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Population centre

Coolkeeragh

Cúil Chaorach

Coolkeeragh’s electricity industry has passed through oil-fired generation, an employee buyout and a major replacement plant.

Watercolour and fine ink historical reconstruction of Coolkeeragh Power Station seen across the River Foyle in 2007, including the three old chimneys.
Historical reconstruction, Coolkeeragh Power Station in 2007, before demolition of the old oil-fired plant.
Recorded locationCoolkeeragh55.03417° N · 7.26485° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
Approximate recorded location · Logainm.ie

The name

cúilcorner, nook

These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.

An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.

Recorded forms

  • Cúil Chaorach · Irish · main form · validated name
  • Coolkeeragh · English · main form

Place & story

An opening recorded on film

A 1960 Gael Linn newsreel recorded the opening of the oil-fired station at Coolkeeragh. Preserved by the Irish Film Institute as edition 75 of Amharc Éireann, the short film documents an early stage in the locality’s development as an electricity-generating centre. [2]

Management and employees take ownership

Coolkeeragh Power’s submission to the Northern Ireland Assembly records that a management and employee buyout acquired the station in April 1992, supported by venture-capital finance. A later restructuring brought ESB International into the business as a 40 per cent shareholder in 1998. The company’s evidence links the replacement-station proposal with efforts to bring natural gas to the north-west. [3]

The replacement plant

ESB’s 2005 annual report records completion of the new 400-megawatt Coolkeeragh plant in March that year, at a cost of £207 million. Angela Smith and Noel Dempsey formally opened it on 22 June 2005. The report also records technical commissioning difficulties during its first year, a reminder that completion and reliable operation were separate stages in the project. [4]

Geographic information

Place type
Population centre
County
Derry
Barony
Tirkeeran
Civil parish
Clondermot
Coordinates
55.03417, -7.26485 (approximate)
Logainm ID
1413313 ↗

Sources & further reading

  1. Logainm.ie — Coolkeeragh. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
  2. Ireland’s First Oil-Fired Power Station — Amharc Éireann 75 (1960) · Gael Linn / Irish Film Institute
  3. Energy Inquiry, Volume Three: Coolkeeragh Power Ltd written submission · Coolkeeragh Power Ltd executive team / Northern Ireland Assembly
  4. ESB Annual Report and Accounts 2005 — Coolkeeragh · Electricity Supply Board
  5. Coolkeeragh Power Station in 2007 illustration: based on a Coolkeeragh Power Station by stuart r hines. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0. Additional reference: Coolkeeragh Power Station by Kenneth Allen, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2011-12-06. How this page was prepared.