Big wind blows out the lights

WEST Kerry was plunged into darkness on Saturday evening when trees that were blown down by a north-westerly gale hit the main power line serving the area.

The power cut happened just after 7.30pm when the trees were blown down in a partially felled forestry at Luachar, Annascaul, and the lights remained out until nearly 10pm in Dingle and later in other areas as ESB staff worked to overcome the problem by diverting the power supply around the break.

ESB Area Manager Ger Deenihan said the break was caused when a line of trees that was left without shelter in a partially felled forestry plantation blew down during Saturday night’s gale. The damaged line knocked out the transformer station at Luachar, which supplies electricity to West Kerry via a single 38,000 volt line. Ger said the break could only be repaired in the light of Sunday morning but in the meantime the “very experienced local ESB crew” succeeded in diverting electricity from other parts of the grid to restore power to the West.

Meanwhile, Saturday evening’s gale also blew down the bus shelter at The Tracks. The shelter, fashioned around an upturned naomhóg, was designed to withstand the prevailing winds from the south-west, but the north-westerly gale was more than it could bear and it capsized into the adjoining car park.

Nearby, at the eastern marina a half-decker fishing boat sank at her berth on Friday night but this was the result of what was described as a ‘technical failure’, rather than the ravages of the weather.

Photos by Declan Malone Ciara O’Halloran and Sorcha Ní Bhruic having a pint by candlelight in Kennedy’s bar after the lights went out in Dingle on Saturday night.RIGHT: The Albatros, which sank at her berth on the east marina in Dingle on Friday night following a ‘mechanical failure’.BOTTOM RIGHT: The bus stop on The Tracks, Dingle, that capsized during Saturday night’s gale.