, for the board’s staff to adequately express their gratitude to the people of the area for their kindness and hospitality to them and their cooperation with them.
He paid particular tribute to Brig. Gen. Browne, to the local committee and especially to its chairman, Mr. Barrett, to the Divney family and others.
The board’s target, he said, was to connect every rural home in the country, whether economical or not, and Mr. Hehir offered this as consolation to those people whom they could not connect now.
There were financial and other difficulties, but these would resolve themselves in time, and all who unfortunately could not be connected now would not be forgotten.
During the recent bad weather (1951) and ‘flu epidemic, Mr. Hehir continued, their transport had become disorganised. However, they had found a man, Mr. Laurence Barrett, who had taken out his tractor and made it available to them to tide them over their difficulties, and they could not be too grateful to him for the work he had done.
“I could go on for hours,” said Mr. Hehir, “giving examples of the people’s kindness and cooperation since we came into the area, and I hope the people in years to come really appreciate what the hard-working committee have done for them. Their work cannot be over-estimated and the people do owe them a very real debt of gratitude.”