All aboard for a trip on the old Kilkenny to Maryborough line - and down memory lane!

The Kilkenny Junction Railway Company decided to open a railway route from Kilkenny to Maryborough in the 1860s. The intention was to connect to the Midlands of Ireland and Mullingar in particular.

I have traced the route of this railway line in recent times and, to my delight, I discovered many of the landmarks of the journey including substantial tracts of the former railway bed, bridges, buildings, gate keepers lodges and other features are still clearly in evidence 160 years later. The line initially opened in 1864 and reached as far as Abbeyleix.

The route took in railway stations at Ballyragget, Attanagh and Abbeyleix before it joined the Cork-Dublin railway line at Conniberry Junction just south of Portlaoise. Eventually the line from Conniberry Junction was extended to Mountmellick some six years after reaching Portlaoise. Even though the route was taken over by the Central Ireland Railway Company the plan of linking the line further to midland stations did not materialise.

There were a number of factors which dictated such routes of railway lines back in the day. Originally the railway was built to transport people and goods to centres of population. The motor car was not a feature of Irish roads until the early 20th Century, while the road network was generally in a very poor condition in the latter half of the 19th Century. The railway was ideal especially for the rapid transport of troops between garrison towns as it gave pretty instant and relatively secure transport for the aristocracy.

Telegraph System
The railway lines were also regularly used for the routes of the telegraph system throughout Ireland. For instance at John’s Green in Kilkenny two such telegraph poles have survived on the old line with eight t-bars and as many as up to 80-plus cups on one of the poles alone. Each cup represented a single line to a single destination.

Thus it meant people such as the Butlers of Ormonde at Kilkenny Castle and the De Vesci family of Abbeyleix held huge influence in deciding railway routes. Unlike many of their fellow counterparts in Ireland these two families were not absentee landlords - in fact the De Vesci family were most influential in securing the railway for Abbeyleix, even though a large tract of the line had to travel over a substantial raised bog on the Kilkenny side of the town. Major landowners were often able to influence the routes of the railways in Ireland.

Tracing the actual route of the line from Kilkenny Railway Station at High Hayes townland, the main entrance of the station was altered in the early 1860s to accommodate the new line. This commenced from the north-western end of the station and travelled over the Castlecomer Road R712 via a girder bridge, then through John’s Green over several stone archways, crossing Gas House Lane and Barrack Street in the process. It then travelled through the townland of Roachpond before crossing the New Road R886, where St Maul’s estate is today, and through Broguemakers Hill.

A railway wicket gate - sometimes known as a ‘Kissing Gate’ - and substantial railway bed still exists at Broguemakers Hill today. Gone is the platform which served the military encampment known as Tintown - this was a facility built in preparation for the Crimean War of 1853 and consisted of tin huts that were built rapidly to accommodate newly-enlisted troops. Several military barracks around the country including the Curragh had a ‘Tintown’ attached to existing facilities. The Presbyterian Church occupies most of the site today.

The line continued along to the rear of the houses at Greens Hill and Castlecomer Road to Mount Brilliant Bridge L2665 (not that there were many houses in the area in those days), through Rich View, where there is another bridge, and along where the Weir Housing estate stands. There is a fine stone cut bridge preserved as a feature in the Weir estate today. As children, in the summertime, we would often walk the railway line from Newpark using the wicket gate at Broguemakers Hill when swimming at the weir on the River Nore nearby.

Following the Weir estate another fine bridge can be seen at Dunmore House, to the left of the Castlecomer Road just after the N77 Ring Road roundabout at Loughmerans. Following this the line loops left (north-west) to travel over the Bleach Road L6601 north of where the Green Vale Mill stood and on to Dunmore West. At this point in 1919 a junction was formed for the spur to the Deerpark Colliery at Castlecomer. A substantial sidings was developed here to host coal wagons from the collieries before transfer to Kilkenny and onto Waterford Port for export to the UK and elsewhere.
Dinin Steel Bridge

Leaving Dunmore West the line travelled across the Dinin River via a massive steel constructed lattice bridge which amazingly is in reasonably good condition today. The bed of the bridge has been removed, presumably on health and safety grounds. Fine tracts of the old railway bed can be seen here. It then travels over the link road from Suttonsrath via Ardaloo to Freshford L1825 and it now basically follows parallel to the main N77 road all the way to Ballyragget.

Buttresses of former girder bridges can be seen at Ardaloo and Lismaine Road L1818 near George’s Tree off the N77. At Jenkinstown, just opposite where the Jenkinstown Post Office was (the O’Neill and Jackman families ran the post office and shop for generations - they still reside here) I made an interesting discovery: the remnants of a level crossing, complete with gate piers, wicket gate and a gatekeeper’s lodge still survive.

The Conway family operated the level crossing up to when the line was officially closed on December 31, 1962 almost 100 years after it had opened. Vast sections of the old railway bed are still prominent in this area.

Wildlife habitats
A lovely feature of the surviving old railway bed in several areas along this line is the natural wildlife habitats which have been created and where former ditches on both sides of the former tracks have grown together to form ideal habitat conditions for the preservation of wildlife. Many of the areas are now officially marked as wildlife sanctuaries.

Advancing towards Ballyragget I discovered bridges at Knockroe L58342and Oldtown L58341. From the Oldtown Bridge I could see the old railway line had been used by the County Council when the main N77 road was realigned. The old road rejoins the N77 just short of Ballyragget. The old line is now on my right hand side at Donaghmore L5854 where the former gatekeeper’s lodge was demolished just like its comrade at Rathduff L58521 just north of Ballyragget. The Culleton and Holohan families operated the level crossing gates here for many years.

Ballyragget Station
Sadly there is no trace of Ballyragget Railway Station adjacent to the R694 Castlecomer Road. The bridge is still standing, while the station was to the north of it. However, a new housing estate has been named Station Avenue to mark the spot of the old station. A number of stationmasters who served at Ballyragget were Owen O’Brien (1884), Patrick O’Shea (1895-1931) and Gerry Neasens.
A housing estate has been named Station Avenue to mark the spot of the old station in Ballyragget

The Culleton and Holohan families would have operated the level crossings at Donaghmore L5854 and Rathduff L58521 respectively for generations. The line now heads in a northerly direction through Tinnalinton L58442, Russellstown, Coole R432, Grenan and Glebe towards the border with Co Laois.

Just barely over the county border is where Attanagh Station once stood. Remarkably, a number of the old station’s buildings are still in evidence including the goods shed, ticket office, station sign and the fine Stationmaster’s house. A Mr William Creagh was the first stationmaster to occupy the house at the L1751 road.

The line at this point travels close to Ballinakill before arriving at Abbeyleix beside the N77. A beautiful stationhouse still stands on the property. After Abbeyleix, the line continues in a northerly direction again parallel to the N77 road until it joins the Dublin-Cork line at the Conniberry Junction just south of Portlaoise. The link with the Conniberry Junction was completed in 1867. The extension to Mountmellick from the Conniberry Junction was completed in1873. The line from Kilkenny closed on December 31, 1962.

Another childhood memory of this railway line was when we travelled on a ‘pilgrimage’ to Knock in Co Mayo circa 1960 (I think that it was the Black Abbey pilgrimage). Flasks were filled and sandwiches made for the marathon journey. What excitement for a 12-year-old! The train was packed to capacity; the carriages were of the self-contained compartment style, each holding six adults comfortably along with a few children.

Pilgrimage to Knock
We were hardly out of Kilkenny Station when the rosary beads were produced and we were into five decades of the rosary, to be followed by another five decades and so on for about an hour only for the exercise to be repeated every so often. I finally understood what the word pilgrimage meant. Nevertheless, it did not diminish too much from our excitement and enjoyment of our first ever voyage as a family by train.

There was confusion when we arrived at Portarlington when the train appeared to be going back to Kilkenny again only for us to eventually realise afterwards that Portarlington was a junction station and we were now on a different line heading west towards Tullamore, Clara, Athlone, Roscommon, Castlerea, Ballyhaunis and finally Claremorris, the nearest station to Knock. We were then met by a fleet of buses which would ferry us the rest of the way to the shrine at Knock.

A day of prayer followed for about four hours after which we made our way to our bus to commence the homeward journey. However, our curiosity got the better of us on the homeward journey and we began to ramble through the other carriages, as many of the adults had fallen asleep. My first journey by rail was over and I have never forgotten the experience. I was smitten with all things railway thereafter.

Deerpark Colliery
As mentioned earlier the influence of the aristocracy was very evident when the branch line was built to Deerpark Collieries in Castlecomer. The Deerpark mine owners, the Wandesfordes of Castlecomer House, almost single handedly influenced the decision of the railway company to build the spur from Dunmore West junction to Castlecomer and onto Deer Park. At one point it was intended to link up to another proposed line to Wolf Hill from Athy.

However, the owners of Jenkinstown Estate were not supportive of the railway line running through their property, thus the line had to cross the main road at Kirwan’s Inch/Pike Road near Ballyrafton. So the route of the Castlecomer/Deerpark line was dictated by the gentry of the day. Sometimes river courses and severe hills came into play which involved the building of bridges and or making deep cuts into hillsides.

Let me take you on this journey from Dunmore West to the Deerpark Colliery. The branch line headed in a north-easterly direction initially and crossed the N77 (Ballyragget-Kilkenny road) at Dunmore West north-west of Hennebry’s Cross roundabout where there was a level crossing and gate lodge operated by the Nagle family for generations.

It then travelled towards the Pike Road/Kirwan’s Inch L5867 where it crossed the N78 (Kilkenny/Castlecomer Road). Again there was a level crossing and gatekeepers lodge operated by the Butler family. The lodge has been demolished.

The line was now on the right hand side of the Castlecomer Road with the next level crossing at Ballyrafton, the L6649. This crossing was managed by the Maher family while the lodge is still occupied today by Anne and Larry Butler, who moved from the Pike Road lodge.

The next crossing was at the Mohill L5865. This crossing was managed by the Whearty family and they still reside at the lodge.
Next up was the Halt at Corbetstown which was extensively used for transport of livestock and the shipping of beet. Although unused for over 60 years the building is still standing, although shrouded in ivy and briars.

The line continued travelling in a northerly direction towards Castlecomer. Once again it crossed the N78 just short of the Cave Bar at Corbetstown. The O’Dwyer family, Biddy and Matt, managed the crossing here for many years and lived at the adjacent Gate Lodge.

The line is now on the left hand side of the main ’Comer Road as it moved away from the road side and crossed the Douglas River before eventually coming back roadside just before the confluence of the Deen and Dinin rivers at Dysart. A clear view of the trajectory of the line can be seen here with the footings and buttresses of the old railway bridges clearly evident from the main road.

Castlecomer Station
The line now crosses the Lisnafunchin Road L1823 with the gate lodge on the far side of the road. The original lodge was demolished while the Mernagh and Brennan families operated the level crossing and still reside in the area.

The line of the railway bed can be clearly seen on your left hand side on the run-in to Castlecomer. As you enter Castlecomer, beyond the junction to the golf club, there is a fine imposing two storey building on the left hand side at the Kilkenny Road and this was the Stationmaster’s House. It is very similar in design to the Stationmaster’s House at Attanagh. It is understood the station was located where Farrell’s Garage is today.

There was an extensive junction here for the spur line to Deer Park Collieries at Mayhora. The British Government was keen to secure coal from Deerpark to support the War needs for engineering works in the UK. However, the line did not open until 1919, after the Great War had ended. A passenger service was opened in 1921 and ran for just 10 years. Excursions and hurling specials did run right up to the 1950s.

The Spur to Deerpark ran to the rear of the town across Donaguile, Hospital Lane/Marymount L5898 and over Barrack Street R694 across the Clohougue Bridge and the Clogh Road bridge R426. The Plunkett family operated the level crossings in the town. I have not identified the Gate Lodge where they lived. I suspect that it may have been at Barrack Street, as this was the busier road coming from Ballyragget.

Deerpark Colliery
The railway now ran a very picturesque circuitous route to Deerpark on the right hand side of the Clogh Road. One can just imagine the old steam locomotive puffing its way along up hill and down dale to Deer Park. However the gradient of the hill coming from Deerpark Colliery with fully laden wagons often meant the train driver having to get a serious head of steam up and perhaps even taking a second run at the hill on occasions in order to eventually succeed.

The last level crossing was just short of the Deerpark mine and the Midleton & Phillips families managed the gates here. A lovely plaque is mounted on the front wall of the Lodge to mark its association with the railway. The line ran in front of Woodview House into the extensive coal yard of the mines near the Bath House. There was an extensive series of sidings with numerous coal wagons awaiting collection by trains destined for Kilkenny Station and beyond.

At its peak the Deerpark Mines sent three trains a day, carrying 100 tonnes of coal each, into the Castlecomer Colliery Depot at Hebron Road beside the Railway Station. Following the foundation of the Irish Free State on December 6, 1922 the line was run by the GSRC from 1924 until CIE was founded in 1945. This line closed on January 1, 1963 with the Maryborough/Portlaoise line closing the previous day, December 31, 1962.

Donie Butler is compiling a history of The Railway in Kilkenny 1847-2024 and would welcome any information or indeed any additions or corrections to the above article. He can be contacted at danielbutler1948@gmail.com or 087-3156359. If there is sufficient interest, public meetings will be held at Ballyragget, Castlecomer and Corbetstown (Cave Bar) in the Spring. People are invited to bring along old railway connected photographs, memorabilia and any other items of railway interest.

Sources: Irish Newspaper Archives, Kilkenny People newspaper, local history department Kilkenny County Library. Thanks to Culliton, Guilfoyle, Nagle, Conway, Dorgan, Maher & O’Shea families for their assistance in compiling this article.