From the archives: 73 years since electricity came to Belcarra
By Tom Gillespie
IN the edition of Saturday, November 18, 1950, The Connaught Telegraph reported on a momentous night in the history of Belcarra when electricity came to the village for the first time.
The report stated that demonstrations of great joy were manifest in Belcarra on Tuesday night, November 14, 1950 (73 years ago today) as hundreds of people - old and young - gathered in the Arcadia Ballroom and gave a really enthusiastic welcome to the brilliant lights of the ESB as they were officially switched on under the Rural Electrification Scheme.
The report set out as follows:
The ceremony was performed by Rev. Fr. John Killeen, P.P., Balla, in the presence of a very distinguished gathering who were present to witness the most progressive step in the history of rural life in the area as the pulling of the lever to switch on the electric current meant casting into obscurity the old lamp and candle lights and the introduction of new and modern methods in rural Ireland.
That the rural electrification has come to Belcarra is not directly a tribute to the ESB, but on the contrary a tribute to the local committee, whose painstaking efforts, night and day, canvassing and re-canvassing the area, were responsible for bringing the scheme to fruition. The rural electrification will include an area extending from Belcarra to Breaffy.
Those present included Mr. Joseph Blowick, Minister for Lands; Rev. Fr. Killeen; Rev. Dr. Kelly, Provincial SMA Order; Rev. Fr. Heaney, P.P., Carnacon; Rev. Fr. Tobin, Superior, Ballinafad College; Rev. Fr. Gibbons,C.C., Belcarra; Rev. Fr. Carney, C.C., Westport; Rev. Fr. Gildea, C.C.; District Justice W.D. Coyne; Mr. M.D. McCarthy, ESB district engineer, Galway; Mr. A. McDonagh, ESB Rural Electrification organising engineer; Mr. Hehir, area organiser; Mr. J. Hagan, Rural Electrification area engineer, and Mr. D. Leonard.
The members of the Belcarra organising committee included Messrs. John Nestor, R.J. McGuinness, V. Irwin, P. Heneghan, Martin Murphy and Bros. Walsh.
The official switch-on time was scheduled for 8.30, and from eight o’clock onwards large crowds of people representative of the area continued to arrive in the hall until eventually the building, which was dimly lighted with one oil lamp, was packed to capacity.
At the appointed time Mr. Nestor, acting as chairman, said he had great pleasure, on behalf of the Belcarra organising committee, in calling on Rev. Fr. Killeen to perform the switching-on ceremony.
Rev. Fr. Killeen said, before performing the ceremony, he would like to say that the light was God’s greatest gift to them, but, unfortunately, it was not appreciated as it ought to be, as they were used to it. Passing through Belcarra on that dark night, one would certainly appreciate a little more light.
With the large crowd standing in silence, Rev. Fr. Killeen then proceeded to bless the electrical installations. Amid loud applause and cheers of joy, he pulled the lever, and the gay and colourful lighting effects in the hall proudly announced that great event - the coming of the Rural Electrification Scheme to Belcarra and surrounding districts - one of the greatest epochs in the history of progress in that area.
Addressing the large crowd, Rev. Fr. Killeen said it gave him great pleasure to welcome everyone on that occasion, and he would like to say how happy he was to be with them for the switch-on.
He knew how earnestly that all had looked forward to that night, as they had shown how earnest they were when they signed on for the light, remembering that all the country had the benefits of the ESB, and there was no reason why Belcarra should be in the dark.
He hoped that the people who had declined to sign would see the light and come along and sign now, as it would be easier for them to get it now while the officials were in the area. From once the officials left they would have a long wait for the light.
“I do hope,” added Fr. Killeen, “that the result of the coming of electricity will be that more of our young people will stay at home: that it will be an inducement to them to stay at home, as brighter homes should mean that.
“I do hope that one of the results of the rural electrification in Belcarra will be that the brightening up of rural life will encourage young people and that in itself will be a great achievement.”
Minister Joseph Blowick said it was just two years ago since the first meeting was held in the hall to try and bring the ESB to the area.
They all knew that the rural population was dwindling, said Mr. Blowick, and there was not a shadow of doubt that life in the country was not as attractive as life in the town.
However the coming of rural electrification would make life in the country brighter and it would be a marked improvement.
There were 800 rural electrification areas in the country, said Mr. Blowick, and already 110 areas had been completed, which meant that 28,000 people would benefit by it.
One-eighth of the programme was now finished and that was a great tribute to the efficiency of the ESB, especially in view of the fact that at the start there was a great shortage of materials.
In Belcarra area alone, he said, 600 poles and five miles of high tension lines had been laid down, which would give them some idea of the magnitude of the job.
The coming of electricity, he said, would do away with a lot of the drudgery which women folk had to endure. The drudgery of Irish life was finished and many of the old slavish methods of their grandparents’ time were done away with.
The women could now enjoy all the amenities, such as cookers, electric fires, kettles, etc., to be derived from the ESB link-up, and once and for all they could cast aside the old slavish and drudgery methods, and enjoy the same standards of life as the people in the towns enjoyed. The women of rural Ireland, added Mr. Blowick, were entitled to that.