There was a lot of manual labour involved in the early stages of con¬struction. The overburden had to be cleared and the rock face prepared. On the dam sites the mixing of concrete was done automatically. This was not the case on the bridge sites. Portable mix¬ers were used here – the gravel was shovelled in manually, cement added and the water pumped in. The concrete was transported in dumpers to the required place. In the mid-Cork region, the construction could be compared to the industrial revolution. It was the first time that such a big project was undertaken in the area. Attracted by higher wages, regular hours and the chance of overtime, the workers left the farms and looked for work on the dam sites.

Some of the workers were accommodated in the camp at Inniscarra. The temporary works buildings on the Inniscarra site in¬cluded offices, workshops, stores, compressor houses, batching plant, and so on. The larger buildings were of steel frame construction with block panel walls and the remaining structures were either of timber or corrugated iron con¬struction. Irish Estates Ltd built a temporary camp overlooking the site, which consisted of seven huts constructed of weather boarding on raised concrete foundations. There was sleeping accommodation for 125 workmen, and canteen and recreational facilities for 250 workmen and other staff. The camp included temporary wooden bungalows for married staff. Hot meals were supplied from the main canteen in suitable containers to a sub-canteen at the Carrigadrohid site. The camp was available to employees of all sub-contractors as well as those of the main contractors.

To be continued…

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

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