Category: Locations

I can honestly state that I have not watched any of this series, but am aware that sections of the series were filmed in Northern Ireland.

Whilst geo-referencing railway stations for my gazetteer, I noticed that Gracehill Station on the Ballymoney to Ballycastle railway is immediately adjacent to the Dark Hedges of Game of Thrones fame.

I took my first holiday in over 2 years over the weekend with a 4 day trip to Northern Ireland. Starting in Derry, I ended up in Belfast where I spent my final 2 nights in the Titanic Hotel. The Titanic Hotel is built in the former Harland and Wolff office building and the upmarket status it claims is deserved.

In 2007, the IHAI went on a fieldtrip to Belfast and tour participants were privileged to be given access to the site where the Titanic Museum is now, as well as the semi derelict H&W offices. It was nice to be able to see the final product of the latter’s restoration and I wish this venture every success.

The original station building in Portrush, Co. Antrim, is an impressive structure dating from 1892. No longer in railway use (a status it lost in 1974), it has seen various non railway uses since, including as an amusement arcade and a pub/nightclub.

I was in Portrush today and noticed that the building is now occupied by a factory store. I took the opportunity to get inside the building, something I had never had the chance to do previously.

Cáca Milis is an Irish language short film which, I have been reliably informed, was imposed onto Irish teenagers as part of the Leaving Cert Irish syllabus sometime after its production.*

It is available on Youtube – the plotline is quite disturbing and can be read here.

The relevance to this website is that almost the entire film takes place on a train in Ireland. Whilst searching online for this film, I found a website – the British Railway Movie Database – which notes movies which feature British and Irish railway stations.

Their page for Cáca Milis included some screenshots of the stations featured, but noted that they did not have information as to where the stations were.

I was able to identify the unidentified locations and this information has now been updated by the site owner, with acknowledgement of my contribution.

* I am sorry to have to show my age by noting that I did my Leaving Cert before this film was produced and therefore missed having it imposed onto me.

I am going through my old photos and came across one of the former loco shed and water tower at Athboy, Co. Meath, taken in 2000:

The site has since been adaptively reused as housing – see Google Street view below:

I only recently found out about this, notwithstanding that I live only a couple of miles away (always the way that you don’t visit something on your doorstep).

In the People’s Garden section of the Phoenix Park (south east corner of the park), there is a memorial bust to 1916 volunteer Sean Heuston, after whom, Heuston Station is named.

I was out and about today to get a photo of the site of Straffan Station for the Gazetteer. Whilst the station has long since disappeared, when driving by the former station road entrance, I noticed a railway cottage remaining that I had never spotted before:

I can’t show the photo I took as my camera has since died and I don’t have a memory card reader.