THE COMING OF THE RAILWAY to CARRIGALINE.
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A railway served Carrigaline between 1903 and 1932 as part of the Cork Blackrock and Passage Railway. Parts of the station remains and also the Black Bridge on the Crosshaven Road and raised area behind old Waterpark and of course railway amenity walk to Crosshaven.
The railway was the extension of the Cork Blackrock and Passage Railway with an onward extension to Crosshaven. The railway to Passage was opened in 1850 and many years of negotiations were involved before the line eventually reached Carrigaline and Crosshaven. Services began on the June 15th 1903, The line was officially opened on the 31st May 1904 by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the Earl of Dudley. It is strange that along the line he was greeted as a representative of his Majesty, at Passage by a detachment of troops, at Monkstown by the band of HMS Emerald berthed in the harbour and at Crosshaven by troops of the Scottish regiment but at Carrigaline no report. Whether his Excellency did not wish to know the people of Carrigaline or the natives did not wish to know your man will never be known. The line was probably built like lots of the infrastructue of the Empire to service the army or to keep the natives happy – the line only lasted a few years after independence closing in 1932. There is a story that on the announcement that the line was to close – a great outcry occurred and a massive delegation of local interests descended on the offices of the then owners the Great Southern railway. The Railway boss asked the delegates to show their rail tickets – but they had all travelled by car. Perhap[s a story told many times at railway closures. The station at Carrigaline served for many years as the District Court until the nineties, before being transferred first to the Community Complex and later to the Court in Anglesia Street. There was actually a subway between platforms –it is apparently still there.
CARRIGALINE RAILWAY WALK – Initiated at the Crosshaven end by two senior citizens and supported by Cork County Council this is a hugely popular public amenity along the route of the former Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway and the section in question was opened over 100 years ago and operated between 1903 and 1932. Carrigaline Lions Club was to the fore in providing a car park and amenity area. Along with a millennium project of 1,000 trees planted in the area immediately west of the first car park.
Carrigaline - Crosshaven Railway Line (now a walkway) at Drakes Pool
This section is under revision during this month. The excerpt from Sean O'Mahony's book 'The History and Folklore of Carrigaline' is not available at present due to copyright restrictions. Please come back next month to check for updated material
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