Many media outlets (including the DonegalDaily.com site) have reported that Sir Gerry Robinson has passed away.
Sir Gerry was a businessman and TV presenter as well as a well known railway enthusiast. To this extent, he built a narrow gauge railway in the grounds of his residence (Oakfield Park) in Co. Donegal, which is open to the public.
Industrialheritageireland.info has moved.
No longer living in beautiful Ballyfermot, I am now residing in Kilcock.
The BBC has a video article about the revival of glass production in Co. Tyrone.
Per RTE, the original footbridge which inspired A. A. Milne to include the concept of Poohsticks in his Winnie the Pooh books, is up for sale by auction.
The bridge was located in Ashdown Forest in East Sussex and was dismantled and put in storage, due to having been worn down by visitors, with a replacement bridge installed.
The auction takes place on October 5th with an expected sale price of £40-60k.
It is not often that I comment about trains on this site, not having an interest in them per se.
However, some train news is worthy of publicity and this includes this post on the County Donegal Railway Museum’s site that the former CDRJC steam engine Drumboe is being returned to Donegal Town on Saturday 9th October 2021.
I reported previously about Pelletstown Station opening, which took place today.
RTE reported on it, as part of an overall article about the Metro for Dublin being delayed (again!). They included the following line, which they attributed to Jim Meade, CEO of Irish Rail:
“Iarnród Éireann CEO Jim Meade said it is hoped that the station will be electrified for future DART use.”
I genuinely hope he did not state this as it would show a fundamental lack of understanding of how railway electrification on a line, using overhead line electrification, works.
The Irish Independent has a nice video feature about The Tin Church in Laragh, Co. Monaghan (roughly halfway between Carrickmacross and Castleblayney) and its saving by the local community.
The IH link is that the church was built by a local mill owner, allegedly as a declaration of love.
Castleward, Co. Down, is a country house and estate under the ownership of the National Trust. There are a few industrial heritage features on the estate, including a mill and sawmill as well as a harbour.
Added to this, the NT have restored an ornamental canal which was used to provide water to the mill.
The CorkBeo website reports that former mill workers housing associated with the erstwhile Sunbeam Wosley operation in Cork, are to be restored for use as social housing, in preference to their demolition.
Finally, something other than railways, but it is still about greenways, which appear to be the new thing for local authorities all over the Republic of Ireland.
The Irish Times reports that Dublin City Council are to seek Part 8 planning permission to widen the towpaths of sections of the Royal Canal in their administrative area.
Public consultation on this is supposed to be available but I cannot see any reference to it on Dublin City Council’s website, nor on Waterways Ireland’s.
Per the Irish Times, the sections to be widened (which means narrowing of the canal) are:
600m west of Lock 6, 345m west of Broomebridge and 85m west of Lock 8.