Night’s Candles Are Burnt Out – Lunchtime Lectures

Join us for a series of Lunchtime Lectures in relation to our exhibition Night’s Candles Are Burnt Out throughout January and February!

1pm, Tuesday 23rd January:

The Power of Advertising – Highlights from ESB Archives Advertising Collection with Lucy Proctor

Lucy Proctor from ESB Archives will discuss the role of advertising in promoting the widespread consumption of electricity following the rollout of the Shannon Scheme and in the decades that followed. Looking at a selection print media, film and television commercials from the ESB Archives collection, this talk will explore how advertising was used to influence the Irish public around the benefits of electricity within their daily lives. It will also discuss how messaging around electricity consumption adapted and evolved in the face of various energy challenges facing the country throughout the years.

1pm, Tuesday 30th January:

Shaping a New Ireland of Unmarried Men? with Michael McCarthy

Michael McCarthy, author of the book ‘High Tension: Life on the Shannon Scheme’, will be giving a talk about the politics and life in Ireland during the development of the Shannon Scheme during the 1920’s and 1930’s, covering the mistrust and paranoia left behind from the Irish civil war.

1pm, Saturday 17th February:

Seán Keating and the Shannon Scheme with Dr. Éimear O’Connor

Dr. Éimear O’Connor will be giving a talk on the artist Seán Keating and his painting Night’s Candles Are Burnt Out, delving into its allegory, the messages and stories the artist was portraying through painting from his witnessing first hand of electrification in Ireland with the construction of the Ardnacrusha Power Plant.

Tickets must be booked to attend.

Price: €5

(Docents and Friends of the Hunt go free)