Author: ewan.duffy

There is an ex SL&NCR crossing cottage for sale on Daft.ie – however, the absence of internal photos of any property on a property website is usually indicative of a property needing extensive internal work.

In addition, I expect a fall in property values in the next 12 months so even at an asking price of €65k, I’m not interested.

Separately, the potted history provided by the seller/agent appears to be lifted from the blurb about the previous sale of Glenfarne Station last year, which contained errors that I pointed out to the estate agent at the time.

Another concern I would have, based on the site boundary, it that most of your garden is the railway trackbed, which will potentially be subject to compulsory purchase order for a greenway, leaving you with no garden and possibly nowhere to install a septic tank. The sales blurb states the following:

“The cottage would benefit from some renovation and modernisation and is serviced by Water and electricity.”

Nothing about a septic tank, which I suspect is not present.

The BBC are reporting that a windmill in Saintfield, Co. Down, that was damaged in a storm over 200 years ago, is to be restored, along with the creation of a park. Per the BBC, the project “will also restore a section of the old Belfast and County Down railway line.”

I suspect the latter will be as a greenway, rather than as a railway.

Every so often, the MSM provides information you were unaware of and so it is with this story.

I was aware that there had been a siding for grain off the former Portlaoise to Kilkenny line, with the result that a section of the latter was retained/reinstated, however, I assumed that with Irish Rail having a tendency to remove redundant railway sections, rather than maintain them, that this was gone.

From the photo at the above link, this is clearly not so.

Glenanne Mill in Co. Armagh, long since derelict, has been transformed into a community garden by local residents.

The BBC have a video clip on their website about the site.

RTE reports that Irish Rail are proposing to apply for planning permission to build a passing loop and second platform at Oranmore station, to divide the otherwise single track section from Athenry to Galway.

The Government of Ireland website notes that recently opened parcels of salved documents from the 1922 Four Courts fire were discovered to relate to Dublin Port and the latter is now co-funding their restoration.

This is merely one arm of the State paying for work that should have been done decades ago by the State and leads onto the obvious question – how many other unopened parcels of similar 1922 fire survivors exist unrestored?