Ireland’s Historical Rail Network Mapped in new Online Resource with ATU and Heritagemaps.ie

Students from ATU’s BA in Heritage have completed a two-year project to map the historical rail network for the island of Ireland and make this data freely available to the public. The project was launched at Ceannt Station in Galway on 4 May.

The new resource has brought the rich heritage of Ireland’s rail history to life with an online open-source resource showing all of Ireland’s rail network past and present.

The online resource will allow users to explore the historical rail lines across the island of Ireland. Its next phase of development will facilitate the uploading of historic photos and information to build a rich resource for community and railway historians alike.

The students developed the resource with the support of Iarnród Éireann, and the generous assistance of Stephen Johnson, whose printed Atlas and Gazetteer of the Railways of Ireland from 1997 has been a much sought after reference guide in that time. It was also collated from the national archive of architectural heritage.

At its peak the rail network on the island extended to over 5,600 kilometres. The online rail map of Ireland will depict:

• All passenger and freight lines on the island of Ireland, including their opening and – in the case of former lines –closing dates.

• All stations which were open for public use during the almost 190 years of Ireland’s rail history, including years of operation.

• Major structures on the rail network, including significant bridges and viaducts.

To view the online map please click here

“We are keenly aware of our role as custodians of the rail network and service, which represents a significant part of Ireland’s modern economic and social history and heritage. We are extremely grateful to the students and faculty of ATU for bringing such a key element of this history to a wider audience and create a resource which will grow in its value over the years ahead. We thank the Heritage Council which is dedicated to making our heritage more accessible to all, and Stephen Johnson who painstakingly collated much of the original data. We also look forward to the resource expanding, as new stations and lines are established in the years ahead.”