The inaugural Birr Engineering Festival will take place on 18th – 20th October 2024.
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Kilmacthomas station building
The Irish Examiner reports that Waterford City and County Council are to convert the former station building at Kilmacthomas on the Waterford – Dungarvan Greenway to tourist accommodation.
The plans (part of a bigger scheme to do likewise with a former bank building in Lismore) will see the station building have 2 units capable of hosting 4 people. A separate unit will also be built to house a model railway based on the former railway line. The ongoing management of the venture will be managed by third parties.
industrialheritageireland.info commends WCCC on these initiatives.
I was up in Belfast today, taking photographs of Yorkgate station building and Great Victoria Street station. The specific reason for an urgent trip to Belfast was the impending demolition of both.
In the case of the latter, Translink are developing a new bus/rail interchange station, to be called “Grand Central Station” and due to the layout of this, Great Victoria Street station (which only reopened in 1995) is to close on 10 May 2024, after which it will be demolished. Its replacement is not due to open until 2025.
Separately, Translink have built a new station building at the renamed Yorkgate Station (now York Street, although the platform signs as of today still said Yorkgate) and the old (1992) building and footbridge are to be demolished on 6 May 2024.
I also took the opportunity to take a photograph of the site of Queen’s Quay station and visit Magheramorne – the latter was the last open station in Ireland that I had never visited, a status it lost today.
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Cornish design engine houses
I found this video on YouTube today, which explains what a Cornish design mine engine house is.
Whilst this uses examples from Cornwall, the man engine house in Allihies, Co. Cork, which was successfully conserved by the Mining Heritage Trust of Ireland, is a Cornish design engine house and is the only example of its kind in Ireland.
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Pierce’s Foundry, Wexford
A talk about the history of Pierce’s Foundry, Wexford, will be hosted by the Wexford Historical Society on 24th April 2024 at 8pm in Clayton White’s Hotel in Wexford.
All are welcome – entry is free to Wexford Historical Society members, with an entrance fee of €5 for non-members.
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Castlecomer Railway
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Limerick’s first car registrations
Of what relevance to IH is car registrations, in Limerick or anywhere?
There is no direct relevance, however, as newfangled and expensive inventions, the first motor cars were, unsurprisingly, owned by people with money and familiarity with machinery.
Per this Limerick Post article, in Limerick, this happened to be members of the Goodbody family, the Quakers from Clara of milling fame. Another early entry on the list of Limerick motor registrations was Cleeve’s Condensed Milk Factory in Limerick.
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The Killala Branch
This is a link to a brief history of the railway from Ballina to Killala.
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William Hogg RIP
It is with regret that I post to note the passing of William Hogg, author of Millers & the Mills of Ireland of about 1850 and other works and leading light in the Mills and Millers of Ireland society.
At first glance, this news article, flagging a planning permission notice looks interesting. Upon digging deeper, it just becomes confusing.
The planning permission notice is No. 2450084 in Donegal Co. Council. What is being sought is, in fact, retention permission – i.e., the work is already done.
The permission notice suggests that the land on either side of the original railway line has been lowered, bringing the line’s route back to being on an embankment and the land owner is seeking permission to retain this arrangement.