Wired: Electrification in the Archives

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Brown, J. (1888) ‘On Figures Produced by Electric Action on Photographic Dry Plates’. The Philosophical Magazine. Series 5, Volume 26 (December 1888). Plate VII

Our newest exhibition, Wired: Electrification in the Archives, is now on display on the ground floor McClay Library and will run until the new year. We have selected a range of materials that concern both scientific developments in electricity and its broader social and cultural influence. 

To accompany this exhibition, the McClay Library is pleased to host the Turlough Hill Pop-up Anniversary Exhibition, sponsored by ESB Archives, from 21st November to 4th December 2024.

Aerial view of Turlough Hill, courtesy of ESB Archives.

Turlough Hill Station, located in the scenic Wicklow Mountains, is Ireland’s only pumped storage power station. It was brought into commercial operation by the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) in 1974 and was the largest civil engineering operation ever undertaken in the country when construction began in 1968.

2024 marks 50 years of renewable energy generation at Turlough Hill. Today, the station continues to play an integral role in the delivery of clean energy across Ireland. The pop-up photographic exhibition tells the story of this unique generation station, and the feats of engineering achieved in its construction and operation.