Tim Slevin rural photo collection

We have to thank Tim Slevin and his family for sharing these wonderful photographs from his private collection.

He started out with ESB in Tipperary in 1950, when a rural electrification installation crew came to his home parish of Lorrha. For the next 13 years, he moved on through Cork, Donegal, Roscommon, Mayo and Leitrim. In 1955, while in Charlestown, Co Mayo, he met his future wife Tina, and although he was dispatched to Geesala/Belmullet in 1957, they remained together and got married in August 1959. They finally settled in Leitrim in 1963.

Séan Mac Fearghail writes about Tim in his story ‘Spreading The Hurling Message To The West’, which is featured in the 2016 Rural Electrification book Then There Was Light.

Group of ESB workers standing and sitting on the back of a lorry parked on a village street, with buildings visible in the background.

Tim’s rural gang in ESB truck outside Mac Shane’s, Bruckless, County Donegal on the way to work, August 1951

Tim Slevin standing in deep snow beside a roadside signpost showing directions and distances to nearby locations.

Tim standing at a crossroads in the Big Snow of 1958. A depth of 17cm was recorded at Belmullet on the 24th January, the greatest depth of snow ever recorded at this station.

Tim Slevin standing in deep snow beside a snow-covered ESB vehicle in a rural landscape.

The Big Snow, 1958.

A group of rural electrification workers posing beside a vehicle on a rural road, with trees visible in the background.

Tim’s rural gang (L-R): Jimmy Oates, Sligo; Jim Cunningham, Donegal; Tommy Moran, Roscommon; Tony Carney, Roscommon; Paddy McHugh, Donegal; Peter Kennedy, Donegal.

Tim Slevin climbing a wooden electricity pole using pole-climbing equipment, with overhead power lines and insulators visible at the top of the pole.

Tim using shoe spikes to climb an electricity pole.

Tim Slevin standing beside an electricity pole on a village street with another man, with houses and a tree visible in the background.

Tim (left) and his colleague pose beside a recently erected pole.

Tim Slevin working from an electricity pole, positioned beside overhead power lines and a transformer mounted on the pole.

Tim positioned high on an electricity pole beside overhead power lines and a pole-mounted transformer.

Group photograph of Tim Slevin, family members and ESB colleagues gathered beside an ESB vehicle, with a stone wall and open countryside in the background.

A rural day out: Tim’s brother and sister stopped to visit him in Donegal on their way to Lough Derg. Bottom left is brother Paul; bottom right is sister Chris. Willie Joe Kelly, the hackney car driver who drove them from Tipperary is standing on the far left, beside Tim.

Tim Slevin and colleagues standing together on a village street, posing for a group photograph with rows of houses visible in the background.

The ‘ESB boys’: second from left is Jimmy Oates, Sligo; third from right is Hubert Murray, with Tim Slevin to his right; far right is Mick Stapleton, Portumna.

Tim Slevin with three ESB colleagues gathered around a table in an office setting, with maps and work materials visible in the background.

Tim with his colleagues in Belmullet (L-R): Jack Glynn, truck driver, holding December 1957 issue of REO News; Barry Ormond, clerical officer; Tim; and Pearse Dawson, rural canvasser.

Tim Slevin with four ESB colleagues gathered around a table in an office setting.

Tim with his colleagues in Belmullet (L-R): Cyril Daly, Swinford, ‘the store man’; Tim; Barry Ormond, clerical officer, Waterford; Pearse Dawson, rural canvasser; and Diarmuid O’Conchubhair/Dermot O’Connor, engineer, Kerry.

Three ESB workers taking a tea break outdoors beside a wooden crate, each holding a mug, with a kettle and rural landscape visible around them.

Tim’s rural gang with materials shipped from Cork (L-R): PJ O’Hara, Sligo; Jimmy Oates, Sligo; and Peter Kennedy, Donegal.

Several ESB workers positioned on a wooden electricity pole, carrying out work on overhead power lines in a rural landscape.

Tim's rural gang pose on an electricity pole.

Tim Slevin with four ESB colleagues gathered around an ESB Rural Electrification vehicle displaying the ESB logo.

Tim with his colleagues (L-R): Willie Joe Kelly, hackney driver; Paul Slevin, Tipperary; Tim; Micky Herron, linesman, Donegal; unknown.

Network Renewal Plan (NRP)

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, ESB rolled out its Network Renewal Plan (NRP), upgrading and extending the electricity supply to meet the demands of modern Ireland. NRP built on the foundations laid by the Rural Electrification Scheme 50 years before, bringing the scheme into the twenty-first century.

Tim is featured in the official print advertisement for the NRP, celebrating the work he and many other rural workers did in bringing the light to rural Ireland.

ESB Rural Electrification Golden Jubilee poster featuring two ESB workers standing beside electrical equipment and a utility vehicle, with text commemorating the rural electrification programme.

Image transcription below:
In the Golden Jubilee Year of Rural Electrification, ESB renews and redevelops the network to meet the needs of the new times in the old places. The story of Rural Electrification begins anew.
The people who brought a new energy to country life now bring a new vitality.
Tim Slevin (pictured), retired ESB veteran of the rural campaign. In what was called the "Quiet Revolution", Tim and many others helped bring the light to rural Ireland.
Pat Grace (pictured), ESB Networks technician. Pat is part of the team now upgrading the network to meet Ireland's significant new energy needs. An even greater revolution is under way.
Where does the country get its energy? ESB
Rural Electrification Golden Jubilee 1946-1996