I recently went along to the launch of the Elysian Tower, Cork and Ireland's tallest building. Over the years of its construction, I have photographed its 'putting together'. I probably like everyone had mixed emotions about it. I was excited about seeing all the different pieces added but also fearful of the change; how this building dominates Cork's skyline sticking out and how different it was to most other Cork buildings.

The Lee scheme was the last of the large-scale hydroelectric projects to be built, following the Shannon, Erne and Liffey schemes. For the politicians and policy makers, those projects were visionary. The generators that were built in the 1950s are still working today. They receive regular overhauls every year. Their basic structure is exactly the same. At Inniscarra, there is generator no 1, a 15 mW unit manufactured by Brown Bovari. Inniscarra generator no 2 is a 4 mW unit also manufactured by Brown Bovari. Carrigadrohid generator no 3 is an 8 mW unit manufactured by Siemens. The manufacturer of all three turbines was J.M. Voith, Germany.

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.

This article is a heritage news one. There are a number of community based projects I am touting over the next couple of weeks. These heritage projects I deem educational and are aimed to get people out and about and engage with Cork's rich history and geography.

It's Monday afternoon, 4.30p.m. at Cork Bus Station. I'm waiting for a bus to take me to Waterford. The first bus is full, so I wait for the second. The place is very busy with the coming and going of people and buses to all parts of the country. The faces change with each passing minute.

“The River Lee Development Project will add a total of 27MW to the generating capacity of the Electricity Supply Board’s system and will contribute a further 65 million units approximately to the annual output of the hydro-electric scheme…These stations are also intended to provide standby capacity for the important load venue at Cork. (O’Shea, 1954, “River Lee Hydro Electric Scheme”, Engineers Journal).

The Lee Hydro Electric Scheme is still very much at the heart of people's memories in mid-Cork and in the wider region. This article is based on a series of interviews conducted by ESB archive staff with former and present day workers during the summer of 2007.

I [Jack Sheehan] was born in 1919 on Dunbar Street, Cork but my family moved shortly afterwards to Blackrock Road and were there for a good many years. I went to school in the South Monastery. I served my time with the ESB in Albert Road, where the old Tramway Company was located. I started there in 1939 in the installations or contracts department. We specialised in installing electric motors and wiring houses. The other departments - operations dealt in overhead wiring and public lighting whilst the meter department installed the meter.