Storm Éowyn’s Far-Reaching Impact: A Cautionary Tale

Where the Shannon River meets Lough Ree, a silent sentinel stands: the Lough Ree power station, overseeing the towns of Lanesborough and Ballyleague. Several miles northwest of Ballyleague, in the Roscommon townland of Gortgallon, a stark reminder of the storm’s fury lingers. Here, four houses remain mired in darkness since Storm Éowyn struck on January 24th, 2025.

The McCormack Family’s Struggle

In one of the four homes, a bungalow, lives Pat McCormack, a retired postman, aged 74, and his wife, Rita. Since the storm, they, along with thousands throughout the country, have been without power.

Their water supply, reliant on electricity, forced them to depend on bottled water from Lanesborough.communications also took a hit. “We were without phones for the first four or five days,” Pat shared.

Thankfully, they managed with a gas hob for boiling water and a kitchen stove. Their son, Alan, pitched in with a generator. Despite these measures, cooking was largely out of the question. “We’ve been eating sandwiches mostly,” Pat said. “Sometimes, I go into Adie’s pub for dinners and bring them home.”

Pat, a sufferer of COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), found the night the most challenging. “Getting up at night with just a flashlight wasn’t ideal. One night, I knocked over the lamp under the bed and couldn’t find it,” he recounted.

The Neighbor’s Perspective

Next door lived Fintan, Pat’s son, in his grandmother’s 150-year-old house. The cold forced him to stay with his parents during the storm.

A short distance away lived Maura McCormack, 76, wife of Brian, a former power station worker with nearly four decades of service. “Wires have been down in my garden since the storm,” she stated. “My house feels like an iceberg—freezing cold.”

Maura coped by putting on extra clothing and relying on Pat’s generator to warm water bottles. “Pat has the generator, so I fill a hot water bottle or two,” she explained.

The Widespread Devastation

Across the Shannon in Rathcline, and in East Galway’s Newbridge, extensive damage to trees and forestry bears witness to the storm’s wrath.

Video drone footage from Newbridge illustrates vast tracts of forest laid flat, as if by a tsunami.

Christy Carty, a pensioner and farmer from the area, witnessed the destruction. “If you go back two or three miles out of the village, you can see all the damage—trees down on top of wires,” Christy said.

The national tree crop in Coillte, a semi-state body responsible for forestry, suffered significantly. According to Coillte, “there will be very significant costs running into millions of euro, covering everything from emergency clearance to replanting.” Social and environmental impacts loom large as well.

A Beacon of Hope

Back in Lanesborough and Ballyleague, whose names mean “the mouth of the ford of flagstones or stepping stones,” a small but meaningful step in recovery was taking place.