Category: History

I was looking at the historical OS maps online just now as the maps produced for the SL&NCR greenway consultation erroneously showed the SL&NCR taking a route from Collooney to Sligo that it didn’t (the map producers seem to have mistaken internal estate trackways for a railway trackbed). Anyway, that is not the subject of this post.

Collooney had an interesting set of junctions between MGWR (Dublin to Sligo), SL&NCR (Enniskillen – Collooney – Carrignagat Junction) and WL&WR/GS&WR (Claremorris to Collooney to Collooney Junction).

Looking at the 25″ OS map online, this shows a distinct railway trackbed like curve running from the GS&WR/SL&NCR link (the Southern siding) to the SL&NCR line from their Collooney Station to Carrignagat Junction which, if it had been completed, would effectively duplicate the line from the GS&WR Collooney line to Collooney Junction albeit some 400 feet to the east (see diagram below):

This would have been an interesting alternative to the GS&WR/MGWR connection – if it had been built, the SL&NCR would have received a cut of all traffic to/from Sligo that passed over the GS&WR line. This would have been an economic bonus for the latter, which was never very prosperous. As it so happens, this line did not come into existence and the closed but in situ connection from Collooney South station (GS&WR) to Collooney Junction (MGWR) happened instead.

Unfortunately it is not possible to link to the Geohive website – however, anyone interested in seeing this for themselves can go to www.geohive.ie, select Map Viewer an on the top right, select the option for “Zoom to Coordinate”. Enter the Easting as “567780” and the northing as “826994”. You will need to change the Basemap Gallery (top left) to “Map Genie 25 inch” and zoom out a bit.

The BBC have a video article about mines in Northern Ireland.

RTE has an article entitled “Enemy lines: the conflict on Irish Railways 1922-23” on their site, looking at aspects of Ireland’s railways 100 years ago.

A worthwhile read, I did notice an error in photograph selection, with RTE publishing a stock photo from SSPL/Getty Images, which they claim is of a Great Southern & Western Railway locomotive at Inchicore Works in Dublin.

I will be the first to admit that I have little to no interest in trains (including locomotives) and I know nothing about what type of locomotive this is or anything about it.

However, I did note that the initials on the side of the locomotive are:

“G&SWR” and not “GS&WR”.

A small difference, but significant in ruling this out as an Irish locomotive and also determining that the photo is not Inchicore.

There was a British railway company – the Glasgow & South Western Railway – the initials of which were “G&SWR”.

In 1862, the Dublin & Meath Railway opened their line from Clonsilla, Co. Dublin to Navan, Co. Meath – their station in the latter being located to the south of the railway from Navan to Oldcastle, which was a separate company.

At the Dublin end of the line (Clonsilla), the company had their own locomotive shed, located in the apex of their line and the MGWR mainline to Galway/Sligo.

This building was later converted for use as accommodation for railway staff, but has been derelict for decades and overgrown with plant life.

When out volunteer litter picking on the Royal Canal today, I noticed that the side of the building facing the modern era M3 Parkway branch has been cleared of vegetation, exposing it to public view once more.

I hope that this is not a prelude to demolition of the building.

RTE have an interesting video clip about a 1977 robbery of mail vans in Sligo whilst leaving Sligo train station. One of the vans was crashed into a mine adit in Arigna and the contents searched for valuables outside the mine.

Another of the buildings featured in RTE’s 100 Buildings series is worth linking to – Derrinlough Briquette Factory in Co. Offaly.

The BBC have an article on their website in connection with the historic production of poitin on the Inishowen Peninsula.