Categories
Locations

The Round House, Lanesborough

Nothing to do with railways (there were very few round houses in Ireland – I have only identified 6 in the history of railways in Ireland) but a house built by Bord na Mona in its housing complex in Lanesborough, Co. Roscommon.

The house has been on the market since 2018 (it would appear to be an executor sale as I also found a death notice from 2018 stating that the deceased was “formerly of The Round House, Lanesboro”) and was on the market then at €117k.

I became aware of the property’s IH connection last year (in fact, if it wasn’t for COVID and the inability to travel, I may have put in an offer) when it was advertised as for sale at €120k. In the last few weeks, the asking price has now increased to €125k.

Normally, if a property hasn’t sold in 3 years, it is because the price is too high, in which case, the thing to do is reduce the price, not increase it.

Categories
Events

Donegal Railway Talk

The CDRRL are hosting another online talk – this time a history of the three railways in Donegal and a behind the scenes tour of the railway museum in Donegal Town.

It can be viewed on YouTube at 19:00 on Easter Sunday (4th April 2021).

Categories
IH News 2021

No DART for Ballyfermot

Initial plans for extending the DART to Hazelhatch and Celbridge are being prepared. Early drafts of this plan included a station on the Kylemore Road in Ballyfermot but, according to the Dublin Inquirer, this will not now happen.*

With trains terminating in Heuston Station, a station at Kylemore Road probably does not make sense, however, with DART running through the Phoenix Park Tunnel to Grand Canal Dock or even a new Spencer Dock station beside the existing LUAS station of that name, this would work as part of an overall network.

I will declare an interest here – I live on the Kylemore Road – about 500m from the bridge over the railway. A DART station on my doorstep would work wonders for property values.

However, I am currently considering moving home – likely to be to somewhere along the Maynooth Line in advance of the price rises that will follow commencement of DART construction work on that line.

* Ever conscious of the date, the Dublin Inquirer article is dated 31st March 2021.

Categories
Greenways IH News 2021

Another greenway you cannot use

Now 1 year into the “new normal” of ‘flatten the curve’, our benevolent overlords are spaffing more money on projects that the majority of the population cannot use as Ireland continues to be an open air prison.

This time, the regime has announced the Royal Canal Greenway from Maynooth, Co. Kildare to Clondara in Co. Longford. Interestingly, as the majority of tax revenue is generated in Dublin, the people of Dublin are paying for this project but will not benefit from it as it is more than 5km away from Dublin.

Categories
General

Tackling Northern Ireland’s Infrastructure Apartheid

The Slugger O’Toole blog has a two part series covering the infrastructure apartheid in Northern Ireland (basically a Protestant State for a Protestant people concentrating resources east of the River Bann) which is worth reading.

Part 1

Part 2

Categories
IH News 2021

A lesser known railway in Ireland

YouTube directed me to this video of a rather ingenious individual living in the West of Ireland, who has started building his own farmyard railway on his property!

There is a second video on his channel showing the process of making fishplates for the track (these are used to join two sections of rail together) and a set of points!

Categories
Events

Last years of the Lough Swilly Railway

CDRRL are hosting the above titled talk on Friday 19th March at 19:00. The talk will be livestreamed on both Facebook and Youtube – further details of the talk and links to both Facebook and Youtube can be found on the Donegal Daily website.

Categories
IH News 2021 Locations

Station House, Monaghan

Just a link to the website for a new co-working hub located in Monaghan Town, in the former railway station.

Categories
Events

Industrial Heritage in Europe

H/T to Ron Cox of the IHAI for details of this Zoom webinar – Europa Nostra UK are hosting an online webinar on the subject of Industrial Heritage in Europe, which will look at a selection of industrial and engineering sites throughout Europe.

The event takes place on 17th March from 15:00 to 16:00. Registration is required (free) – the link to do so is on the webpage linked above.

Categories
IH News 2021

RTE Home of the Year

Another entry in the RTE Home of the Year with an IH connection (one of the railway stations on the Shillelagh Branch in Co. Wicklow featured a few years ago).

This time, it is a former mill in Co. Down which has been converted to a private residence.

Whilst I understand the privacy concerns of the producers/entrants, I’d have thought that the whole point of converting an historic building is that you let it be known where it is (something more specific than “Co. Down”).

The same applied to the railway station entry referenced above, however, as all railway stations known to have existed are well documented, I was able to identify which station it was. This is less so in the case of mill buildings.