Many thanks to Presenter, John Greene for advance information regarding this evening’s programme on C103 (14th July 2019 – Bastille Day – so very special greetings to all our French Friends) – S.R.
In the early 1950’s residents of the Gaoire near Macroom were offered approximately forty pounds per acre under compulsory purchase of their land.
Compulsory purchase, when enforced, usually allows a public infrastructure to go ahead for the common good. In this instance, construction of the Lee Valley Hydro Electric Scheme was deemed to be for the common good. Electricity at the time was making its way slowly but surely into rural Ireland.
In the second programme on ‘Where the road takes me’, John Greene returns to what was once the village of Annahalla, before being flooded in 1954.
Now a statutory nature reserve and a walker’s paradise, the area was once home to many families, including a future Bishop of Cork and a college president.
Once again, in programme two, we get the thoughts of people who once lived here, and hear how their families coped with leaving behind perfect homes earmarked for destruction.
Where the road takes me – this Sunday evening at 7 on C103.
