Categories
IH News 2023 Locations

9th Lock House, Grand Canal, Dublin

The former lockkeeper’s house at the 9th Lock on the Grand Canal in Dublin is for sale by Waterways Ireland (must be in need of some money for Thon Sheugh).

The fact that there is only an aerial photo of the site suggests that the interior is appalling and, in fact, the sales blurb declares the property to be “in need of a full renovation”. However, as the building is a protected structure, this will complicate any such renovation.

Categories
History

How many railway stations?

As I continue to update the Gazetteer, the question came to mind – which county had the most railway stations (current and former) and which had the least.

The county with the most stations (current and former) is Antrim at 128 and the least number of stations fell to Longford, with only 4. The full list is below:

CountyStations
Antrim128
Cork124
Donegal101
Dublin96
Down83
Kerry59
Derry52
Tyrone40
Armagh37
Meath32
Clare31
Wexford30
Limerick29
Wicklow29
Tipperary28
Galway25
Leitrim24
Mayo23
Fermanagh22
Kilkenny22
Louth22
Kildare21
Cavan17
Roscommon17
Monaghan16
Sligo15
Waterford15
Westmeath15
Offaly12
Carlow8
Laois8
Longford4
Categories
IH News 2023

Own goal

Irish Rail regularly warn about the impact that bridge strikes have on their network.

Today, the CIE Group went for an own goal, when a railway overbridge in Cork (on the Dublin – Cork line) was hit by a Bus Eireann bus.

One wonders how CIE, which is allowed to self insure*, will handle any costs associated with this.

* It is my belief that this provision of the Road Traffic Act is unconstitutional as the State is allowing one public transport operator to self insure and not others, thereby showing favourtism. Constitutionally, the State is not permitted to favour itself and must favour all equally or not at all.

Categories
IH News 2023

Flax spinning crowd funder

H/T to Newry.ie for this story.

Mourne Textiles, based in Rostrevor, Co. Down, has launched a crowd funding campaign to “restore vintage flax processing and spinning equipment, to create a sustainable circular supply chain in Ireland.”

Further details of their plans and a link to the crowd funding page can be found here. The closing date for the crowd funding campaign is 30th June 2023.

Categories
Overseas

Austrian Railways Insurance Company

I have just returned from a trip to Genoa (Italy) and Vienna (Austria). In the latter, I spotted this building on my travels.

Austrian Railways Insurance Company
Austrian Railways Insurance Company building. Copyright Ewan Duffy 2023

Google translates the wording at the top of the building as “Insurance of the Austrian railways”.

Categories
Site Updates

Gazetteer new feature

I have started the process of changing the site information on the gazetteer pages, by removing the reference to the OS 1:50000 maps and adding in a latitude/longitude reference in its place. When traveling the country to photograph features, the latter is more useful for use in the likes of Google Maps.

So far, the two Kilcock stations are the only pages to be so updated – the rest of the open stations on the island of Ireland will follow shortly, with closed stations to follow after this.

Categories
Events

Mid and East Antrim Industrial Heritage

Per the Newsletter, there is a week of IH events coming up from 4th – 10th June in Mid and East Antrim.

Categories
IH News 2023

Newmills Corn and flax mill, Co. Donegal

H/T to the DonegalDaily website for news that the OPW owned Newmills Corn and Flax Mill is to reopen for visitors for the summer period from 1st June to 30th September. The complex will be open 6 days/week (closed on Mondays).

Categories
IH News 2023

Dunleer Station, Co. Louth

The Dundalk Democrat reports on local lobbying to have Dunleer Station on the Dublin – Belfast line re-opened.

That would be Dunleer station that was closed by CIE without the requisite notice required by law being given.

Categories
General

Senior Manager in Irish Rail in Ukraine

Every so often, something so bizarre comes along that even I take a deep breath.

So it was when I read in the Irish Independent that Irish Rail’s pugnacious PR manager, Barry Kenny, is currently working as a volunteer preparing food for soldiers on the Ukrainian frontline.

Here we have a senior manager in an Irish State Owned Enterprise actively assisting in a war effort against a nuclear power. Someone needs to explain to Barry that Ireland is a neutral State and what that means, in simple English.

One wonders how many Irish Rail employees are volunteering in Syria or Yemen against USA initiated/backed aggression or is State aggression OK if Uncle Sam carries it out?

For the sake of argument, if the war between Russia/Ukraine were to escalate from a proxy war with the West into an actual hot war, how would it look that a senior manager in an Irish State Owned Enterprise was actively assisting in a war effort against a nuclear power?

Let us not forget that during World War 2, when the Free State was neutral, the creamery at Campile in Co. Wexford was bombed by the Nazis, allegedly a “mistake”, however, in all reality, an attack on a food supply for Britain.