Ardnacrusha & the power station

Ardnacrusha takes its name from “the height of the cross”, a 12th-century diocesan boundary marker. Its fame is the hydroelectric station at the end of the headrace, built in 1925–29 by Siemens-Schuckert with about 5,000 workers, at a cost close to a fifth of the young state’s annual budget. At first it could supply the whole country; it still generates today, now around 2 % of Ireland’s electricity, and engineers list it among the milestones of the 20th century. In summer ESB runs free guided tours of about 90 minutes from the visitor centre to the headrace, the locks, the tailrace, the turbine hall and the original control room (in 2026: weekdays from 29 June to 4 September, booking essential). Boaters pass through the double lock beside the station. ESB warns that swimming in the headrace and tailrace is dangerous.