Harristown Station

Interesting blog on the formation of the GSR in 1924.

The 100th Anniversary of the GSR 12th November 2024, marks an important day in the history of Irish transport. For it was on this day 1924 that the merger of three irish railways to form the Great Southern Railway took place. This was to have major effects on the development of public transport in Ireland to this very day.

A 1918 map showing the railway lines in Kildare

Offical Railway Map of Ireland – Kildare eHistory Journal Offical Railway Map of IrelandJames Durney12 September 2024County Kildare, Industrial Heritage The Official Railway Map of Ireland was prepared and published at the Railway Clearing House (RCH), London, in 1918. The Railway Clearing House was an organisation set up to manage the allocation of revenu...

Enjoyed a tour of the fabulous Tullow Museum this morning, organised by the West Wicklow Historical Society, so many fascinating artifacts on display in a wonderful setting brought to life by so well by our guide. Noteworthy for railway enthusiasts are a model of the station as it looked between 1886 and 1959, the clock that marked time in Tullow station and a sign for the offices of Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford railway which besides the obvious, ran from Wicklow town over to a terminus in nearby Shillelagh. Sadly not much of the line itself is in evidence physically in Tullow today, but the Station Master’s house is still standing. A fine granite overbridge bridge (photo also shown) is on the Tankardstown Road.

I haven't picked up a copy of James Durney's new book, Jailbreak, yet but I believe that there is a writeup of the mass breakout from Newbridge prison overnight on 14/15 October 1922 which the author states involved Harristown station master John Horgan. Horgan was interred on 04 September 1922 shortly after an ambush at Carnalway cross.

The GS&WR's record (attached) states that he was released on 30 October 1922 (was he recaptured, was inaccurate information relayed to the GS&WR clerk in Dublin, or otherwise?) and resumed service on 11 December 1922. While he was away, the signal cabin in Harristown was subjected to an arson attack.

James Durney has done us all a great service in Kildare with his prolific output and I look forward to reading this contribution.

Last reminder - talk on the Sallins-Tullow branch lined in the Imaal Hall in Dunlavin tonight at 7pm, following a memorabilia exhibition which commences at 5pm. Dunlavin was the next stop up the line from Harristown, seven miles south and about fifteen minutes of travel time through fabulous countryside, including crossing the Liffey.

This was a truly excellent Heritage Week talk in Kilcullen last night by Dr Michael O’Connell. The topic was Castlemartin but a model of Harristown castle was also on display before and after the talk - only one small section of the square wall enclosing the Harristown castle gardens and orchards visible in the model still stands today. The models are on display from 2-4 in the Heritage Centre this week.
Castlemartin and Harristown had a curious relationship - on more than one occasion the in-situ Harristown Eustace had come from Castlemartin, most obviously after James Eustace, the third Viscount Baltinglass was attainted and the Harristown seat was forfeited. Ironically and confusingly, Castlemartin was lost over 100 years later after its seat holder Maurice Eustace fought on the wrong side in the Siege of Derry (1689), and it was another related Sir Maurice Eustace of Harristown, nephew of the great (and yet another) Sir Maurice Eustace of Harristown (the latter being Lord Chancellor and Speaker of the House) who unsuccessfully campaigned to have the Castlemartin Eustace lands restored.
Dr Michael has another talk on New Abbey this Thursday night at 8pm at the Heritage Centre in Kilcullen - New Abbey was founded by Roland FitzEustace of Harristown, subject of my previous post.

Talk on Castlemartin fascinates audience A daily updated news website relating to the small but dynamic village of Kilcullen, Co Kildare, IRL.

Please please please look at the immense variety of free events on in your area for Heritage Week which starts today. And don’t forget to come to Dunlavin at 7pm next Sunday 25th for a talk on the line. Where better and more relevant to start my own week than with a superb tour of St Audeon's Church and the old Dublin City walls this morning, it was absolutely fabulous. So rich is its history that the guide didn’t need to mention this Harristown gentleman, Rowland FitzEustace, who has an impressive effigy in the bell tower. He built the Portlester chapel in St Audeon’s in 1485, apparently in gratitude for his life being spared after a shipwreck near the site. Rowland was a leading Pale politician, holding the posts of Lord Treasurer and Lord Chancellor - his influence was clearly great in 1485 as this is the year that (Lancastrian) Henry VII came into power and despite Rowland’s Yorkist sympathies, his appointments were reconfirmed. There is another effigy of Rowland in New Abbey near Kilcullen. He would have residences in numerous places, including Galmorestown/Gormanstown and probably Dublin, but the main seat was of course in the park field in Harristown at the edge of the Pale.

A great program of events in Dunlavin for Heritage Week, with three events featuring the town's railway heritage. On Friday 23rd August there is an informative walk for kids to the old station at 2:30pm, followed by an opportunity for budding Picassos in St Nicholas school to draw pictures inspired by the old railway. On Sunday 25th August there is a memorabilia exhibit at 5pm in the Imaal Hall followed by a talk at 7pm about the line - many thanks to the Dunlavin & District Forum for dreaming up and organising such a great program, and for inviting me to present. A great article also on Dunlavin's Railway by Chris Lawlor in the Heritage Week flyer, very well worth a read!

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62687/

If you are interested in railway genealogy or finding out about your ancestors that worked on the lines in Ireland, the records, which are held in the IRRS archives at Heuston, were digitised last year and went live yesterday on ancestry.co.uk/ancestry.com. If anyone wants help with a search let me know. These records were the main source used in the recent articles in West Wicklow Historical Society and Irish Railway Record Society journal articles on Harristown station.

Have a look at the incredible craftsmanship that went into the construction of the overbridge next to Colbinstown station. The granite-facaded abutments are pretty common on the line - there are two near Harristown - but the arched brickwork under the road here is a stunning piece of our architectural heritage. The engineers, Bailey, Courtney and Stephens (Fleming and Bailey were the main two on the line) have their names inscribed on the outer parapet, both sides.

CONFESSION
Much to my embarrassment in facilitating a page dedicated to a former railway station, I haven’t been on a train in Ireland for quite some time(!) but a snapped rear suspension coil in the car on Sunday has meant that today, AA tows the car from Di**le to Dublin while CIE takes me from Di**le to Tralee to Mallow to Heuston. I am struck again by what a wonderful mode of transport the train is - it cost €33 one-way from Tralee to Dublin and €11 one-way for a bus from Di**le to Tralee - considerably less in total than the cost of fuel for this trip when travelling alone. I’m sure half the return tickets would have been much cheaper.

Ireland looks spectacular at this time of year from the train, especially versus the very limited perspective available in driving on the motorways. I enjoyed looking from the bus window second-guessing the route of the former Di**le-Tralee branch line, and picturing the cuts and embankments, bridges and inclinations that were necessary for this now-defunct line.

From the train, it is a joy to see all the foals, lambs and calves out in the fields in May, the unfolding landscape (not just Killarney but everywhere), the gorse, buttercups, wild garlic blooming, the whitethorn coming into in bloom and Spring energy in all the foliage. And the countless fields where generations toiled and landlords profited, each field and feature at one time probably having a name.

And you can work if you want, there are charging ports.

I am reminded also of the people who were reared in the wonderful station buildings along this route that ended up in Harristown, or who moved onto the ‘main line’ after their time in Harristown - John Phelan from Mountmellick, Richard Maher from Thurles who went on to Kildare town, Matt Courtney who grew up in Buttevant and was the last Harristown Haltkeeper. And more generally the countless railway children that grew up in all of these houses.

What a pity it was to lose our rich railway network - a nice reminder today of Ireland’s beauty in May, its railway heritage and perhaps the onus on all of us to make use of what we have left so it doesn’t also become another generation’s history.

Watch this space for a link to a presentation on Harristown Station and the Sallins-Tullow, being delivered on zoom next Wednesday 09 May 2024 as part of the Irish Railway Record Society’s program. Enclosed a preview slide which features some of the station houses on the line … can you name them ?!

Interesting talk by James Durney in Kilcullen tonight. We may hear about the Harristown station master, John (Seán) Horgan, who was arrested in 1922 and interred - he is mentioned in James’ Stand you now for Ireland’s cause https://www.woodbinebooks.ie/product/stand-you-now-for-irelands-cause-by-james-durney/. Horgan was born in the signalman’s house in Cobh Junction (Glounthaune) and having served his time as porter in various stations including Harristown and Athy, was posted as station master from PallasGreen to Straffan in 1916 - but when the local squires heard of his republican leanings, they used their influence and he was swapped with Michael O’Sullivan who had recently been assigned to Harristown from Killinick Junction in Wexford. See you there!

Talk about Kilcullen activism 1913-1923 A daily updated news website relating to the small but dynamic village of Kilcullen, Co Kildare, IRL.

There is a fine article on the Cott family, two generations of Baltinglass station masters, by Liam Kenny in this edition, now free to download on the WWHS website.

News Item: Journal no. 2 is now available to download on the website, joining Journal no. 1 as a free pdf download.
https://www.westwicklowhistoricalsociety.ie/journals/

STATION MASTERS OF THE SALLINS-TULLOW BRANCH LINE
7. COLBINSTOWN
Is it Kildare, is it Wicklow? Confusingly, the townland of Colbinstown is wholly in Kildare but the railway station is in the townland of Ballylea in Wicklow. The two counties are generally separated in the Colbinstown area by the river Greese. The railway line had said goodbye to County Kildare at the boundary of Grange Beg and Tober Lower north of Dunlavin but reentered Kildare briefly when it crossed the Greese going from Ballyhurtim to Ballintaggart townlands between Dunlavin and Colbinstown. After reentering Wicklow into Ballylea townland, the train stopped at Colbinstown station before continuing south towards Grangecon. For a split second and just south of the railway overbridge by the station, the train reentered Kildare for the last time as a small salient of Colbinstown townland lies to the east of the Greese. I have little doubt that this matters a lot in terms of the county flags flying around Colbinstown during the summer these days (the picture makes sympathies clear!), but I wonder did it matter to the three Dubliners and one each from Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Wexford, Laois and Fermanagh that were station masters at one point. This rural station, closest in character to Harristown (not least as both were beside old Eustace castles), certainly saw its fair share of cultural blending at a time when this was less common in Ireland.
The first station master was Dubliner Richard Cousins, who was supported by a signalman and three porters. Cousins moved to Monasterevin was replaced by Tipperary-born John Tooher, who in turn moved to Farranfore. Next came another Dubliner Christopher Doyle, who enjoyed a salary of 80s. a week, 20s. more than his predecessors and successors. During Doyle's term, the number of porters fell to two in 1902 and one in 1903. Doyle resigned in 1907 and was replaced by Laoisman Matthew Murphy. Murphy was followed by Dubliner William Miller (1911-1919) and Kerry Church of Irelander Michael Sullivan (1919-1922) who was likely relieved to be moved along in November 1922 as rural Colbinstown was particular vulnerable to attack during the civil war. The next station master, James Murphy from New Ross, was in situ when the fine wooden station building was burned down in March 2023. His bad luck continued as, at the tender age of 30, he died in Dublin with tuberculosis in September of 1924, leaving behind a young widow. Murphy was followed by Limerickman Michael Kearney (1924-1932) and then by Baptiste Sheridan from Fermanagh, who remained in Colbinstown for ten years until his retirement in 1942. At this stage, the line's days were numbered and the final stationmaster was Tim Cullinane from Cork. Colbinstown briefly operated a depot after 1947 - it was attended to by haltkeeper M Watson along with John Rouse, who had worked as a porter in Colbinstown since 1932.