Ballaghaderreen to Kilfree Branch Line – A Brief History

 

Ballaghaderreen Railway Station

            Many excellent photographs of the now closed Ballaghaderreen to Kilfree Junction branch line have appeared on Facebook recently. I grew up close to Edmondstown Station and have happy memories of travelling on the line.

On Saturday, 6^th December 1862 the prospectus of the Sligo and Ballaghaderreen Junction Railway (S&BJR) was published. The following year plans for the proposed branch line were presented to the Parliament at Westminster. The bill became law when Queen Victoria affixed her signature to the relevant documents on the 13^th July 1863.

The Sligo & Ballaghaderreen Junction Railway was authorised to build a branch line connecting Ballaghaderreen to the newly opened extension of the Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) from Longford to Sligo. On 31^st October 1874, an advertisement was issued by the MGWR announcing the opening of the branch line on 2nd November.

Opened in 1974

The new railway line opened as planned in 1874, just five years before the apparition at Knock, Co Mayo, in 1879 and was operated by the Midland and Great Western Railway. It cost £80,000 to build. The first train from Kilfree to Ballaghaderreen was driven by Ben Partridge, an English man from Kent, who married and settled down in the town.

However, after trading at a loss for two years, the S&BJR sold its interest in the line to the Midland Great Western Railway for £24,000 in 1877. The Sligo and Ballaghaderreen Junction Railway lost its identity and was absorbed into the Midland system.

Route

The distance from Ballaghaderreen to Kilfree Junction was nine miles. The speed restriction was 25mph and half an hour was the time allowed. There were two intermediate halts on the branch line - Edmondstown and Island Road. Excellent views of Lough Gara were visible between Island Road and Kilfree Junction.

Service

Dublin - Ballaghaderreen Railway Timetable

            The basic passenger service was three or four round trips per day apart from the “Emergency” when the service was reduced to one round trip. Between 1947 and the line’s closure in 1963, the service decreased to two round trips in the morning and early afternoon. Most services were mixed passenger and freight.

Ballaghaderreen Station

The stone-built station building at Ballaghaderreen still exists but is in a very derelict state. Part of the platform also survives. The goods shed, used by the GAA, remains complete with its typical long cattle bank platform.

Edmondstown Station

Edmondstown Station c1960

Opening in November 1874, Edmondstown Station had a single storey station building, complete with an attached waiting room. The station only had one platform and an adjacent level crossing.

 Island Road Station

Island Road Station

            Island Road railway station opened on 1 July 1909 and consisted of a station masters' house and small waiting room. The station was situated next to the gated level crossing on Island Road in the townland of Tawnymucklagh, and about 1/2 mile from the village of Monasteraden. The station is now in use as a private residence, with the waiting room, station house and platform largely intact.

Kilfree Junction

Kilfree Junction

            Kilfree Junction was located on the Sligo line in the townland of Cloontycarn between Boyle and Ballymote. The station was not located near any significant settlement, the nearest, Gorteen in County Sligo, being over 6km away. The station had three platforms: two served a passing loop on the main line and the third was used by the branch line. The station had sidings and turntable for turning round engines coming from the branch line. There was a signal box and a house for the station master.

Incidents

            During the Irish War of Independence (1919 – 1921) trains were regularly stopped on the branch line by the IRA, British soldiers, and the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC). In May 1921, a train was hi-jacked and used to shoot at the RIC Barracks in Ballaghaderreen

Blizzard

The blizzard of 1947 was one of the most memorable episodes of the history of the Branch Line. The Railway system north and west of the Longford was snowbound. Ballaghaderreen town and district was isolated, with snow piled up to ten feet high on the roads. After several days and the threat of a food shortage, a snow clearance committee was organised. A group of 150 men boarded the train at Ballaghaderreen and working in relays proceeded to clear the snow from the line.

Post War

After the Second World War, better main roads, and an increase in road transport for transporting goods led to financial problems for the Railway system. Eventually, the Railway Company was obliged to reduce spending and resorted to a reduction of its service on uneconomic routes. The tragic news of the looming closure of the Ballaghaderreen to Kilfree line was delivered to the people of Ballaghaderreen. Organised protest against the closure was unsuccessful and the line finally closed on 2^nd February 1963.

Closed in 1963

Train about to depart Ballaghaderreen Station for Kilfree Junction

            The last return passenger trip departed Ballaghaderreen at 11:50 on 2^nd February and was hauled by 0-6-0 steam locomotive 574. I joined the 160 children and 30 adults who made the journey marking the sad end of an era. The train was seen off by as many spectators. The return journey from Kilfree Junction started with the bang of detonators and a local band played a farewell tribute. The last train was a special cattle train hauled by Locomotive B133 leaving Ballaghaderreen at 15:22.

Lough Gara - A Glimpse into the Past

Stone Implements - Irish Stone Axe Project

Recently, I came across a list of artefacts found on the shore and in the vicinity of Lough Gara, on the border between County Sligo and County Roscommon. It makes impressive reading and highlights the archaeological importance of the lake which is renowned for its large number of crannogs. People have lived on or around this lake off and on for several thousand years leaving behind evidence of their presence in the form of stone axes, arrowheads, swords, spearheads and such like remnants.

The archaeological evidence suggests that crannogs, or at least platforms, may have been built in this lake in the Late Mesolithic around 4,000 BC. The practice of building on the shallow shores increased during the Late Bronze Age, 1200–800 BC, and again in the Early Medieval period around 600 AD. Some crannogs were also used as late as the 17th century. Estimates of the number of crannogs on Lough Gara range from 145 to 369. According to Christina Fredengren (2002), the Swedish archaeologist who carried out an extensive survey of the lake, the highest number of crannogs that can be claimed for Lough Gara is 190.

Lough Gara is not a particularly accessible lake for the casual visitor and the crannogs can be difficult to find. It is in the nature of wetland archaeology that such sites do not have much of a visible presence. In a sense, the lake’s past only comes alive when we consider the vast number of ancient tools, weapons and other objects discovered here over the years.

The Early Mesolithic period in Ireland runs from 8000 to 5500 BC and the Later Mesolithic from 5500 to 4000 BC. Radiocarbon dating of samples of wood show that there was human activity on Inch Island around 7330-7050 BC. The Lough Gara collection of Mesolithic artefacts is regarded as the largest in the West of Ireland.

Artefacts recovered from Lough Gara include:

Bann flakes 1053, Stone axes 133, saddle querns 3, rotary quern stones 6, stone discs 49, chertflakes 599, chert scrapers 14, chert arrowheads 9, flint flakes 7, hammer stones 22, bone pins 5, bone needles 2, human skulls 6, bone points 11, flint arrowheads 9, bronze rings 8, bronze pins 10, bronze sunflower pins 3, bronze spearheads 3, bronze daggers 4, iron spears 7, iron axe heads 19, bronze trumpet end 1, bronze swords 3, bronze axe head flanged 4, iron swords 6, blue glass bracelet 1 and copper coins 15.

5,000 year old axe with a wooden handle from Denmark

Over 133 stone axes alone have been discovered along the shores of Lough Gara with the largest concentration found along the Boyle River. Another large concentration of ten axes come from Inch Island in the middle of the lake. A small number have also been retrieved from other townlands such as Falleens, Tawnymucklagh, Ross and Derrymore Island.

Stone axes are normally ascribed to both the Mesolithic and the Neolithic periods. Polished stone axes, however, seem to appear first in the Neolithic while ground axes can belong to the Mesolithic. These tools were used for cutting, shaping and dressing wood. Perhaps, one of those axes was used to cut timbers for the nearby 3,000 year old togher or trackway in the townland of Creggan? 

It is likely that the lake waters, and especially the running waters of the rivers, were seen as places where depositions or offerings of suitable objects could be made. It has been suggested that the lake could have been a gathering-place for small groups during the late Mesolithic period.

Archaeologists’ use the term ‘lithic’ to refer to flaked stone tools such as arrowheads, scrapers, ground and polished stone axes and such like items. Killian Driscoll (2006) carried out a reappraisal of the lithics from Lough Gara excluding finds from excavations. He claims that the number of artefacts found in and around this lake has been underestimated. For example, the actual number of lithics recorded for the townlands of Tawnymucklagh and Lomcloon alone should be in the region of 928 - over twice the original estimate.

The discovery of quern stones from Lough Gara shows that these early inhabitants of the area around the lake were grinding corn to make bread and porridge. The presence of a bronze trumpet end points to the playing of music at gatherings and celebrations. Pins and broaches were used to fasten or adorn garments.

The Drumanone portal tomb was excavated by archaeologists in 1954 and was found to contain a considerable amount of cremated bone, indicating that the tomb was used to bury several individuals. A small polished stone axe was also found which archaeologists believe came from the Tievebulliagh Axe Factory in Co. Antrim. Other finds from this site include two flint flakes and a chert core scraper.

An Amber Necklace from Lough Gara dated to c 800-700 BC

Excavation of Rathtinaun crannog produced a hoard of various items, including:  a necklace of amber beads, rings of bronze, of pure tin and three of lead with gold-foil cover, a pair of tweezers, bronze pin and six boar tusks.

Many of the items found during the more recent excavation of the Sroove crannog were connected with personal appearance - a comb fragment, bone pins, iron pins and lignite bracelets. The discovery of a sewing needle suggests that people may have worked with textiles at this site.

The large and diverse number of artefacts from Lough Gara help to paint a picture of a people going about their everyday lives striving to survive with meagre resources. They speak to us through the items they left behind giving us a tantalising glimpse of life in the area long ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UXyGBjjq5o

Christina Fredengren (2002) Crannogs: A study of people's interaction with lakes, with particular reference to Lough Gara in the north-west of Ireland
Killian Driscoll (2006) The early prehistory in the west of Ireland: Investigations into the Social archaeology of the Mesolithic, west of the Shannon, Ireland