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The history beneath your feet: the story of Irish telecoms in 8 toots with pictures.
The manhole and access covers along the streets and footpaths of the towns and cities of #Ireland are not just pieces of essential #infrastructure. They also provide an almost archaeological record of the history of #telecoms [1/8]
The oldest #telecoms manhole covers date from the early decades of the #telephone. This one, just off Waterloo Road in #Dublin 4 carries the initials of the National Telephone Company who ran the telephone service until 1912. [2/8]
This access cover near #Drogheda station is marked “Post Office Telephones” which probably means it dates from #nationalisation in 1912 and 1924. [3/8]
There are still thousands of covers carrying the initials “P&T” for the Department of Post and Telegraphs which operated the State’s #telecoms service for 60 years from 1924 until 1984. [4/8]
There are possibly even more from the days of semi-state #TelecomEireann dating from 1984 to 2000. [5/8]
From the 1990s, a variety of other #telecommunications providers started to lay cables. Many of these companies have been taken over but their names live on beneath our feet. [6/8]
The footpaths also became home to #coaxial and #fibreOptic cables laid by cable television companies like Cablelink and #NTL, ancestors of the network now owned by #VirginMediaIreland [7/8]
@deryckfay I am constantly amazed by how fascinating the supposedly mundane can be... Thanks for this!
@shanti Thank you!