(Written) The Forgotten Railway Lines Of Ireland

Visiting the abandoned railway lines between Monaghan, Armagh and Newry that have sat untouched for over 60 years...

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At one point in time almost every person in Northern Ireland lived no more than 5 miles away from a railway station. Between 1876 and 1958 there were over 700 miles of total railway in Ulster, yet some 65 years later that has shrunk to less than a third of this total at just 220 miles [opendataNI].

Years ago, it was a commonly accepted fact that people from everywhere in Northern Ireland had their own local railway line. These small towns and villages were able to directly commute to Dublin and Belfast directly through rail.

To this day there are remnants of these old lines scattered throughout the countryside in some of the most unexpected places. Some have nearly fully been recaptured by nature, but others still show signs of their vibrant past and potentially a viable future.

The Lissummon Tunnel (pictured below) is one yard short of one mile long, making it the longest railway tunnel in Ireland, yet unless you knew about its existence previously, you could easily pass it without ever knowing it was there.

It is located near Jerrettspass just outside of Newry, and access to the tunnel is tricky as it placed directly between multiple fields, with plenty of jumping over gates and wading through streams to gain access. But the “wild goose chase” to actually find the tunnel is well worth it when you stumble across the stunning south entrance. The tunnel is part of the no longer used Armagh to Newry line, it was designed to cut through the very steep and untraversable “Lissummon hill”.

Construction of the tunnel began in 1861 and was completed 3 years later, with the first train crossing through on the 25th of August 1864. The tunnel is 1,759 yards long, which is exactly one yard short of one mile [poyntzpass.co.uk]. Amazingly, the tunnel is perfectly straight and level meaning that when you stand at one end of the tunnel, you can see a tiny circular twinge of light exactly in the middle of your eye line which is the other entrance. One man tragically lost his life during construction of the tunnel after falling down a 200-foot-deep construction access shaft.

The tunnel now lies empty, with the last passenger train passing through in 1933. It was still used after this time by goods trains and ultimately closed entirely in 1957 due to the closure of the Great Northern Railway [Forgotten Relics].

A steady stream runs through the length of the tunnel, while small amounts of water drip from the ceiling and some stalactites, the likes of which you would associate with underground caves, appear to be forming on the roof in the middle of the tunnel. The main entrance is well hidden with lots of foliage almost camouflaging its existence. Structurally though, it appears to be in very good condition, the workmanship is incredible to see up close.

Killylea is a small village located close to Armagh. Like many small villages, Killylea once had its own thriving railway station (pictured above) that was situated along the Moanghan to Armagh line. The station was opened on the 25th of May 1858 and was a part of the Ulster Railway line. Ulster Railway eventually was taken over by the Great Northern Railway Company in 1876 which meant Killylea became connected to many more locations including Dublin.

Similarly to the Lisummon tunnel, the station closed in 1957 due to the closure of the Great Northern Railway essentially isolating the residents of Killylea in terms of public transport to bigger cities. Killylea’s most famous ever resident is a man called John Luke. John Luke was from Belfast and is best known for painting the famous dome on Belfast city hall. He moved to Killylea in 1941 to avoid dangers from the world war. It’s an interesting question to raise whether the railway link directly from Belfast had any influence on his decision to choose Killylea.

Today the station is in remarkably good shape considering how long its been abandoned. Incredibly, the original station building is still standing with very little damage to the outside.

The overlook tower is also still standing with the original “Killylea” inscription still visible on top of the tower. The train platform can also still be seen.

70 years ago, residents of Killylea could walk to the train station and go directly to Belfast. Nowadays that same resident would have to drive 20 minutes to Portadown to get a train.

The Tassagh viaduct (pictured above) is an imposing structure that sits behind an old linen mill, stretching over the Callan River Valley near the town of Keady, Armagh.

The viaduct was built between 1904 and 1908 and stands at over 70-foot-high and stretches over 570-foot-long and consists of 11 arches. The viaduct also closed in 1957 with the rest of the Armagh to Newry line.

Tragically eleven people died during construction of the viaduct. After the first three deaths, workers went on strike demanding better working conditions. When leaving to strike, the workers are said to have thrown their tools into one of the legs of the arches- those tools are still there to this day [geograph.org.uk].

These historic lines ultimately closed due to the GNRI no longer making a profit in the 1950’s after a multitude of problems ranging from lack of government support of rail as a whole, as well as a lack of modernisation of the company (The famous Armagh rail disaster in which 80 people died also hurt the image of the rail company).

I asked a few local people outside the Palace Stables in Armagh city about their thoughts on the possibility of reopening the railways. Thomas from Madden, Co. Armagh told me; “I remember as a child my parents telling me about going to Newry on the train every weekend to visit family. It would be absolutely fantastic if the Armagh station was reopened”. These sentiments were echoed by Laura from Armagh city who told me “It’s a disgrace a place this size has no train station, sure everyone wants it back open again”.

This growing support is certainly making an impact (there are many online petitions as well as near weekly write ups in local publications). Local MLA’s are now also pushing this agenda forward. However, it appears to still be years away from actually being a real possibility.

Until then, we can only look at these relics of a by-gone era, when the sight and sound of steam engines dominated our countryside.