%0 Journal Article
%T Shaping Communications: The Development of the National Telegraph Network in Ireland, 1850-70.
%A Kirwan A
%J Technol Cult
%V 64
%N 4
%D 2023
%M 38588185
%F 0.645
%R 10.1353/tech.2023.a911000
%X Despite Ireland's centrality to transatlantic telegraphic communication and as an integral part of the United Kingdom, telegraphy on the island is often merely a footnote in the scholarship. Yet telegraphy had a significant impact in Ireland, accelerating internal and external communication times. This article provides the first comprehensive study of telegraphy's expansion, from its arrival in Ireland in the 1850s until the eve of nationalization in 1870. It shows how Ireland's geographical position as a telegraphic gateway to North America, the heavy integration of Ireland's economy into Britain after 1853, and the relationship between telegraphy and the rail network shaped Irish telegraphy in unique ways.