Building Ireland

The series concludes with an exploration of Co Mayo's textile industry, which has been subject to success, failure and now rejuvenation. Geographer Susan Hegarty explores the historical role of wool production, architect Orla Murphy looks at how the sector impacted on town planning in Westport, and engineer Tim Joyce investigates developments in woolen mill technology.

Tim Joyce explores the construction of the Boyne Viaduct in Drogheda, which is regarded as one of the finest examples of Victorian industrial engineering. Elsewhere, Orla Murphy explores a 21st century bridge over the river, and Susan Hegarty looks at 8,000 years of human settlement in the area.

Architect Orla Murphy investigates St John’s Cathedral and its gothic revival spire that dominates the skyline and represents the aspirations of 19th century Limerick. Geographer Susan Hegarty discovers the world famous qualities of the local blue limestone and Engineer Tim Joyce explores the city’s relationship with the Shannon.

Geographer Susan Hegarty investigates the mile-long quay wall and fascinating maritime history of Ireland's oldest city that has trade links with every corner of the world. Engineer Tim Joyce discovers the shipbuilding history of Waterford and Architect Orla Murphy explores the streets and building to uncover the history of the city and its people.

Architect Orla Murphy investigates the 19th century banking halls of Dame Street and the impact of personalities and politics on the architecture of the booming finance houses. Engineer Tim Joyce discovers how banking led to the innovative development of the docks and Geographer Susan Hegarty explores the role of bridges in planning the city.

Engineer Tim Joyce investigates how you bore an 800 metre tunnel through Goggins Hill and build a viaduct across Laune valley at the dawn of Ireland's railway age. Architect Orla Murphy explores the relationship of gunpowder with tunnel construction and Geographer Susan Hegarty discovers the markets and industries fuelling the railways.

Engineer Tim Joyce discovers the canal system in Galway and its impact on the shape of the city. Geographer Susan Hegarty explores the caves under Lough Corrib to understand the difficulties in canal construction while Architect Orla Murphy looks at the building of the University in Galway and how it fulfilled the ambitions of the City of the Tribes.

Architect Orla Murphy goes in search of the Roe Distillery which was the world’s biggest producer of Whiskey by the late 19th Century. Geographer Susan Hegarty discovers how a supply of fresh water was crucial for large and small industry in the Liberties, while Engineer Tim Joyce investigates the science and technology for making whiskey.

Geographer Susan Hegarty discovers how an inhospitable but beautiful landscape was exploited as a mass market tourism destination. Engineer Tim Joyce explores the engineering behind Europe’s most westerly railway and Architect Orla Murphy investigates the role of a railway company in developing a world class hotel.

Experts explore Ireland's building and engineering achievements. The third episode explores the scheme that brought Ireland into the electric age - The Shannon Scheme and Ardnacrusha power station. Engineer Tim Joyce fulfills a life-long ambition to get up close and personal with Ardnacrusha power station and to explore the innovative engineering that made it the biggest hydroelectric project in the world when it opened in 1929.

Experts explore examples of Ireland's building and engineering heritage. The second episode details the many shapes and forms Kilkenny Castle has taken over the years. Architect Orla Murphy travels to the medieval city to show us the hidden layers of the castle's history.

Experts explore some of the finest examples of Ireland's building and engineering heritage. The first episode delves into the history of Spike Island, a prime defensive location in the middle of the second largest natural harbour in the world.

In 1922, the new Irish government set about solving Dublin's housing crisis with a revolutionary housing scheme. The Marino Garden Suburb was one of the first schemes in Europe to provide high quality public housing with spacious gardens and parkland. 1500 houses were ultimately built to a range of innovative architectural designs and they are just as desirable today as they were in the 1920s.

Geographer Susan Hegarty discovers how the success of the Shannon Airport Free Trade Zone sparked the building of Ireland’s first new town in 300 years. Emerging as a response to rural decline and de-population in the 1950s, new industrial jobs prompted the construction of a new community on a green field site, built to the latest ideas in urban planning. Shannon Newtown became a multi-cultural oasis in rural Ireland and provided a model of socio-economic development that was exported to places like China and changed the lives of millions.

Engineer Tim Joyce explores a world-class engineering project, a power station hidden deep inside a granite mountain in County Wicklow. On top of the mountain, a man-made reservoir unleashes the power of this innovative pumped hydro-electric scheme built by Irish engineers in the late 1960s. Tim and the team of experts investigate how the reservoir feeds an underground hydro-electric power station – and vice versa. Turlough Hill Power Station was created in an area of environment and touristic sensitivity, in the days before renewable energy systems even entered the vocabulary.

Geographer Susan Hegarty visits one of Ireland’s most remote regions to rediscover the extensive copper mines of Allihies. With our team of experts, she gets unique access to a subterranean world, and explores the scale of industrial activity in a West Cork Valley. At its peak, 1,600 miners dug for copper in the Berehaven Copper Mines on the Beara peninsula. It was the largest copper deposit in Europe at the time and the introduction of steam engine technology increased productivity. The iconic steam engine houses, now in ruins, once serviced a labyrinth of mineshafts below.

Engineer Tim Joyce tells the incredible story of the Transatlantic Telegraph Cable’s arrival in West Kerry and the launch of the so-called “Victorian internet”. Engineer Brian McManus examines the innovative Irish science that rescued the project from disaster, and architect Orla Murphy tours the bespoke Victorian campus that sprang up around the cable station.

Architect Orla Murphy explores Dublin Airport’s first terminal building, a gem of modernist architecture constructed in the late 1930s. This iconic building heralded the birth of Modernist Irish architecture and was the gateway to an era of international air travel for an island nation. Now 80 years old, the terminal building embodies a spirit of innovation and ambition still evident at Dublin Airport.