POULAPHOUCA

'Poulaphouca' (''Poll an Phúca'' in Irish, "The Devil's Hole") is a small village in County Wicklow, Ireland. It is primarily known for its hydroelectric generating station and artificial lake. The once famous Poulaphouca waterfall has little water runnning over it due to the hydroelectric project.
The reservoir at Poulaphouca is a national park and area of wildbird conservation. It was created in 1944 by damming the River Liffey as part of the ESB project to build a second hydroelectric station in Ireland.
A four and a half mile extension to the Dublin and Blessington Steam Tramway was built by the Blessington and Poulaphouca Steam Tramway with its end-of-line terminus at Poulaphouca and opened on May 1 1895.^{[1] [2]} The ticket office still exists and is a private residence located on the eastern side of the Dublin to Baltinglass road that overlooked the Poulaphouca waterfall on the River Liffey before the construction of the dam.

Contents

Trivia

Reference

External links

Trivia

It was also famous for appearing in the Christy Moore song, ''Encore''.
The word Poulaphouca appears in the novel ''Ulysses'' as the sound of a waterfall.

Reference

1. http://www.dublintransport.com/trams.html Dublin transport tram history (retrieved 25 July 2006)
2. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2098-1648324,00.html Sunday Times article (retrieved 25 July 2006)

External links

★ ESB: Hydro Development

★ Irish Independent 2005 article on sale of the Tramway House at Poulaphouca