Crossmaglen Electricity

In the early 1930’s, Crossmaglen was one of the first small villages in Ireland to have it’s own electricity supply. This electricity scheme was owned and operated by John Donaghy of Newry Street.

The electricity was generated by two separate power plants. The smaller plant would operate during normal day hours and the larger plant would operate from evening until midnight. During the night a huge battery power house would supply power until the small engine was started in the morning. Both of these oil burning engines had to be started by hand. The large engine was cooled by a 1,000 gallon water tank.

This system was in use for about 20 years until the Electricity Board took over the operation in 1950.

Adapted from Memories by Crossmaglen U3A