Fresh bid to preserve Athlone area's telecommunications heritage

Two former telecommunications workers in Athlone have called for a fresh effort to be made to help set up an exhibition or museum spotlighting the area's rich communications history.

Paul Mulvey and Flan Barnwell, both of whom worked for eircom, pointed out that there is currently no single presentation of Irish telecommunications heritage in the country.

They said there's an immediate urgency around finding storage space in which to keep some of the vintage equipment that was used to operate Ireland's radio and telecommunications network in times past.

There is a market for this equipment among some collectors in the UK, and the local men are concerned that if a storage solution for it is not found it could end up being sold across the Irish Sea.

Paul Mulvey outlined how a group of retired employees of P&T, Telecom Eireann, Eircom and Eir had assembled a broad range of telecoms equipment from the past which is now in lock-up storage in Roslevin Exchange in Athlone.

"Some of these artefacts were donated by private collectors who are anxious to see our heritage preserved. This equipment ranges from sophisticated test gear to magneto and CB switchboards that were a common feature in rural post offices," he said.

They also said that a colleague in Dublin, who has died, had put together "a very elaborate and extensive exhibition of old equipment" which is now in storage in his house. The man's son is now hoping to donate the collection to a new home, and Flan and Paul are attempting to help find a storage solution for the collection.

They said they would be interested in talking to schools or other bodies who might be willing to consider storing some of the equipment or having it set up and on display as an educational tool.

"We don't have a technical or science museum in the country, and I would see an opportunity to establish a technical museum, maybe of the utilities, which could be radio, TV, telecoms, ESB, and even military," said Paul.

"You could say that's all geeky stuff, or 'techy' stuff, but each of those areas has a very rich social history aspect to it."

Athlone was at the centre of Ireland's communications infrastructure during the twentieth century, with the radio transmitter in Moydrum becoming the first with nationwide coverage in 1932.

Athlone was also where, in 1957, the Subscriber Trunk Dialling facility was launched. This allowed subscribers to directly call subscribers in Dublin without operator assistance.

It was not until the following year that the first Subscriber Trunk Dialling call was made in Britain, with Queen Elizabeth making the inaugural call from Bristol to Edinburgh.

More recently, in 1982, Athlone was host to the first digital exchange in the country.

In 2014, a consortium called the Athlone Marconi Centre Heritage Group commissioned a feasibility report on establishing a museum, with a broadcasting and telecommunications theme, at the Moydrum radio transmitter site.

Ultimately, however, this effort has been unsuccessful, and the project has been put on ice.

Flan Barnwell said that, if a telecommunications heritage museum or display was set up, he believes there are enough retired workers in this field locally to staff it on a voluntary basis, similar to how the Arigna Mining Experience attraction has operated in North Roscommon.

"There is no commercial interest associated with this," said Flan. "We see this as a last-ditch effort. We are first trying to get storage space for this stuff, and if we miss out on it it's likely to be sold in England and be gone out of the country.

"The urgency is around getting a storage solution, and then there is a body of work to be done in getting it ready to go on display in an exhibition."

Paul also pointed out that dial telephones were an unknown quantity for most young people today, and that there was great educational potential around exploring the way communications worked in the past.

"The physics of telecommunications - whether you're talking about WiFi, 5G, or old switchboards - the fundamental physics has stayed the same.

"There's a big educational opportunity there to demonstrate aspects of physics, electricity and electromagnetism which all apply to our current, modern phones as well.

"It's the same physics that's being utilised in a more miniature or more sophisticated way," he said.

If anyone is interested in getting in contact with Paul or Flan to discuss ideas for the storage or display of telecommunications heritage, they can contact Paul on: 087 6690076, or Flan on: 087 2394095.