Oldcastle railway station, County Meath - station entrance 1880's (3 June 2014)
This old GNR railway station and the adjoining station master's house are in exceptional condition. This picture clearly shows its original wooden canopy overhang, main doors and window frames. Sadly, the current owner seems to be using it as an unkempt junkyard and of which nearly all the stuff is fit only for the recycling centre!
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).
Oldcastle railway station, County Meath - station entrance 1880's (3 June 2014)
This old GNR railway station and the adjoining station master's house are in exceptional condition. This picture clearly shows its original wooden canopy overhang, main doors and window frames. Sadly, the current owner seems to be using it as an unkempt junkyard and of which nearly all the stuff is fit only for the recycling centre!
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).