The Lee Hydro Electric Scheme is a fantastic project to research especially as many of the young people who were involved in the scheme are still young to talk about it. Yes, there are positives and negatives to the Project, which had a huge impact on the geography of the Lee Valley and its people plus also the people employed to carry out this large scale project and all it entailed. I think it is important with any study of any heritage project to make it as real as possible to the reader and to make it relevant and find a connection to modern day society. The fabric of social life is important. People make places, good and bad. People create the sense of place that stays with people and which people remember.

With the above in mind, we continue on our journey in the realm of the Lee Scheme with Margaret Murphy who was a secretary to the contractor Maurice Sweeney, who replaced the French construction company, Société de Construction des Batignolles, Paris midway through the construction process. Born in Millstreet, Co. Cork, Margaret was a farmer's daughter. She went to national school in Millstreet and had a choice of secretarial or nursing for her career path. She decided to go for secretarial and went to and trained at Skerries College on the South Mall (no.17) in Cork City.

After that, she worked for two years at the Royal Typewriters on Washington Street for John McCarthy who ran it. He had an office and shop across the road from St. Augustine's Church. Two years later, she answered an ad in the paper and went to Inniscarra at the age of 20 in 1955, working for the head contractor Maurice Sweeney. On her arrival, the French had more or less departed the Scheme. She lived near Collins Barracks in a flat on Wellington Road.

Margaret notes: "I travelled out with Stephen Kelleher from the city in his big station wagon to the office which was on site. Maurice Sweeney was a lovely man to work for. There were a lot of figures to cope with. I remember the carbon paper and the making of five to six copies of everything. We did not even have a photocopier. My main job came every month when I had to type the measurement' document or write up the figures used for different aspects of the job especially the gravel mix consumed. I remember the six columns of figures.

There was no automatic phone; one had to call Ballincollig exchange to get a number through. Killinardrish Post Office was the exchange for Carrigadrohid. There was a walkie talkie system between Inniscarra and Carrigadrohid; e.g Michael to John meant Inniscarra dam was calling John A. Woods. Jack was Carrigadrohid Dam.

I would not often go down to the site but in the summertime would go down to the river. I remember seeing the salmon lying in the sun seemingly waiting for the fish pass to open, which opened at different times of the day. I remember going to the canteen everyday. The man running it was from Northern Ireland. I remember Jim O'Brien, engineer and Billy O'Regan. Billy went into the real estate business afterwards in the city. Jim Irwin from College Road, Cork was in charge of purchases. Godfrey Dunlea worked in the Timekeeper's Office. He looked after the time cards. Time had to be calculated, a lot of work to do and a lot of figuring. Maureen Foran was on the switchboard.