Kilkenny railway station (

MacDonagh The surname McDonagh, also spelled MacDonagh is from the Irish language Mac Dhonnchadha, and is now one of the rarer surnames of Ireland. Mac Dhonnchadha, Mac Donnchadha, Mac Donnacha or Mac Donnchaidh is the original form of McDonagh These sur ...

Station), ( ga, Stáisiún Mhic Donncha) serves the city of

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny ( gle, Contae Chill Chainnigh) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the cou ...

. It is a station on the

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

intercity route. and was given the name

on 10 April 1966 in commemoration of

Thomas MacDonagh Thomas Stanislaus MacDonagh ( ga, Tomás Anéislis Mac Donnchadha; 1 February 1878 – 3 May 1916) was an Irish political activist, poet, playwright, educationalist and revolutionary leader. He was one of the seven leaders of the Easter Rising o ...

, one of the executed leaders of the

Easter Rising of 1916 The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the ...

. It is on a short spur off the main railway line, at a distance of approximately 4.5 km from the Lavistown Loop Line. This requires trains to exit the station in the same direction from which they entered. This meant shunting the locomotive from one end of the train to the other. Today the use of

IE 22000 Class The 22000 Class "InterCity Railcar" is a diesel multiple unit in service with Iarnród Éireann in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. They are the first IÉ DMUs built specifically for InterCity (Iarnród Éireann), InterCity routes, although they can ...

railcars has eliminated the need for this procedure.

Previous station

The station opened on 12 May 1848 as the terminus of 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 ...

. On 14 November 1850 the Irish South-Eastern Railway connection to

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272. The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic bounda ...

was opened, which branched off at Lavistown. In 1867 the line from Waterford was extended from Kilkenny to

Portlaoise Portlaoise ( ), or Port Laoise (), is the county town of County Laois, Ireland. It is located in the Midland Region, Ireland, South Midlands in the province of Leinster. The 2016 census shows that the town's population increased by 9.5% to 22,050 ...

(formerly Maryborough). This line closed in 1962. A branch line from Kilkenny to

Castlecomer Castlecomer (Irish: ''Caislean an Chumai'' meaning "the castle at the confluence of the waters") is a town in the north of County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is positioned at the meeting of N78 and R694 roads about north of Kilkenny city. At the ...

was opened in 1919 and closed on 1 January 1963. The old station can be seen at the bottom of the platforms, facing north. There were 3 platforms: 2 through, and 1 bay facing Waterford/Dublin via Carlow. The two through tracks carried on over a bridge, onwards to Maryborough (Now Portlaoise) or Castlecomer. This allowed running of trains from Dublin to Waterford without the need for a runaround. However, when many rural lines in the Irish Railway network shut down, the station reverted to its current state. The old Building had separate waiting-rooms for Ladies and Gentlemen and an underpass to the island platform. Formerly, locomotives could run around here, although since 2011 this is not possible any more.

Present day

In 2011 the tracks northwest of the two platforms were lifted, and a connection between the two platforms was built across them. This provides level access to Platform 2, creating a layout similar to

Howth railway station Howth DART station ( ; ga, Stáisiún Bhinn Éadair), is a railway station in Fingal, Ireland that serves Howth village and one side of Howth Head. History The Station opened on 30 May 1847, The Howth tram ran between here and Sutton railwa ...

and abolishing the runaround facility. The footbridge, formerly the only connection between the platforms, was difficult to climb during cold weather. The old cargo shed south of the tracks has been transformed into the new station building and is equipped with * 1 TVM * A ticket office * A now defunct FasTrack office * A small shop * Toilets It is fully accessible with a ramp from outside.

Bus links

Bus Éireann Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout Ireland, with the exception of Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area, where bus services are provided by sister company Dublin Bus. It is a subsidia ...

services X4, 073 & 374 stop outside the station at a bus shelter at the side of the station.

Services

References

External links