Site Description
Heuston Station opened in 1846 as the Dublin terminus of the Great Southern and Western Railway being called Kingsbridge after the adjacent King's Bridge (now Sean Heuston Bridge) on the River Liffey. The station was renamed Heuston Station in 1966 after one of the activists in the 1916 Rising who was a Great Southern and Western Railway clerk. Designed by Sancton Wood in a Corinthian style, the station building here is an impressive structure. There are two wings, one on either side of the building proper, each with small towers which were originally intended to have clocks in them. At the top of the building are five panels, containing from left to right, VICT.VIII for the Act of Incorporation of the Great Southern and Western Railway, the coats of arms of Limerick, Dublin and Cork and A.D. 1844 representing the year of the Act of Incorporation. This is the head office of CIE and was previously that of the Great Southern Railway(s) and Great Southern and Western Railway. The station extends along St. John's Road and has an 8-column port cochere fronting onto it, which leads into the ticket office. It is believed that trams ran into the station for a few years after 1926, although this is subject to debate. LUAS now runs in front of it. There are 4 platforms - numbers 2 to 5 - in the train shed which is not part of the station building proper. Platform 1 or the 'Military platform' is on the Down side and historically, was not covered, by the overall roof or otherwise. In more recent times, a canopy has been erected on the platform. On the concourse there is a selection of retail outlets and other facilities. On platform 2, there are four plaques, commemorating Irish patriot and one time Great Southern and Western Railway ticket clerk Sean Heuston, after whom the station was renamed in 1966, a smaller plaque commemorating the latter event, a plaque with the 1916 Declaration of Independence on it and one listing the names of the 97 members of the Great Southern and Western Railway staff who lost their lives in World War 1. In front of the station building is the bus transfer point and Heuston LUAS station on the Point Depot to Tallaght line. On the Up side of the station, outside of the trainshed, there are a further three platforms, numbered 6 to 8. In the 1930s, there were only two platforms within the station proper - with no less than 5 additional carriage sidings. Leaving the station, on the Up side is the car park beyond which is the former goods office. The latter is now used by the Irish Railway Records Society. The former goods area was on this side as well. The building in this area is the new CTC building, which also houses the Dublin City Council traffic control centre. On the same side, there is a carriage wash and carriage shed. Previously, there was a Permanent Way depot on the Down side, which had its own gantry and offices. Until 1965, there was a siding trailing in here, which connected the adjacent Guinness brewery to the mainline network. At the former, it linked with an internal narrow gauge tramway within the brewery, the same locos sufficing for both, thanks to an ingenious outer gauge mechanism, which the narrow gauge locos ran into to enable them to operate on the standard gauge siding along St. John's Road. In the distance, the Royal Hospital at Kilmainham, now a modern art museum, can be seen. Although not visible from the railway, the western entrance gate to this (Richmond Tower) was originally located on one of the approach roads to the quays and in anticipation of increased traffic along the quays upon the arrival of the railway, the Great Southern and Western Railway paid for it to be dismantled and re-erected at its present location.Photographs
Photo Gallery - Heuston Station
Google Street View - Heuston Station
Geograph.ie - Heuston Station (Link checked 28072021)
Geograph.ie - Heuston Station (Link checked 28072021)
Geograph.ie - Heuston Station (Link checked 28072021)
Links
Daily Edge.ie - Heuston Station in Lego (Link checked 28072021)
Irish War Memorials - Heuston Station (Link checked 28072021)
Irish Rail Station Information - Heuston Station (Link checked 28072021)
Chronological Details
| Opened | Closed | Company | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04/08/1846 | 09/04/1966 | GS&WR | Kingsbridge Station | RN Heuston Station |
| 10/04/1966 | / /Open | CIE | Heuston Station |
Geographical Details
| Section Start | Section Finish | Distance | Units | Milepost | Measured from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heuston Station | Cork | 0 | Miles | 0 | Heuston Station |