Dingle street lights are 100 years a-glowing
THE bright weather these days is a far cry from the descriptions of Dingle 100 years ago as a place rescued from “Cimmerian darkness” when the Houlihan family first lit up the streets with electric lights.
The installation of street lighting of any form was late coming to the town and greatly anticipated by The Kerryman’s local correspondent who wrote in May 1920: “Hitherto it is well known, the lighting of the streets depended on shop lamps. Visitors to Dingle have over and over expressed surprise that a town of its size and importance should be left in Cimmerian darkness for so many years.”
A number of attempts were made to provide street lighting in Dingle in the early 1900s. The Kerryman reported that local businessman Thomas O’Donoghue “had contemplated lighting the streets with electricity and had installed the plant at the Spa Road Mill” as far back as 1910. However Mr O’Donoghue suffered an untimely and his business, which included a cornmill and hardware, was sold as a ‘going concern’ at an auction in 1912. Locals attempted to buy the business but couldn’t match the price offered by a Tralee merchant who subsequently closed down the mill and scrapped the machinery that would have supplied electrictiy to Dingle.
In 1913 another attempt was made to bring Dingle out of the darkness when a public meeting was held in the courthouse to consider a lighting system for the town. The result of of this meeting was a plan to “light the town with paraffin oil lamps, erected on wooden posts, with the cost of the lighting to be borne by voluntary subscriptions,” The Kerryman reported.
This plan however did not come to pass and the town was left “so the only street luminant we have is the glare from the shop windows in the principal streets”.
The correspondent goes on to relate how: “On winter nights the pedestrian walks with risk say through Green Street or the Mall, which streets are in total darkness. Outsiders visiting Dingle always observe that we are very much ‘in the dark’ as regards lighting. And since the public towns of Kerry all boast of efficient public lighting our position is not an enviable one. So we are possessed of streets dark and gloomy during the winter nights. More often than not they are muddy.”
However, the picture changed dramatically 100 years ago this week. The Kerryman of May 29 1920 reports that: “The electric light has been installed in most houses in the town. Dingle presented quite a city like appearance on Saturday night when the lights were on in the houses and in some parts of the streets.”
The Kerryman’s correspondent gave full credit for Dingle’s transition from darkness into light to the enterprising Houlihan family.
“Mr P J Houlihan, who is our most enterprising local merchant, has lately installed an electric lighting plant. Poles and wires have been placed in position throughout the principal streets, and people are introducing the new lighting system into their homes,” The Kerryman reported at the beginning of a brighter era for the town of Dingle.
The Houlihan family continued to supply electricity to the town until 1953 when the ESB took over the business.
WEST Kerry students finish their school year this year this Friday without graduation ceremonies or end of year celebrations, but some transitions year students will take away achievements that show they are the best of the best in writing and storytelling.
Meanscoil an Leith Triúigh fourth year student Paul Egan impressed the judges in the University of Limerick’s ninth annual essay writing competition with his entry which described the importance of transparency in the relationships between social media ‘influencers’ and the brands they promote. The competition organisers provided the subject matter and asked the students to take a strong stance in writing their essay. Paul had no problem taking a strong view on the matter and his efforts earned him the second place prize in the national competition for fourth and fifth year students.
Meanwhile, Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne students added to their achievements in the 2020 PressPass competition. Michael Holden won second in the Features category with his article ‘Hanging onto the Yardarm’ and Mahdí Ní Chinmhaoile was the runner up in the Sports category with her article ‘With a Chance of Pooh Bears’, and third place in the News section went to Kaylin Ní Ghealbhái’s article entitled ‘Wren Boys’.
In the eight years of the national PressPass competition, which encourages original journalism, Pobalscoil Corca Dhuibhne is the only school to have won the overall title twice, courtesy of Tomás Ó hUallacháin in 2016 and Síomha Ní hAinféin in 2017.