Thomas Fleming Bergin was an early Irish railway official. He was the Company Clerk of the

Dublin and Kingstown Railway The Dublin and Kingstown Railway (D&KR), which opened in 1834, was Ireland’s first passenger railway. It linked Westland Row in Dublin with Kingstown Harbour (Dún Laoghaire) in County Dublin. The D&KR was also notable for a number of other ...

(D&KR), the first public railway in Ireland. He was also responsible for the design of the ''Bergin Patent Spring Buffer'', the buffering system that it used.

Life

Bergin, who was by profession an engineer, was to join the D&KR in 1932, replacing

James Pim James Pim was the key person to the establishment and operation of the first passenger railway in Ireland, the Dublin and Kingstown Railway (D&KR), and the first commercial atmospheric railway in the world, the Dalkey Atmospheric Railway. Bio ...

as company secretary. Lyons notes Pim and Bergin as "two of the most valuable engines the D&KR possessed, although other individuals also played an important part." Murray notes Bergin was to have a "large part of the daily management of the railway", and also notes the Bergin and Pim made an excellent team. Bergin was to remain loyal to the D&KR despite offers from other railways. Thomas notes the D&KR ''Chief Clerk'' (aka Bergin) was sent to the

Liverpool and Manchester Railway The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) was the first inter-city railway in the world. It opened on 15 September 1830 between the Lancashire towns of Liverpool and Manchester in England. It was also the first railway to rely exclusively ...

(L&MR) in June 1833. Dawson notes Bergin observed the sprung buffer / connection system used on the L&MR and determined to develop his own design for the D&KR. On 16 December 1834 Bergin was to place advertisements in the Dublin newspapers as ''Clerk of the Company'' proclaiming the public opening of the D&KR with an hourly service from 9am to 4pm inclusive from Westland-Row to and

Kingstown Kingstown is the capital, chief port, and main commercial centre of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. With a population of 12,909 (2012), Kingstown is the most populous settlement in the country. It is the island's agricultural industry centr ...

. Bergin was additionally appointed 'Mechanical Engineer'' in 1835, though as that position was found to be needing a full time appointment Bergin was to revert to ''Clerk''. Bergin retired when the operation of the D&KR was taken over by the

Dublin and Wicklow 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 ope ...

in 1856. He died in December 1862.

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* * * * * 19th-century Irish people Irish people in rail transport {{Ireland-bio-stub