King Magnus' Halt, more commonly known as Magnus' Grave, is a heritage railway station on the

Downpatrick & County Down Railway The Downpatrick and County Down Railway (DCDR) is a five-foot, three-inch (1,600 mm) gauge heritage railway in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is operated by volunteers and runs passenger trains using steam and diesel locomotives, dies ...

's ''South Line'', located on the outskirts of the town of

Downpatrick Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Its cathedral is said to be the b ...

in County Down, Northern Ireland. It takes its name from the nearby grave of Viking King Magnus Barefoot, a local tourist attraction that was not easily accessible prior to the arrival of the railway. The station consists of a simple curved concrete platform, overlooking the burial site of Magnus Barefoot on one side and the Quoile Marshes and Hollymount Forest on the other. It is located on the same alignment as the former

Belfast and County Down Railway The Belfast and County Down Railway (BCDR) was an Irish gauge () railway in Ireland (later Northern Ireland) linking Belfast with County Down. It was built in the 19th century and absorbed into the Ulster Transport Authority in 1948. All but th ...

mainline from

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

, though no halt was ever provided at its location in BCDR days. Although Magnus Grave is a terminus station, the track continues on through a

cutting Cutting is the separation or opening of a physical object, into two or more portions, through the application of an acutely directed force. Implements commonly used for wikt:cut, cutting are the knife and saw, or in medicine and science the scal ...

and southwards for another kilometre. This section of track is currently mothballed.

History

Viking Connection

Magnus Olafsson Magnus, meaning "Great" in Latin, was used as cognomen of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus in the first century BC. The best-known use of the name during the Roman Empire is for the fourth-century Western Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus. The name gained wid ...

was the

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

King of Norway The Norwegian monarch is the head of state of Norway, which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system. The Norwegian monarchy can trace its line back to the reign of Harald Fairhair and the previous petty kingd ...

from 1093 to 1103. During his reign, Olafsson set his sights on Ireland and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

with the aim of controlling Norse communities in coastal areas on both sides of the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

. After an unsuccessful Irish Sea campaign in 1098, Olafsson landed in Ireland in 1101. A marriage between his son and the daughter of High King Muirchertach Ua Briain meant that Olafsson was able to gain control of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, becoming known as ''Magnus Barefoot'' due to his wearing of a Gaelic tunic which left his lower legs exposed. Muirchertach planned to use Olafsson's assistance to crush his rival

Domnall Ua Lochlainn Domhnall Ua Lochlainn (old spelling: Domnall Ua Lochlainn) (1048 – 10 February 1121), also known as Domhnall Mac Lochlainn (old spelling: Domnall Mac Lochlainn), was king of the Cenél Eogain, over-king of Ailech, and alleged High King o ...

, but following their defeat at the Battle of Mag Coba (in present-day County Down), Muirchertach began to fear that Olafsson had set his sights on the Irish throne. This caused Olafsson and his men to flee into the country on 24 August 1103, where they were mistaken near Downpatrick for cattle raiders by the

Ulaid Ulaid (Old Irish, ) or Ulaidh ( Modern Irish, ) was a Gaelic over-kingdom in north-eastern Ireland during the Middle Ages made up of a confederation of dynastic groups. Alternative names include Ulidia, which is the Latin form of Ulaid, and i ...

and attacked. Olafsson survived being stabbed through both thighs, but was killed shortly afterwards by an axe blow to the neck. Olafsson was the last Norwegian king to fall in battle abroad, and is regarded by some as the final Viking king. He was buried in a barrow approximately a kilometre to the south-west of Downpatrick, and would remain largely unknown and undisturbed for almost 900 years.

Arrival of the Railway

A railway line was opened between

and

in 1869 which skirted the field Magnus Barefoot was buried in, but no halt or public access was provided - this remained the case when the branch line to

Ardglass Ardglass () is a coastal fishing village, townland (of 321 acres) and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland, in the historic barony of Lecale Lower. It is still a relatively important fishing harbour. It is situated on the B1 Ardg ...

was opened in 1892, the new line joining the Newcastle Line a mere 80 metres away from his burial site overlooked by ''Downpatrick South'' signal cabin. The Ardglass and Newcastle lines both closed in 1950, with the tracks being torn up and the signal cabin being demolished soon after. In 1995 part of the old Newcastle line was restored by the

Downpatrick and County Down Railway The Downpatrick and County Down Railway (DCDR) is a five-foot, three-inch (1,600 mm) gauge heritage railway in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is operated by volunteers and runs passenger trains using steam and diesel locomotives, diesel ra ...

, who opened a halt for the first time at the site of Magnus Barefoot's grave. In March 2003 a runestone was placed on the barrow to mark the 900th anniversary of his death, clearly visible from the halt. From 1995 to 2005 Magnus Grave was the terminus of most DCDR trains, however this changed in 2005 with the opening of the ''North Line'' to

Inch Abbey Inch Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery on the outskirts of Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland. It was founded by Anglo-Norman John de Courcy in the twelfth century at the site of a previous monastery which had operated from the 9th ...

. Today, it is generally used only in the Autumn and Winter months with a particular focus on Halloween. It is anticipated that once the ''South Line'' is extended to Ballydugan it, along with Magnus Grave, will see more use.

Services

References

{{reflist Downpatrick Railway stations in County Down Railway stations opened in 1995 Railway stations in Northern Ireland opened in the 20th century