The ESB is running tours of the Ardnacrusha power station between 1 July and 6 September 2024.
Further details and bookings can be made here.
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Glendasan Mining Heritage
The Wicklow People reports that the mining heritage of Glendasan will be celebrated on 23rd June 2024 at 3pm. All are welcome, but transport to the site from the Brockagh Resource Centre, Laragh will be required to be booked.
Further details in the Wicklow People article.
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Thon Sheugh in Clones
Thejournal.ie reports that Phase 2 of Thon Sheugh, sorry, the Ulster Canal for those of us who are not illiterate, is opening.
From the blurb, you would think that this was something wonderful, describing this as the opening of the canal from Clones to Clonfad.
It is only when you get to the bottom of the article and you read this:
“Phase three of the restoration, when complete, will link phases one and two, and fully reopen the waterway from Clones to Lough Erne.”
that you realise that you, the taxpayer, have been conned.
What has been opened is an elongated, open air swimming pool in Clones. I am looking forward to visiting Clones shortly to count the boats on this new section of Sheugh.
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Keady Tunnel
The infamous Keady Tunnel in Co. Armagh never saw a train run through it, being built under the short lived Keady to Castleblayney railway line (1910-1923).
The reason for its existence was the Ulster and Connaught Light Railway – a madcap scheme to build a narrow gauge railway from Greenore, Co. Louth, to Clifden Co. Galway, via Newry, Bessbrook, Keady, Tynan, Maguiresbridge, Bawnboy Road, Dromod, Rooskey, Tuam and Cong to Clifden.
Some of this network would use existing railways but the most significant section from Dromod to Clifden would be entirely new. As this line was authorised around the same time as the line from Castleblayney to Armagh, the builders of the latter had to accommodate the proposal with a bridge under their line at Keady.
As the U&CLR plans never came to fruition, the tunnel has never had a train run through it.
I have created a webpage in the Gazetteer for Keady Tunnel and this (and other tunnels) will feature in the next map upgrade.
Warrenpoint and Kilkeel Libraries are hosting a photo exhibition “200 Years of Haulbowline Lighthouse” in their respective premises.
The exhibition will be displayed in Warrenpoint Library from Thursday 20 June to Saturday 29 June, and then in Kilkeel Library from Saturday 3 July to Tuesday 9 July.
The exhibition is free and open to all during normal library opening hours.
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The story of Rossmore Mines
The above titled event takes place on 26th June 2024 at 8pm in Oisin House & Park, Rossmore, Co. Laois. The event is free and all are welcome.
Newbridge Local History Group are hosting the above titled talk on Wednesday 12th June 2024 at 20:00 in Newbridge Parish Centre, Newbridge, Co. Kildare.
Presented by Professor Frank Barry, all are welcome.
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Joseph Brennan RIP
For many of my age group and older, Brennans Bread would have been a staple of our diet, Brennans (along with Johnson Mooney and O’Brien) being the primary bread bakeries in the Dublin Area.
Extra.ie (amongst others) reports on the passing of Joseph Brennan, founder of the bakery, aged 82.
The coming of railways to Ireland (and elsewhere globally) was a game changing event, both economically and socially, as the opportunities that the railway brought for economic expansion and social diversification were enormous.
A throwaway line in this property puff piece gives a hint of how the coming of a railway to a local area had an effect at the macro level.
The property in question is a former gate lodge of Rokeby Hall, Grangebellew, Co. Louth. The article notes:
Marlay was the gate lodge to Rokeby Hall, designed by Francis Johnson. It was single storey initially, but they added a floor when the railway came through and the road was raised.
Irish independent 31 May 2024
This got me thinking – why would the arrival of the railway lead to the road being raised?
I checked the usual map sources and this property is immediately west of the railway line between Drogheda and Dundalk with an overbridge carrying the former access road to Rokeby Hall over the railway. This is the road raising referred to.
I would assume that with the road raised, the original single storey property was below the new road level and the gatekeeper would not have a line of sight to the road to control access to the estate. Adding a second storey in this case would make sense.
The only question I have remaining is whether or not Sir John Stephen Robinson, owner of the estate at the time, received additional compensation from the Dublin & Belfast Junction Railway for the cost of extending the gate lodge.
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Guinness Brewery Tramway
I found this video on YouTube which is a concise history of the tramways/railway serving the Guinness Brewery in Dublin.