Book ID: CBB779272851

Powering The Nation: Images of the Shannon Scheme and Electricity in Ireland (2017)

unapi

O'Brien, Sorcha (Author)


Irish Academic Press


Publication Date: 2017
Physical Details: 328
Language: English

Powering the Nation is the fascinating story of the greatest industrial initiative of the fledgling Irish Free State: the Shannon Hydroelectric Scheme. Lavishly designed, this visual history examines the construction of this mammoth of modern ingenuity and its symbolic power during the dawn of electrical technology in Ireland. In the 1920s, the Free State sought to harness electricity to step beyond the political nationalism of its painful revolutionary era and provide really change for its citizens, but their endeavours were not without resistance as a population that took pride in tradition were deeply suspicious of technology. Leading Irish design historian, Sorcha O'Brien, uses extensive archival research to exhibit the publicity drive from the ESB, Siemens and innumerable artists and tourist bodies to excite perceptions that would transform lifestyles and, inevitably, the Irish landscape. O'Brien expertly unveils the images behind the story: the technical drawings, Sean Keating's deeply emotive paintings, artists' lithographs and drawings, and boundless paraphernalia of photographs, postcards and cigarette packets. These exquisite materials provide key insights into Irish visual culture, making Powering the Nation a peerless social history that will appeal to anyone with an interest in engineering, art and design, or the defining moment in Irish state-building. (Amazon)

...More
Reviewed By

Review Gooday, Graeme (July 2019) Review of "Powering The Nation: Images of the Shannon Scheme and Electricity in Ireland". Technology and Culture (pp. 908-909). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB779272851/

Similar Citations

Article Terry S. Reynolds; (2003)
Introduction: Waterpower, the Lachine Canal, and the Industrial Development of Montreal (/isis/citation/CBB467946248/)

Article Christopher W. Merritt; Jacob N. Pollock; (2010)
Electrifying Independence Valley: Mining and Hydroelectricity in Nevada's Northeastern Frontier (1896-1920) (/isis/citation/CBB543290271/)

Article Breslau, Daniel; (December 2013)
Designing a market-like entity: Economics in the politics of market formation (/isis/citation/CBB008203841/)

Article Giacomo Bonan; (October 2020)
An Alpine Energy Transition: The Piave River from Charcoal to “White Coal” (/isis/citation/CBB735584842/)

Article Dennis E. Howe; (1994)
The Maintenance of New Hampshire's First Polyphase Hydroelectric Station (Photo Essay) (/isis/citation/CBB218176472/)

Article Peter J. Hutchinson; Alex Balog; (2016)
The Subsurface Mysteries of Wardenclyffe Revealed (/isis/citation/CBB646604934/)

Article Ana Cardoso de Matos; (2011)
Urban gas and electricity networks in Portugal: competition and collaboration (1850–1926) (/isis/citation/CBB353307681/)

Article Matthew P. Johnson; (2021)
'Thirsty Sugar Lands': Environmental Impacts of Dams and Empire in Puerto Rico Since 1898 (/isis/citation/CBB256791646/)

Book Bouneau, Christophe; Varaschin, Denis; Laborie, Léonard; Viguié, Renan; (2012)
Les paysages de l'électricitè perspectives: historiques et enjeux contemporains (XIXe-XXIe siècles) (/isis/citation/CBB001550047/)

Book Giacomo Bonan; (2020)
Le acque agitate della patria: L’industrializzazione del Piave (1882-1966) (/isis/citation/CBB271732959/)

Article Gökçe Günel; (2018)
The Backbone: Construction of a Regional Electricity Grid in the Arabian Peninsula (/isis/citation/CBB043986489/)

Article Sayer, Karen; (May 2020)
Light `Pollution": The Aesthetics of Modernity vs. Pastoral in Britain (/isis/citation/CBB116765708/)

Authors & Contributors
Bonan, Giacomo
Christopher W. Merritt
Jacob N. Pollock
Zumbrägel, Christian
Brittany Luby
Johnson, Matthew P.
Concepts
Hydroelectric power
Electricity and Electrical Power
Industrial archaeology
Coal
Technoscience; science and technology studies
Infrastructure
Time Periods
20th century
19th century
21st century
Places
United States
Canada
Lachine Canal
Italy
New York (U.S.)
Winnipeg River (Ont. and Man.)
Institutions
Gulf Cooperation Council
League of Nations
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment