One of the Germans was Arlo Rashley, whose father fought in the eastern front. The war was just over eleven years then. His dad got back safely and was not held prisoner. Herr Leitil was originally in the submarine unit. He was one of the few survivors. Rolf Reiniker was the most cheerful of the lads. He was a happy-go-lucky type of guy. I became friendly with Rolf. He was a biker, had a bike as well – he used to come home with me at weekends to Ardnacrusha. The first weekend he came home, the house went on fire, he came in very handy. I was very interested in history and asked the German guys where they were from and about their dads and how they got on in the war, what were their experiences like".

Flor Deasy (Fitter, retired):

"I had a job on the old Bandon Railway, burning and scrapping parts. I was lucky a friend of mine, Foley, was in the dam at that time. He told me to come out and apply for a job. I was lucky to get it. Jack Higgins was the supervisor and Diarmuid O'Shea was the superintendent. They sent me with the Germans installing the plumbing for the station. We also did a lot of welding and fitting. Jack Higgins was an excellent supervisor, he pushed me on and I stayed on once the stations opened, Every year, I worked a lot on maintaining the runner blades of the turbines, bringing out the profile of the blades".

Eddie Murphy (Plant Controller, retired):

"I remember the campsite where the people who worked on the construction lived. There was also a church there, and I served as an altar boy for about a nine-month period. Little did I realize at that time that ten years later, in 1964, I would be applying for a job as electrician. Being a lad of twenty-two years of age, my abiding memory was being asked at the interview would I do shift work. I got the job and trained in the control room every Friday. I did my time with Philip Ryan. He was in the army for a good number of years before he joined the ESB. I remember that his training was fairly strict. I went on my first shift in the control room at very short notice in the first week of September. My supervisor Jack Higgins was stuck for staff. It took off from there. I was working with men in their fifties. I looked up to them. They helped you on any way possible. They were very forthcoming with information, and great friends".

To be continued…

Adapted from Kieran McCarthy & Seamus O'Donoghue, forthcoming in late August, Generations, Memories of the Lee Hydroelectric Scheme, County Cork, Lilliput Press, Dublin, An ESB funded publication.

Comments (0) »

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment