Wind Energy in Ireland
 by Gary Bischoff August 2007
In early August, Marge and I went to Ireland for a reunion of the Monlaugh School where Marge attended, along with her brothers and sisters. We had a great time, and Marge was able to renew a lot of old friendships.

One of the things that we did was to visit a Wind Energy Farm on Slieve Rushen, the mountain that overlooks Bawnboy and Ballyconnell, where Marge was born and raised. The mountain overlooks the two towns and the area in between, much like the Catskills overlook Saugerties. In the past, the mountain was a source of turf, which was burned for heat and cooking which the photo on right shows>>>>>

George Donohoe (Marge’s father) gathering turf on Slieve Rushen back in 1971.
Today, most houses have central heating or people buy a better grade of turf, and the bogs on the mountain are not used for “cutting turf”. Airtricity developed a wind farm that supplies 3,600 homes with electricity on land that they lease. Each generator is capable of generating 1.5 megawatts. (mega = 1 million). Each tower is 211 feet high and each rotor is 229 feet in diameter. Electricity is generated at 690 Volts, then stepped up to 20 kV using a transformer at the base, then passed to the site substation via underground cables. GE Wind Power of Germany supplied the turbines. The generators start generating with a wind of about 7 mph, and work up to about 55 mph. Above 55 mph, the turbines stop to prevent damage to the machinery. The blades typically rotate at 20 revolutions per minute.
The windfarm produces power without emitting harmful gasses resulting in a savings of about 3,000 tons of carbon dioxide that not being released in the atmosphere. Burning carbon fuels to generate electricity will eventually cause climate changes will in turn will affect sea levels, rainfall and weather patterns.


The government in Ireland recognizes that this could seriously damage low-lying areas, agriculture and tourism. To address this threat, the government is promoting renewable sources of energy e.g. wind. The wind is free, once installed power is generated with no fuel cost. The land under the turbines can still be used for farming or grazing. ne of the objections to wind power is that they are unsightly, and spoil the view. This of course is subjective. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Here are a couple of photos, and readers can judge for themselves.



And another view from BallyConnell.


The view of Sleive Rushen from Bawnboy, Co. Cavan.