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Gweedore

Peat

Aerial view of Gweedore power station in County Donegal

Alternate name: Meenacuing
County: Donegal
Fuel type: Sod peat
Capacity: 5MW
Status: Inactive
Commissioned: 1957
Decommissioned: 1995

After the end of World War II, the Irish Government committed to an extensive programme of bog development to be overseen by Bord na Móna. Four identical 5MW turf burning stations were built at Gweedore, Screebe, Miltown Malbay and Cahirciveen in 1957, at a cost of £500,000 each.

ESB also built seven other peat stations in the 1950s and 1960s, including Allenwood, Bellacorick, Ferbane, Lanesborough, Portarlington, Shannonbridge and Rhode.

"In one of the most spectacularly beautiful sites that anyone could have picked for such a project, on the shores of a lake at the foot of towering Errigal, and ringed by scenery that carries the eye to heaven, Gweedore station stands like a monument to the achievement of the local people who play a large part in the station’s success."

– James J McAuley for the ESB Journal, 1963

 

Historical photograph of a religious blessing ceremony inside a power station, showing an altar set up in front of electrical control equipment with attendees gathered nearby.

Blessing of Gweedore Station, 1959

 

Photograph of a wooden ladle excavated from a bog in County Donegal, shown alongside an article describing its discovery.

Discovery at Gweedore station, 1993