The above titled talk will take place in the Strule Arts Centre in Omagh on Thursday 20th November 2025 at 19:00.
Tickets, costing £3.50, can be bought here.
Author: ewan.duffy
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Further site visits
I thought that I had my final trip taking photos/site visits for 2025, but the mild weather today led me north again on a mopping up exercise in Co. Down.
I managed to visit half a dozen sites today that I had previously missed for various reasons and these photos will be added to the site over the next few weeks.
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The Royal Canal
I am acutely aware that the primary focus of this site has been the railway built infrastructure of the island of Ireland, due to the fact that my underlying interest in industrial heritage lies in that area.
Now that I am coming close to completion of the development of the railway aspect of the online gazetteer, it is time to start looking at the canals of Ireland.
I already have extensive coverage of the Ulster Canal and the Lagan Navigation and the next canal I intend to add detail to on the gazetteer is the Royal Canal, primarily because it is the one closest to where I live and therefore the easiest to complete.
As the towpath outside of Dublin can be hit and miss, Winter is not the time to be cycling this and the plan is to work on the back end (map, location links etc) over the next 3 months with a view to adding in photographs in 2026.
However, I have, over the last couple of weekends, cycled from Kilcock to Castleknock along the towpath and photographed the bridges/locks etc. One final bike trip from Castleknock to Dublin city should finish this section.
The plan would then be to do two day trips by train with bike to cover Longford to Mullingar and Mullingar to Kilcock.
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An Illustrated Talk on the Grand Canal
The above titled talk takes place on 28 October 2025 at 20:00 in Suncroft Community Centre, Suncroft, Co. Kildare.
Organised by the Curragh Local History Group, all are welcome.
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Brian J Goggin – in memoriam
It is hard to believe that it is 5 years since Brian J Goggin, chronicler of the canals and navigable waterways of Ireland, passed away.
His loss is noticeable in the absence of anyone stepping into his shoes as he delved into both online and offline resources to ferret out that last bit of detail about the canals and navigable waterways of Ireland that mainstream research overlooked.
RIP Brian – you are missed.
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Clogher Valley Railway – 2
A few weeks ago, I noted that I had visited about half of the CVR route to photograph the remains of the stations/halts on this line that closed in 1941, expressing the view that it would be 2026 before I’d do the other half.
The Indian summer I conditionally tied this to never came, however, opportunity knocked and I spent Sunday and today in Northern Ireland, knocking off a fair few locations from my list of un-visited stations.
Sunday started in Newry where I got to all 5 former station sites in the city itself. I then availed of the NIR £10 Sunday day tracker ticket to travel to Whitehead in Co. Antrim, where there had been two different station locations south of the now disused tunnel.
On my return from Whitehead, I alighted at Lanyon Place station and walked to the site of Central Junction, taking in the restored Belfast Corporation Tramways location case on Linenhall Street en route. After returning to Newry, I drove to Ballygawley in Co. Tyrone, via Glaslough, Co. Monaghan and overnighted there.
Today saw me visit the western end of the CVR (all stops except Maguiresbridge, which I had already covered) as well as Enniskillen (nothing left) and a re-visit to the SL&NCR line from Enniskillen to Collooney, last visited by me in 2009.
This is probably the last trip in 2025 as the short days and autumn/winter weather sets in.
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Kilkenny railway history
The Kilkenny Archaeological Society are holding the above titled event on 15th October 2025 at 20:00 in Rothe House, Kilkenny.
There is an entry charge of €8 for KAS members and €10 for non members.
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That sugar, its shit.
The BBC reports on an innovative bye product of the sewage treatment business undergoing trials in Blackburn in England.
United Utilities is extracting glucose from toilet paper passing through the treatment plant, which they advise could be used as biofuel and other materials.
They also advise that the glucose will not enter the food chain.
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Getting the Light – 8th October 2025
The Old Dundalk Society are hosting the above titled talk on 8th October 2025 at 20:00 in the County Museum in Dundalk, which will explore the fascinating story of how electricity transformed Dundalk and beyond.
Voluntary contributions to the society are welcome at the door.
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Andrews family mausoleum, Comber
Courtesy of a YouTube video, I became aware of the Andrews family mausoleum, located in the grounds of the Church of Ireland in Comber, Co. Down.
The Andrews family feature heavily in Ulster history, with Thomas Andrews (Snr) being Chairman of the Belfast & County Down Railway and father to Thomas Andrews (Jnr), the designer of the Titanic and JM Andrews, a prime minister of Northern Ireland.