The Great Southern and Western Railway (GS&WR) was an
Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland from 1844 until 1924. The GS&WR grew by building lines and making a series of takeovers, until in the late 19th and early 20th centuries it was the largest of Ireland's "Big Four" railway networks. At its peak the GS&WR had an network, of which were double track.
![Great Southern and Western Railway - 1902 British Isles routemap - Project Gutenberg eText 19329](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Great_Southern_and_Western_Railway_-_1902_British_Isles_routemap_-_Project_Gutenberg_eText_19329.jpg)
The core of the GS&WR was the
Dublin Kingsbridge – main line; Ireland's "Premier Line", and still one of her most important main line railways. The company's headquarters were at Kingsbridge station. At its greatest extent the GS&WR included, in addition to the Dublin – Cork main line, the Dublin – and – Waterford lines and numerous branch lines.
Origins
There had been earlier attempts to set up main line railways to the south of Ireland but the 1840s efforts of Peter Purcell, a wealthy landowner and mail coach operator, and his associates were ultimately to prove successful with the implementation of a bill passed on 6 August 1844 for the GS&WR. Purcell was actively assisted by engineer
John Benjamin MacNeill
Sir John Benjamin Macneill FRS (1793 – 2 March 1880) was an eminent Irish civil engineer of the 19th century, closely associated with Thomas Telford. His most notable projects were railway schemes in Ireland.
Life
He was born in Mountpleasant ...
who had done surveys for the
London and Birmingham Railway
The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom, in operation from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR).
The railway line which the company opened in 1838, betw ...
and had connections in London. The GS&WR's vision to provide a single railway for most of the south of Ireland found favour with United Kingdom Prime Minister
Robert Peel as having likely more profitably for wealthy investors and because a single company would be easier to control; these factors likely easing the passing of relevant legislation.
Network
Dublin – Cork Main Line
William Dargan
William Dargan (28 February 1799 – 7 February 1867) was arguably the most important Irish engineer of the 19th century and certainly the most important figure in railway construction. Dargan designed and built Ireland's first railway lin ...
, Ireland's foremost railway contractor, built much of the GS&WR's main line and a number of its other routes.
The directors chose to begin by construction of the stretch of the Dublin – Cork main line as far as Cherryville Junction just west of and the branch to with contracts shared between McCormack and Dargan. Work began in January 1845 with services commencing on 4 August 1846. Trains were scheduled to take about 2hr 35min for the stretch to Carlow and coach connections were arranged to Kilkenny, Clonmel, Waterford and the evening mail coach for Cork.
In July 1848 the main line reached , where it met the
Waterford and Limerick Railway
The Waterford, Limerick and Western Railway (WL&WR), formerly the Waterford and Limerick Railway up to 1896, was at the time it was amalgamated with the Great Southern and Western Railway in 1901 the fourth largest railway in Ireland, with a mai ...
and thus linked Dublin and by rail.
In October 1849 the main line reached the outskirts of Cork, where the GS&WR opened a temporary terminus at Blackpool. The final of line from Blackpool to the centre of Cork includes a tunnel and was not completed for another six years. Services through the tunnel began in December 1855, running to and from a second temporary terminus beside the
River Lee
The River Lee (Irish: ''An Laoi'') is a river in Ireland. It rises in the Shehy Mountains on the western border of County Cork and flows eastwards through Cork, where it splits in two for a short distance, creating an island on which Cork's ...
. Finally the present terminus in Glanmire Road opened in July 1856.
Expansion and competition
![Great Southern and Western Railway Corridor Train](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Great_Southern_and_Western_Railway_Corridor_Train.jpg)
The
Irish South Eastern Railway opened between the GS&WR station at Carlow and in 1848 and reached Lavistown in 1850. From the outset the ISE was worked by the GS&WR. The
Waterford and Kilkenny Railway
Waterford and Kilkenny Railway incorporated 21 July 1845.
The aim was to create a series of railways which would connect Waterford, Cork, Dublin and Galway. The creation of such links was considered a good investment for the stock market but al ...
had already reached Lavistown, and thus completion of the ISE enabled GS&WR services to reach . The W&KR reached in September 1854 but its relations with the GS&WR were poor, which impeded traffic between Dublin and Waterford by this route. In 1877 the W&KR took over the
Central Ireland Railway
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
and became the Waterford and Central Ireland Railway. The GS&WR took over the W&CIR in 1900, thus belatedly bringing the rail route between Dublin and Waterford under the control and operation of a single company.
The GS&WR competed with the
Midland Great Western Railway
The Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) was the third largest Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland. It was incorporated in 1845 and absorbed into the Great Southern Railways in 1924. At its peak the MGWR had a network of , making it Irelan ...
for many years. Both ran services between Dublin and the west of Ireland: the GS&WR running southwest to Limerick, Cork and Waterford, and the MGWR running west to ,
Westport, , and . The GS&WR also had designs on rail traffic to the west of Ireland. In 1859 the GS&WR opened a branch line from the Dublin – Cork main line to where it connected with the MGWR's Dublin – Galway main line. In the latter half of the 20th century
Córas Iompair Éireann made this GS&WR branch part of its Dublin – Galway main line.
Waterford, Limerick and Western Railway
In 1901 the GS&WR bought the
Waterford, Limerick and Western Railway
The Waterford, Limerick and Western Railway (WL&WR), formerly the Waterford and Limerick Railway up to 1896, was at the time it was amalgamated with the Great Southern and Western Railway in 1901 the fourth largest railway in Ireland, with a mai ...
, which gave it both the Waterford – Limerick – Athenry – Claremorris – Collooney cross-country route and the
North Kerry Line
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography.
Etymology
T ...
and branches. The WLWR, recently dubbed the
Western Rail Corridor
The Western Railway Corridor is a term, used since , for a partly disused railway line running through the west of Ireland. Currently two sections of the line, from Limerick via Ennis to Athenry and from Collooney to Sligo, see regular services ...
, crossed MGWR territory. It complemented the radial MGWR lines from Dublin, enabling Limerick – Galway and Galway – Sligo traffic, and linked intermediate destinations in the west of Ireland. For a very short time the MGWR exercised
running powers
Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies.
Operating
Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may co ...
over the Athenry – Limerick section of this route.
North Wall extension
![Dublin RJD 121 (cropped) for GSWR](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Dublin_RJD_121_%28cropped%29_for_GSWR.jpg)
The line was opened in 1877 to resolve limitations with the GS&WR neither having rail access convenient to the cattle market at
Cabra nor to the docks at
North Wall where there was a requirement for goods, cattle and passenger services. The
London and North Western Railway (LNWR) was supportive of the venture as was the rival
Midland Great Western Railway
The Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) was the third largest Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland. It was incorporated in 1845 and absorbed into the Great Southern Railways in 1924. At its peak the MGWR had a network of , making it Irelan ...
(MGWR) who were to receive tolls for part of the route.
The branch opened on 2 September 1877 diverging from the main GS&WR line at Islandbridge Junction before tunneling under Phoenix Park to Cabra where cattle sidings and pens were constructed. After passing under the MGWR line to and the MGWR's Liffey Branch to North Wall the route curved back to join the MGWR at Glasnevin Junction. Joint running rights were obtained over the MGWR route until Church Road junction in the North Wall complex, after which the route diverged to the GS&WR's new cattle pens and sidings. Link spurs were available at Newcomen Bridge to
Amiens Street station and to the LNWR station at North Wall for passenger ships to Great Britain.
Drumcondra link line
1891 had seen the connection to the
Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway
The Dublin and South Eastern Railway (DSER), often referred to as the Slow and Easy, was an Irish gauge () railway in Ireland from 1846 to 1925. It carried 4,626,226 passengers in 1911. It was the fourth largest railway operation in Ireland oper ...
(DW&WR) following the opening of the Dublin loop line from
Westland Row
Westland Row is a street on the Southside of Dublin, Ireland.
Location
The street runs along the east end of Trinity College Dublin.
History
Westland Row first appears on maps in 1776. It was originally known as Westlands after Willi ...
with additional traffic to the Liffey branch line. The GS&WR eventually moved on an opportunity to open an alternative route line from at what was to be known as Drumcondra junction which diverged just before the junction to the MGWR at Glasnevin. The route ran to the north of
Croke Park then rejoined the MGWR just before Church Road junction in the North wall complex allowing the same access at North Wall for GS&WR services. Opening on 1 April 1901 it avoided the MGWR's Liffey branch tolls. A spur from the Drumcondra link line to the DW&WR at Amiens Street was finally realised on 1 December 1906.
GS&WR hotels
In an effort to encourage tourism the
Killarney Junction Railway
Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Cast ...
, which was operated by the GS&WR, opened a hotel next to station. This was in 1854, which made it the first railway-owned hotel in Ireland and one of the first of its kind in the World. In the following years the GS&WR established further hotels in
County Kerry
County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...
at
Caragh Lake
Caragh Lake ( ga, Loch Cárthaí), also Lough Caragh, is a lake in the Reeks District in County Kerry, Ireland. The lake was formed by the damming of the Caragh River.
Caragh Lake railway station was on the Great Southern and Western Railwa ...
,
Kenmare
Kenmare () is a small town in the south of County Kerry, Ireland. The name Kenmare is the anglicised form of ''Ceann Mara'', meaning "head of the sea", referring to the head of Kenmare Bay.
Location
Kenmare is located at the head of Kenmare Ba ...
,
Parknasilla (about 3/4 of a mile to the southeast of
Sneem
Sneem () is a village situated on the Iveragh Peninsula (part of the Ring of Kerry), in County Kerry, in the southwest of Ireland. It lies on the estuary of the River Sneem. National route N70 runs through the town. While the 2016 census recor ...
) and
Waterville. The company also owned small commercial hotels at and near its stations in Dublin and Cork.
In 1925 the hotels became part of
Great Southern Hotels
Great Southern Hotels was a chain of hotels owned by Irish semi-state airport operator Aer Rianta; and eventually broken up in 2006. The chain was bought by Aer Rianta from fellow semi-state company CIÉ for IE£10m in 1990.
CIÉ, as operato ...
, a subsidiary of
Great Southern Railways. The Great Southern Hotels Group was dissolved in 2006, when its hotels were sold off separately to private investors.
GS&WR strike
In September 1911 the workers of the Great Southern and Western Railway went on strike nationally after two checkers at
Kingsbridge goods station in Dublin were suspended for refusing to handle timber that had been delivered by "
blackleg" lorry drivers during a strike by the timber merchant's workers. The British Army was brought in to guard tracks and trains, and Protestant strike-breakers from elsewhere in Ireland to do the work of the strikers. The strike was savagely broken in two months, with the railway's proprietor,
William Goulding
William Goulding (15 November 1817 – 8 December 1884) was an Irish Conservative Party politician from Cork. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1876 to 1880.
At the general election in February 1874, he was stood unsuccessfully as a cand ...
, sacking 10% of the workers for their participation in the strike. Goulding told his associates, "Now that we have the men defeated, we'll never have any more trouble."
People
;Chairmen
Peter Purcell, a wealthy landowner and mail coach operator, was the main mover of the GS&WR railway and became its first chairman:
*1844 — Peter Purcell
*1846 — George Carr
*1849 — Sir Edward McDonnel
*1860 — William Haughton
*1878 — James C. Colvill
*1897 — Joshua Pim
*1901 —
William Goulding
William Goulding (15 November 1817 – 8 December 1884) was an Irish Conservative Party politician from Cork. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1876 to 1880.
At the general election in February 1874, he was stood unsuccessfully as a cand ...
;Civil engineers
Alternative titles include engineer, engineer-in-chief, chief civil engineer.
*1844 — Sir
John Benjamin Macneill
Sir John Benjamin Macneill FRS (1793 – 2 March 1880) was an eminent Irish civil engineer of the 19th century, closely associated with Thomas Telford. His most notable projects were railway schemes in Ireland.
Life
He was born in Mountpleasant ...
*1847 — George Miller (Also locomotive engineer)
*1864 — Valentine Browne and Charles G. Napier; permanent way engineers for Dublin and Cork respectively
*1874 — William Scott replaced Napier as permanent way engineer Cork.
*1878 — Kennett Bayley
*1901 — Albert Gordon
*1921 — John F. Sides
;Locomotive engineers
At different times in its history the GS&WR variously used the titles Locomotive Engineer, Locomotive Superintendent or Chief Mechanical Engineer to describe the same post.
*1844–47 —
John Dewrance
*1847–64 — George Miller
*1864–83 —
Alexander McDonnell
*1883–86 —
John Aspinall
*1886–96 —
Henry Ivatt
Henry Alfred Ivatt (16 September 1851, Wentworth, Cambridgeshire – 25 October 1923) was an English railway engineer, and was the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Northern Railway from 1896 to 1911.
Career
London and North Western ...
*1896–1911 —
Robert Coey
Robert Coey (1851–1934) was a locomotive superintendent of the Great Southern and Western Railway (GS&WR) of Ireland from 1896 until 1911.
Life
Coey was born to parents James and Sarah at Letitia Street, Belfast in 1851 who had married in Sep ...
*1911–13 —
Richard Maunsell
Richard Edward Lloyd Maunsell (pronounced "Mansell") (26 May 1868 – 7 March 1944) held the post of chief mechanical engineer (CME) of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway from 1913 until the 1923 Grouping and then the post of CME of the ...
*1913–21 — E.A. Watson
*1921–23 — J.R. Bazin
Incidents
Lombardstown train crash
![LombardstownRailCrash](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/LombardstownRailCrash.jpg)
A year after the 1911 strike, on 5 August 1912 at 8.50pm, an excursion train from Killarney crashed in
Lombardstown
Lombardstown () is a village seven miles west of the town of Mallow in County Cork, Ireland. It takes its name from the Lombard family who came to Ireland from Lombardy in Northern Italy in the Middle Ages and became rich and prominent, with br ...
, near Mallow in Cork. The driver had been on duty from 3.50am. Of the 200 passengers on board, 96 were seriously injured, one of whom later died as a result.
Aftermath
Great Southern Railways
An Act passed by the
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland read ...
in 1924 merged the GS&WR with the
Midland Great Western Railway
The Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) was the third largest Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland. It was incorporated in 1845 and absorbed into the Great Southern Railways in 1924. At its peak the MGWR had a network of , making it Irelan ...
, the
Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway
Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway (CB&SCR), was an Irish gauge () railway in Ireland. It opened in 1849 as the Cork and Bandon Railway (C&BR), changed its name to Cork Bandon and South Coast Railway in 1888 and became part of the Great South ...
and most other railways wholly within the
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...
to form the ''Great Southern Railway''. In January 1925 the GSR merged with the
Dublin and South Eastern Railway
The Dublin and South Eastern Railway (DSER), often referred to as the Slow and Easy, was an Irish gauge () railway in Ireland from 1846 to 1925. It carried 4,626,226 passengers in 1911. It was the fourth largest railway operation in Ireland oper ...
to form the
Great Southern Railways. Cross-border railways were excluded from the mergers.
Córas Iompair Éireann
In 1945 further amalgamation with the Grand Canal Company and the
Dublin United Tramway Company created ''
Córas Iompair Éireann'' ("Irish State Transport Company"). CIÉ was nationalised in 1950, but was divided into separate rail and road companies in 1987. Since then, the railways have been operated by ''
Iarnród Éireann
Iarnród Éireann () or Irish Rail, is the operator of the national railway network of Ireland. Established on 2 February 1987, it is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ). It operates all internal InterCity, Commuter, DART and fr ...
'' ("Irish Rail").
GS&WR routes today
GS&WR routes remain some of the most heavily used in Ireland, linking Dublin with Limerick, Cork, and Waterford. The coats of arms of these cities still adorn the facade of Heuston Station.
See also
*
History of rail transport in Ireland
The history of rail transport in Ireland began only a decade later than that of Great Britain. By its peak in 1920, Ireland had 3,500 route miles (5,630 km). The current status is less than half that amount, with a large unserviced area arou ...
*
Iarnród Éireann
Iarnród Éireann () or Irish Rail, is the operator of the national railway network of Ireland. Established on 2 February 1987, it is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ). It operates all internal InterCity, Commuter, DART and fr ...
*
Rail transport in Ireland
Rail transport in Ireland (InterCity, commuter and freight) is provided by Iarnród Éireann in the Republic of Ireland and by Northern Ireland Railways in Northern Ireland.
Most routes in the Republic radiate from Dublin. Northern Ireland ha ...
Notes
References
Sources and further reading
*
*
*
*
{{Authority control
Defunct railway companies of Ireland
Irish gauge railways
Railway companies disestablished in 1924
Railway companies established in 1844