The Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan T.D. recently announced additional funding for the protection of heritage and a programme to ensure that local authorities have a full complement of heritage professionals, which is wonderful news for local authority archivists and a great opportunity to ensure that local authorities in Ireland can protect, preserve and make available their fascinating archival heritage. [1] This programme will be continue the collaboration between local authorities and the Heritage Council to protect our heritage.
Let’s look at just one aspect of our local archival heritage by focusing on Donegal and railways. Particularly now with Project Ireland 2040 [2] well underway and new railway projects in the works in order to meet Ireland’s climate targets it is a great time to look at our railway heritage and how local archives can make this heritage available. Donegal County Council Archives [3] is one of many local authority archives services across Ireland that preserves our railway heritage from the 19th century to the 1960s.
Within their railways collection are:
- The Finn Valley Railway plans from 1860.
- West Donegal Railways Drawings from 1880.
- Letterkenny and Lough Swilly railway records.
- Prints from various Donegal railways such as the Great Northern Railway Company, from 1956 to 1960.
- The Co. Donegal Railways Joint Committee from 1951 to 1961.
- Posters, flyers, timetables, tickets, accounts and bye-laws also feature.
To find out more about railway collections you can type in “railways” into the IAR search page to discover other archives services in Ireland with railway collections. You can also check out the website of the Irish Railway Record Society (IRRS) , who preserve photographs and film footage of Irish railway history, offer memberships and publish a journal. The “3ft-gauge” [4] County Donegal Railway features in two collections (The Anthony E Bennett Collection and the Robin N Clements Collection). The Donegal Railway Heritage Museum [6] is another source of information on Donegal railway history and you can also find records for Donegal Railways among the records of Derry City Archives and among the collections of the Public Records Office Northern Ireland. Archives collections are connected across archives services in Ireland, north and south. On their website the Donegal Railway Heritage Museum describe how the County Donegal Railway Joint Committee was established. Opening in 1863, running from Strabane to Stranorlar was the Finn Valley Railway. Another railway line that connected to Strabane was the Londonderry and Enniskillen Railway, which was in place since 1847.
Donegal Town had to wait until 1889 in order to be added to the railway system as the route (opened in 1882) connected Stranorlar to Lough Eske Station. As with lots of infrastructure projects money seemed to be a recurring problem and after the Donegal Town to Ballyshannon opened in 1905, acting as a branch connection, as well as the 1909 branch from Strabane to Letterkenny, no more lines were added to Donegal.
The County Donegal Railway Joint Committee:
Due to issues with securing funding, the County Donegal Railway Joint Committee was established to address these issues in 1906. The joint committee ran the railway alongside the Great Northern Railway (from Ireland) and the Midland Railway of Britain. Described specifically as a “narrow gauge railway”[7], the County Donegal line remained open until 1947. Henry Forbes, the General Manager, is credited with keeping the line open for as long as the 1940s. He managed the line from 1910 to 1943. The Glenties branch connection was the first to close in 1947 with the last lines remaining open until 1959.
Many physical train parts such as railcars are preserved by the Donegal Railway Heritage Museum and you can explore the Local Authority Museums Network to discover railway carriages and other railway artefacts preserved across the country.
The Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway:
This railway was created to serve the people of Derry city and north Donegal and faced many challenges in its construction. This looked like building upon embankments and trying to connect isolated communities. The 1891 Congested Districts Act sought to improve the lives of people who lived in areas where the land could not support them. This meant the introduction of more railways to these areas. Places such as Buncrana, Carndonagh and Burtonport were to benefit more from this Act.
In 1901 the Carndonagh line was opened and in 1903 the Burtonport line was opened. Unfortunately though the Carndonagh line didn’t last too long and closed in 1935. For the Burtonport line, it oversaw some changes, losing out on the connection to Gweedore in 1947, instead ending in Letterkenny. Other lines going from Derry to Letterkenny and Buncrana closed in 1953. The Lough Swilly Railway Company continued to service commuters through buses, supplied lorries too and remained in operation until as recently as 2014.[8]
RTÉ Archives:
Featured within the RTÉ Archives is footage taken from a show called ‘Next Stop’ which aired on the 2nd of March 1977. [9] During the episode, railway workers discuss the closure of the Donegal railway line in 1959. They write how “for many small towns of Donegal the railway was their economic backbone and provided direct employ[ment] for in excess of a hundred workers”.[10]
The work of Donegal County Archives, the Irish Railway Record Society, the Donegal Railway Heritage Museum, Derry City Archives, the Public Records Office Northern Ireland and RTÉ Archives preserves and celebrates Donegal’s railway heritage, documenting the impact the railway lines had on isolated communities, railway enthusiasts and the railway workers. Heritage professionals work together locally and nationally to preserve our rich railway heritage and ensure that it is accessible to all. With the additional support for local heritage professionals working through professional networks more of our rich archival heritage will be preserved and made available. Keep an eye out on Irish Archives Resource to explore lots more great collections from Archives Services in Ireland.
Niamh Galligan, Archivist.
Sources:
[1] Appointment of heritage professionals across Ireland signals new era for protection of heritage | The Heritage Council 29 October 2024
[2] “Project Ireland 2040,” Gov.ie. Last modified: April 17, 2024. gov – Project Ireland 2040 (www.gov.ie).
[3] “Railways,” Donegal County Council. Last modified: 2024. Donegal County Council (donegalcoco.ie).
[4] “Photographs & Films,” Irish Railway Record Society. Last modified: 2024. Photographs & Films – Irish Railway Archives (irrs.ie).
[6] “Rescuing, Restoring, Showcasing, Educating and Celebrating Donegal’s unique Railway Heritage,” Donegal Railway Heritage Museum. Last modified: 2024. Donegal Railway Restoration CLG – Preserving the railway history of donegal.
[7] “History – Donegal Railway Restoration CLG,” Donegal Railway Heritage Museum. Last modified: 2024. History – Donegal Railway Restoration CLG.
[8] “History – Donegal Railway Restoration CLG,” Donegal Railway Heritage Museum.
[9] “Donegal Railway Gone But Not Forgotten,” RTÉ Archives. Last modified: 2024. RTÉ Archives | Environment | When Donegal Had A Railway (rte.ie).
[10] “Donegal Railway Gone But Not Forgotten,” RTÉ Archives.