GREYSTONES
GREYSTONES – Rosemary Raughter
Greystones during the War of Independence: The railway stoppage of 26–28 June 1920 Shortly after ten o’clock on the morning of Saturday, 26 June 1920, the early train from Wexford steamed into Greystones station. As alighting passengers made their way Greystones Railway Station c. 1900. Photo: By kind permission of the National Library to the exit, those now boarding the of Ireland, Lawrence Collection train chose their seats and settled themselves comfortably for the onward journey to Bray, Kingstown (Dún Laoghaire) or Dublin. However, the tranquillity of a seaside summer morning was broken by the sound of a motor engine approaching at speed. As that evening’s paper recorded: ‘As the train entered the station a military motor lorry came racing along the road, and the soldiers quickly passed the barrier and entered a compartment just as the train was about to start.’ The men in question were a sergeant and six armed soldiers of the Cheshire Regiment, then stationed at nearby Kilpeddar Camp. Their arrival presented the workers on site with a dilemma and put Greystones for a short time at the forefront of a highly politicised dispute which threatened to bring the Irish railway system to a halt and seriously embarrassed a government already under siege.
Embargo on ‘warlike stores’ Although Greystones had largely been spared the worst effects of the unrest currently prevailing in the country at large, there was a constant threat of violence in the air. With the IRA effectively in control of many areas of the country, Sinn Féin making major gains in national and local elections, and the 135
