The Kilkenny Archaeological Society are holding the above titled event on 15th October 2025 at 20:00 in Rothe House, Kilkenny.
There is an entry charge of €8 for KAS members and €10 for non members.
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That sugar, its shit.
The BBC reports on an innovative bye product of the sewage treatment business undergoing trials in Blackburn in England.
United Utilities is extracting glucose from toilet paper passing through the treatment plant, which they advise could be used as biofuel and other materials.
They also advise that the glucose will not enter the food chain.
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Getting the Light – 8th October 2025
The Old Dundalk Society are hosting the above titled talk on 8th October 2025 at 20:00 in the County Museum in Dundalk, which will explore the fascinating story of how electricity transformed Dundalk and beyond.
Voluntary contributions to the society are welcome at the door.
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Andrews family mausoleum, Comber
Courtesy of a YouTube video, I became aware of the Andrews family mausoleum, located in the grounds of the Church of Ireland in Comber, Co. Down.
The Andrews family feature heavily in Ulster history, with Thomas Andrews (Snr) being Chairman of the Belfast & County Down Railway and father to Thomas Andrews (Jnr), the designer of the Titanic and JM Andrews, a prime minister of Northern Ireland.
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Stockton & Darlington Railway
Today is the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway in England. Of what relevance is this to Industrial Heritage in Ireland?
None, specifically. However, the S&DR is generally taken to be the first modern era railway in the world. Prior to the S&DR, there were multiple industrial railways, primarily connected with collieries. In addition, there were earlier railways carrying passengers, such as the Swansea and Mumbles Railway in Wales, which carried fare paying passengers as early as 1807, albeit using horse drawn vehicles. There was also the Kilmarnock & Troon Railway in Scotland in operation before 1825.
The S&DR is, however, regarded as the first railway carrying passengers, using steam locomotives, on metal rails, anywhere in the world and as such, it is generally regarded as the first railway.
From this idea, others followed, including the Dublin & Kingstown Railway, opening in 1834.
I could see this one coming a mile away (even if the track it was on is not straight!). Two separate groups in two separate parts of the country calling for the restoration of rail services on lines that have been converted to greenways.
The first in Westmeath with Westmeath County Councillors have called for the railway from Mullingar to Athlone to be re-opened.
That would be the one that is now a greenway.
Similarly in Cork, a group calling themselves the East Cork Rail Alliance are calling for restoration of rail services to Youghal, the line from Midleton to Youghal now also a greenway.
Dear boys and girls, once a greenway, never a railway.
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Clogher Valley Railway
I am happy to announce that I recently visited the Clogher Valley and took photos at the site of the former halts along the first half of the line (from Tynan to Augher exclusive).
The CVR had a small number of traditional stations, with a station building and platforms, but had many more roadside halts in between these along the length of their line. I already had the former on the Gazetteer and have now updated the maps to include the latter between Tynan and Augher exclusive. Individual pages for each of these stopping places have also been created.
Weather intervened to prevent me from getting beyond Augher (I did make it to Augher and had a coffee and cake in the cafe in the former Augher station building). This will likely be a 2026 update for the remainder of the line unless an Indian summer hits Ireland in the next month or so.
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Toome Bridge Kieselguhr Works
I was in Northern Ireland last weekend for Heritage Open Days and one of the locations I visited was Toome Bridge for a guided history tour along the towpath of the Toome Canal.
One of the historical aspects of the town covered by the guide was the processing of kieselguhr in the town (known as diatomite in English). Diatomite is a naturally occurring, soft, siliceous sedimentary rock that can be crumbled into a fine white to off-white powder. When nitroglycerin is absorbed in diatomite, it becomes more stable and can be transported. This was discovered by Alfred Nobel and patented as dynamite.
As I update the gazetteer for the railway stations visited last weekend (Derry Central Railway and the Belfast & Ballymena branch from Drumsough to Magherafelt), I noticed the presence on the historical 6 inch maps online at Toome of “Kieselguhr Works” north of the town.
Britain is currently commemorating 200 years of railways with a series of events having taken place this year, arising out of the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, which will occur on 27th September.
However, this was not the first railway in Britain/globally as many mineral tramways predated this. In addition, there was at least one passenger service that predated the S&DR, which was the Swansea & Mumbles Railway in Wales, also known as the Oystermouth Tramway.
The line was built to primarily carry limestone from Mumbles to Swansea, however, a horse drawn passenger service commenced in March 1807.
The BBC has an article going into the details.
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Open House Dublin 2025
I have compiled a listing of events of an IH nature taking palce under the Open House banner in Dublin in October.