TURF IN ELECTRICITY GENERATION 1945-2000
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.34739/maj.2025.03.03Keywords:
electricity, peat, employment, technology, pollution, carbon, climateAbstract
This paper examines the industrial harvesting of turf and its use in electricity generation in Ireland from 1945 to 2000. It explores the commercial exploitation of Irish bogs which had been neglected for centuries. Exploitation achieved impetus when some revolutionaries such as Todd Andrews advocated economic self-sufficiency. With Government approval, Bord na Móna was created in 1945. Another state body, the Electricity Supply Board (ESB), established turf-fired power plant. These developments had a significant economic impact until the mid 1980s. Thereafter, a combination of ageing plant, and supra-national environmental regulation led to the closure of power stations and the cessation of peat harvesting.
Downloads
References
Andrews, C.S. (2008). Man of No Property. Dublin: Liliput Press.
Bielenberg, A., & Ryan, R. (2012). An Economic History of Ireland since Independence. London: Routledge.
Bord na Móna. (2021). Bord na Móna Announce Formal End to All Peat Harvesting on its Lands https://www.bordnamona.ie/ bord-na-mona-announce-formal-end-to-all-peat-harvesting-on-its-lands/.
Burke, Frank (2024), Remembering Ferbane in the 1970s: Discussion with the author.
Central Statistics Office. (2016). Population Change and Historical Perspective. CSO. https://www.cso.ie/en/media/csoie/ releasespublications/documents/population/2017/Chapter_1_Population_change_and_historical_perspective.pdf.
Clarke, D. (2010). Brown Gold: A History of Bord na Mona and the Irish Peat Industry. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan.
ESB. (1967). 40th Annual Report. ESB. https://esbarchives.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/esb-annual-reports_1966-1967.pdf.
ESB. (1969). 42nd Annual Report. ESB.
ESB. (1975). 48th Annual Report. ESB.
ESB. (1978). Fifty First Annual Report for the Year Ending 31st March 1978. ESB. https://esbarchives.ie/wp-content/uploads/ 2016/02/esb-annual-reports_1977-1978.pdf.
Feehan, J. & O'Donovan, G. (1996). The Bogs of Ireland: An Introduction to the Natural, Cultural, and Environmental Heritage of Irish Peatlands. Dublin: UCD Environmental Institute.
Heaney, S. (1969). Door into the Dark. London: Faber and Faber.
Irish Peatlands Conservation Council. (2022). History of the IPCC: Irish Peatlands Conservation Counci 1982-2022 – a 40 Year History. IPCC. https://www.ipcc.ie/about-us/history-of-the-ipcc/.
Kelly, A., & Coakley, S.F. (1960). The Handling of Milled Peat at E S B Power Stations.
Lee, J. (1989). Ireland 1912-1985: Politics and Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Manning, M., & McDowell, M. (1984). Electricity Supply in Ireland: The History of the ESB. Dublin: Gill and MacMillan.
McCowen, J., & Culleton, P. (2005). Portarlington Generating Station 1946-1988: A Pictorial History. Electricity Supply Board.
Mullins, R. (1993). A History of Portarlington Generating Station & Clonsast Bog Development. Foreword RF Magee. Electricity Supply Board.
Norton, W. (3/3/1959). Committee on Finance. - Turf Development Bill, 1959 - Second Stage. Dublin: Government Publications Retrieved from https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1959-03-03/38/.
Nowlan, K.B., & Williams, T.D. (Eds.). (1969). Ireland in the War Years and After 1939-51. Dublin: Gill and MacMillan.
Nugent, N. (2017). The Government and Politics of the European Union: 8th Edition. Palgrave.
Shiel, M. (1984). The Quiet Revolution: The Electrification of Rural Ireland 1946-1976. Dublin: O'Brien Press.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Management and Administration Journal
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
