Oldcastle railway station, County Meath - Telecom Éireann phone-booths (3 June 2014)
A block of four Telecom Éireann phone-booth sits amid this make-shift junk yard. These aluminum framed booths are without their doors and date from the mid to late 1990's. There are two separate pairs of booth side by side, being for cash-only phones and the other for phonecard use only. They can be distinguished by making out the print on the faded panels above each door. Sadly, in such dilapidated condition, they are worth only their scrap-metal value.
Does anyone know what model of Ford truck is, in this picture? Thanks to Adrian Roche for identifying this as a 1980's Ford Cargo truck.
Oldcastle railway station was the terminus on the Navan to Oldcastle branch-line via Kells station. The line was extended from Kells and reached Oldcastle in 1863 but was closed to passenger traffic on the 14th April 1958 and finally closed to all other rail traffic on the 1st April 1963. Only part of the line to remains open for the transportation of mineral ore from Tara Mines connecting to Drogheda station.
The Kells to Oldcastle extension was completed by the Dublin & Belfast Junction Railway, who were taken over by the Great Northern Railway of Ireland (GNR) in 1876. The station is surprisingly intact with many of its associated buildings still standing. The station house was built c.1880 in the Italianate style and is typical of many other Victorian railway stations across Ireland’s old railway network. After 1945, the Irish railway network was taken over by by Córas Iompair Éireann (CIE) and who undertook a severe rationalisation of the Irish railway system during the 1950’s, rapidly replacing steam locomotion with diesel and closing down numerous loss-making branch lines with closures continuing well into the 1960’s.
Oldcastle is a small market town and the 18th century creation of the Naper family who had received parts of the Plunkett estate following the confiscations of the Cromwellian wars (1649-1653). Today, the town has a population of around 2,500 and still retains much of it rural character as well as many fine 18th and 19th century buildings. Fortunately, the town survived the destructive forces of overdevelopment that afflicted much of Ireland during the building boom of the 1990’s and 2000’s.
Oldcastle is more famously associated with Saint Oliver Plunkett and the nearby Loughcrew Cairns, a complex of Neolithic tombs built around 5,300 years ago. The town derives its name from a 12th century Norman castle built there by the Tuite family but has long since disappeared.
References:
www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=record&... (Buildings of Ireland website - Oldcastle railway station).
eiretrains.com/Photo_Gallery/Railway%20Stations%20O/Oldca... (Other photos of Oldcastle railway station).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldcastle,_County_Meath (Oldcastle town).
www.meath.ie/CountyCouncil/Heritage/ArchitecturalHeritage... (Oldcastle Architectural Statement of Character, Meath County Council).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecom_%C3%89ireann (Telecom Éireann).
Oldcastle railway station, County Meath - Telecom Éireann phone-booths (3 June 2014)
A block of four Telecom Éireann phone-booth sits amid this make-shift junk yard. These aluminum framed booths are without their doors and date from the mid to late 1990's. There are two separate pairs of booth side by side, being for cash-only phones and the other for phonecard use only. They can be distinguished by making out the print on the faded panels above each door. Sadly, in such dilapidated condition, they are worth only their scrap-metal value.
Does anyone know what model of Ford truck is, in this picture? Thanks to Adrian Roche for identifying this as a 1980's Ford Cargo truck.
Oldcastle railway station was the terminus on the Navan to Oldcastle branch-line via Kells station. The line was extended from Kells and reached Oldcastle in 1863 but was closed to passenger traffic on the 14th April 1958 and finally closed to all other rail traffic on the 1st April 1963. Only part of the line to remains open for the transportation of mineral ore from Tara Mines connecting to Drogheda station.
The Kells to Oldcastle extension was completed by the Dublin & Belfast Junction Railway, who were taken over by the Great Northern Railway of Ireland (GNR) in 1876. The station is surprisingly intact with many of its associated buildings still standing. The station house was built c.1880 in the Italianate style and is typical of many other Victorian railway stations across Ireland’s old railway network. After 1945, the Irish railway network was taken over by by Córas Iompair Éireann (CIE) and who undertook a severe rationalisation of the Irish railway system during the 1950’s, rapidly replacing steam locomotion with diesel and closing down numerous loss-making branch lines with closures continuing well into the 1960’s.
Oldcastle is a small market town and the 18th century creation of the Naper family who had received parts of the Plunkett estate following the confiscations of the Cromwellian wars (1649-1653). Today, the town has a population of around 2,500 and still retains much of it rural character as well as many fine 18th and 19th century buildings. Fortunately, the town survived the destructive forces of overdevelopment that afflicted much of Ireland during the building boom of the 1990’s and 2000’s.
Oldcastle is more famously associated with Saint Oliver Plunkett and the nearby Loughcrew Cairns, a complex of Neolithic tombs built around 5,300 years ago. The town derives its name from a 12th century Norman castle built there by the Tuite family but has long since disappeared.
References:
www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=record&... (Buildings of Ireland website - Oldcastle railway station).
eiretrains.com/Photo_Gallery/Railway%20Stations%20O/Oldca... (Other photos of Oldcastle railway station).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldcastle,_County_Meath (Oldcastle town).
www.meath.ie/CountyCouncil/Heritage/ArchitecturalHeritage... (Oldcastle Architectural Statement of Character, Meath County Council).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecom_%C3%89ireann (Telecom Éireann).