Jerry Corbett - Rural photo collection

Jerry Corbett joined ESB at the age of 13 in 1932, meaning that he had 52 years of service at the time of his retirement in 1983 – one of the longest serving employees in ESB history.

These photos, kindly donated to ESB Archives by Jerry's son Tony, provide a snapshot of Jerry’s time with ESB and give further insight into the overall human story of the electrification of rural Ireland.

These photographs (c1946-56) come from Jerry’s personal collection, and offer some real insight into the daily life of the men who worked on the scheme. Thankfully, many of the photos feature Jerry himself, with what his son fondly describes as ‘enough Brylcreem in his hair to start a major fire’.

Jerry worked as foreman of a rural gang in the early days of the Rural Electrification Scheme. However, by 1953, we know that Jerry was working as a Stevedore, charged with overseeing the safe loading and unloading of electricity poles from ships as they were transported from Finland and delivered around Ireland.

Black-and-white photograph showing ESB workers taking a break around a campfire at a rural work site during the Rural Electrification Scheme, with cooking equipment visible in the foreground.

Jerry Corbett (front, crouching) with his rural gang gathered around a campfire.

Black-and-white photograph showing six workers taking a break beside an open campfire, with cooking pots visible in the foreground and smoke drifting through the scene.

The rural gang pose for another photo.

Three ESB workers standing beside a line construction vehicle fitted with excavation or pole-setting equipment in a grassy field.

Three ESB workers standing beside a line construction vehicle.

Black-and-white photograph showing workers using horses to transport electricity poles in hilly countryside during the Rural Electrification Scheme.

Horses and donkeys, often on hire from local farmers, were used to move the massive electricity poles in steeper rural areas.

Black-and-white photograph showing Jerry Corbett, another worker and a horse used to transport electricity poles across rural farmland during the Rural Electrification Scheme.

Jerry Corbett (left) and a colleague stand beside a harnessed horse pulling a wooden electricity pole.

Jerry Corbett and three other colleagues posing with a mud-spattered ESB truck on a rural road, with a wooden electricity pole visible alongside the vehicle.

Jerry Corbett leans on the font of a rural electrification truck, with his colleagues in the background.

Group of workers gathered around an ESB Ford flatbed truck in a rural landscape, with several people seated in the rear of the vehicle and others standing beside it.

Corbett’s Cork colleagues getting into an ESB branded Ford flatbed truck.

Black-and-white photograph showing Jerry Corbett and colleagues gathered around an ESB truck on a country road bordered by steep hillsides.

Corbett (front left) with his colleagues.

Early ESB flatbed truck parked on a rural roadside, with three workers posing for the camera and the words “Electricity Supply Board” visible on the side of the truck bed.

The rural gang with an early ESB vehicle.

Black-and-white photograph showing Rural Electrification Scheme workers beside a tracked excavator or trenching machine used for construction work in a rural landscape.

The rural gang pose with their machinery.

A rural worker pictured beside a vehicle, which bears ESB’s special Rural Electrification Scheme logo on its door.

A rural worker, pictured beside the ESB’s special Rural Electrification Scheme logo.

Two workers among framework sections laid out on the ground, with one holding a long timber pole and the other reviewing a document beside hedgerows in the countryside.

Rural workers assembling framework components and examining a document.

Black-and-white photograph showing workers ascending a steel transmission tower during electricity network construction, viewed from ground level looking upward.

Work being carried out on a transmission tower.

Black-and-white photograph showing workers carrying out construction work on a steel electricity tower beside a substation building.

Work being carried out on a transmission tower. A Siemens designed 38 kV substation can be seen in the background.

Electricity pole being manoeuvred into position with support wires attached, carrying overhead power lines across a rural landscape.

The careful process of erecting an electricity pole.

Black-and-white photograph showing twin wooden electricity support structures connected by overhead conductors, set against a mountainous rural landscape with two workers visible below.

The careful process of erecting an electricity pole.

Black-and-white photograph showing workers erecting an electricity pole with guide ropes and timber braces during rural electricity network construction.

The physical effort required to erect the poles.

Black-and-white photograph showing several workers erecting a wooden H-frame electricity support structure, using guide poles to steady the framework during installation.

The physical effort required to erect the poles.

Black-and-white photograph showing an ESB tractor being used to erect an electricity line structure, with overhead conductors, support wires and several workers visible in the background.

The careful process of erecting an electricity pole using an ESB tractor.

Black-and-white photograph showing a worker carrying out construction work high on a wooden electricity support structure, with a colleague standing at its base and hills visible in the background.

Scaling the poles.

Black-and-white photograph showing a worker carrying out installation or maintenance work at the top of a wooden electricity support structure, silhouetted against the sky.

Scaling the poles.

Black-and-white photograph showing workers installing insulators on a steel electricity support structure, with one worker standing on a ladder and another working near the top of the tower beside a building.

Installing insulators on an electricity pylon beside a Siemens designed 38 kV substation.

Black-and-white photograph showing an electricity transformer mounted on a wooden pole structure, with four people gathered beneath it.

Corbett's rural gang pose below an electricity transformer.

Black-and-white photograph showing a newly erected wooden electricity line structure with insulators and overhead wires, photographed during rural network construction.

Corbett's rural gang pose below newly erected twin support frames for electricity lines.

Black-and-white photograph showing a line worker ascending a wooden electricity support structure during construction of the rural electricity network.

A line worker ascends the poles.

Black and white photograph showing two workers handling a cable reel mounted on a frame in open countryside, while a harnessed horse stands beside the equipment among heather-covered hills.

Workers unspool a cable reel mounted on a frame. Horses were used to help transport equipment in more rugged terrain.

Black-and-white photograph showing four workers transporting an electricity pole by hand across open rural terrain, viewed from an elevated hillside overlooking a road and fields below.

Moving poles up steep terrain.

Black-and-white photograph showing workers on a rugged hillside pulling a rope line from below while colleagues stand near the ridge above.

Moving poles up steep terrain.

Black-and-white group photograph showing Jerry Corbett crouching in the foreground while five colleagues stand behind him at the entrance to a building.

Corbett (front) with his ESB colleagues.

Black-and-white photograph showing five electricity network construction workers resting beside a stone wall and sharing refreshments in the countryside.

Corbett's colleagues take a tea-break in the rugged countryside.

Black-and-white photograph showing an ESB fuel or utility tanker truck positioned outside an electricity facility, with electrical equipment visible in the background.

An ESB fuel tanker truck bearing ESB’s special Rural Electrification Scheme logo. The truck is parked beside what appears to be a Siemens designed 38 kV substation.

Black-and-white photograph showing Jerry Corbett standing next to an ESB utility vehicle bearing the ESB logo, with electricity infrastructure and open countryside behind him.

Jerry Corbett stands beside the ESB fuel tanker truck.

Black-and-white photograph showing Jerry Corbett seated in a doorway while a colleague stands beside him holding a long-handled tool.

Jerry Corbett (seated) with a colleague.

Black-and-white photograph an ESB worker seated on the front of a vehicle parked next to a caravan at an electricity installation site, with transmission structures visible behind him.

Corbett's colleague sits atop a vehicle beside a caravan outside of a substation.

Black-and-white photograph showing a group of workers gathered beside a work truck at an electricity line construction site, with a newly erected wooden pole behind them.

The rural gang.

Black-and-white photograph showing workers taking a break beside a utility vehicle, with some posing for the camera and others seated on the ground near a stone wall.

Rural gang, with canine supervisor.

Black-and-white photograph showing Jerry Corbett and two colleagues posing beside an Electricity Supply Board vehicle, with trees and hedgerows in the background.

Jerry Corbett (middle) and colleagues pose beside an ESB van.

Black-and-white photograph showing workers gathered around an Electricity Supply Board vehicle at a rural work site, with one person visible through the cab window and others standing alongside.

The rural gang.

Black-and-white photograph showing workers posing beside utility vehicles at a rural work site, with tools, cable reels and equipment visible on one vehicle.

The rural gang.

Black-and-white photograph showing workers gathered at the base of a wooden framed electricity support structure during power line construction, with stone walls and open countryside visible nearby.

The rural gang.

Black-and-white photograph capturing a motorcyclist travelling past a large building and adjacent yard, with cars parked nearby and motion blur visible across the scene.

A motorcycle ride around the polefield.

Black-and-white photograph showing Jerry Corbett sitting on a motorcycle with another person seated behind him, in front of a large entryway with a parked car nearby.

Corbett (front) with colleague.

Black-and-white photograph showing a cargo ship berthed at a port, with cranes positioned for unloading electricity poles and several vehicles on the quayside.

Transport of poles aboard the ‘Wicklow Head’, later wrecked off the coast of Nova Scotia in 1947.

Black-and-white photograph showing a cargo vessel carrying a large load of timber electricity poles at a riverside dock during the Rural Electrification Scheme.

A view of the cargo of wooden electricity poles aboard the ‘Wicklow Head’.

Black-and-white photograph showing electricity poles being unloaded from a cargo ship using onboard cranes, with workers and vehicles positioned on the quayside below.

The cargo being unloaded.

Black-and-white photograph showing dock workers transferring electricity poles from a ship to a lorry using a crane, with stacks of poles already secured on the vehicle.

The cargo being unloaded.

Black-and-white photograph showing a flatbed lorry and two workers on a dockside, with a cargo vessel and unloading equipment in the background.

A flatbed lorry bearing the Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) logo helps with the unloading of cargo.

Black-and-white photograph showing workers inspecting and organising electricity poles stacked on trailers and in storage at a pole depot.

Rural workers unload and stack the wooden electricity poles.

Black-and-white photograph showing Jerry Corbett's wife carrying their son on the deck of a vessel, with railings, lifebuoy housing and cabin structures visible around them.

Jerry Corbett’s wife and son aboard the MV Whitsun en route to Arranmore Island, Co Donegal, November 1956.