Newry
The world has become smaller: transport through the ages in
and Mourne
Motorised charabancs were a popular form of transport for outings in the 1910s and 1920s. This image shows such an outing in south Down c.1920.
Courtesy of Cathy Brooks
Front cover: Sketch of Barkston Lodge in the townland of Carnmeen, produced by Foster and Company of Dublin. Horses were the main mode of transport before the introduction of motorised vehicles in the early 20th century.
Newry and Mourne Museum Collection
Introduction
This exhibition and accompanying booklet looks at aspects of transport in the Newry and Mourne area over the centuries. It begins by examining the importance of water transport in the Mesolithic period and how transport by land became more important in later prehistoric times.
The influence of the establishment of churches and monasteries in the Early Christian period, and of political developments in the Middle Ages on the formation of the road network is highlighted. The exhibition also reveals how routeways established during these periods continue in use today.
Travel by sea is seen as underpinning the growth of Newry as a wealthy mercantile centre in the 18th and 19th centuries. The impact of the arrival of the railways in the area in the mid 19th century, especially with regard to the emergence of Warrenpoint and Rostrevor as holiday destinations is stressed.
The exhibition also explores how the introduction of motorised vehicles in the 20th century revolutionised transport for everyone. It explores how better links were established between rural areas and towns by the growing development of bus routes and how transport of goods by lorry was seen as more economical than by rail. The effect of increased private ownership of motor cars in the 1980s and 1990s on public transport and road network is also assessed and how the volume of traffic on public roads in the early 21st century is leading to a rejuvenation of travel by bus and rail.
Bessbrook tram at Millvale crossroads in April 1940. Photograph by W.A. Camwell from The Bessbrook and Newry Tramway (The Oakwood Press, 1979).
A selection of local railway and tramway tickets. Newry and Mourne Museum
Cars in Hill Street, Newry in the late 1960s before the construction of the Abbey Way bypass. Part of the Hill Street area was pedestrianised at this time, and was the first pedestrian precinct in Northern Ireland.
Courtesy of John Matthews
Transport and travel in the
prehistoric and medieval periods
Ken Abraham
Before the introduction of wheeled transport in the late Neolithic period, walking and travelling by water were the only modes of travel. In the Mesolithic period settlement was predominantly coastal and transport was by water using canoe and small boat.
Neolithic peoples established routes linking settlements, hunting grounds, summer pastures and sources of raw materials. Chariots were eventually used by the wealthy and wooden trackways, dating from the Bronze and Iron Age periods, have been discovered in peat bogs and wet ground in various parts of Ireland. A possible wooden trackway was found in a bog in the townland of Moybane, near Crossmaglen in south Armagh in the 1900s.
Five major routeways radiated out from Tara, in county Meath, the legendary seat of the High Kings of Ireland. One of these was the Slighe Midluachra (“North Road”), which apparently passed through the Moyry Pass on its way north to the Antrim coast. Another important road went west of Slieve Gullion through the Callan valley to Armagh. The introduction of Christianity and the establishment of churches, monasteries and pilgrimage sites led to the development of additional minor routeways.
In the medieval period the Moyry Pass and the area around Newry were important for travel in and out of Ulster. John de Courcy defeated the Irish at a bridge near Newry in 1180 but, by the late 13th century, the
area around Newry was controlled by the Magennises and the McCartans.
Anglo-Norman travellers on foot or on horse-back often paid the Irish for protection and to act as guides when travelling through hostile or unfamiliar parts of the country. For example, John de Knaresborough, an official of Elizabeth de Burgh, paid 2s. 4d. to the men of William Magennis for “a safe passage” to Dundrum Castle in 1353.
Difficulty in travelling by land resulted in the importance of communications by sea and rivers. The Irish name for Narrow Water – Caol Uisce (“narrow channel of water”) – has been interpreted by historians as also indicating a crossing place. A ferry between Greencastle and Carlingford was a valuable source of income for the earls of Ulster in the 13th and 14th centuries. Medieval Carlingford had maritime links with other coastal settlements in Ulster including Dundrum, Ardglass, Movilla and Carrickfergus.
Nevertheless, travel by road remained significant. Two streets from the medieval settlement at Newry are included on the map of the town drawn by Robert Lythe in the 1570s. Named on the map as the “The Way to Iveagh” and the “The Way to Tyrone”, these streets survive in the modern town as High Street and North Street respectively.
Narrow Water Castle with ferry, c.1900
The 16th century tower-house at Narrow Water was provided with a landing place for boats and a ferry operated at Narrow Water up to the mid 20th century transporting people and animals.
Newry and Mourne Museum Collection
Killeavy Churches
Killeavy, near Newry, was a prominent ecclesiastical centre in the Early Christian period. Located near the route taken by the Slighe Midluachra, it often provided shelter and hospitality to travellers going north. The annals record Killeavy as the first stopping place on a ‘royal heir’s feasting visitation’ to Ulster in 1163.
Newry and Mourne Museum
Map of Newry by Robert Lythe, 1570s
This map shows the importance of communication and transport to the 16th century town at Newry. The two streets (extreme left) dating from the medieval settlement continue to be important routes connecting Newry with other parts of Ulster, a ford has been constructed on the Clanrye River to allow access to the Armagh side of the river (bottom centre) and an annotation (bottom right) indicates that ships of 10 or 12 tonne could use the river at spring tide.
© Crown Copyright
Coaches and horse-drawn transport
Joanne Cummins
Before the advent of motorised vehicles, the main form of road transport for those who could afford it was either by horseback or horse-drawn vehicle.
The turnpike system of roads which levied tolls on traffic began in Ireland in 1729. The turnpike road from Dublin to Belfast passed through Newry. The first coaches on the route began in the 1740s and took three days, stopping in Drogheda on the first night and Newry on the second. By the 1760s the ‘Newry Flying Coach’ could do the journey in a day in summer or a day and a half in winter. The longer travel time in winter was mainly attributed to the treacherous condition of the roads. An Act for repairing the road between Armagh and Newry in 1736 stated that the frequency and number of heavy carriages had caused the road to become so ruinous and bad that in winter many parts were impassable to vehicles.
Wealthy homes and businesses had their own stables for housing their horses and coaches, the arched entries to which can still be seen on the buildings on Trevor Hill, Newry. Stabling and Inns would have catered for travellers passing through the town, such as the stables in Bridge Street, the entrance and signage of which are still there today.
The 1820 Newry Directory illustrates the importance of horse-drawn transport to the economy of the town, listing many harness makers, saddlers, blacksmiths, farriers, coach-makers, cart-makers and wheelwrights.
Coaches to Belfast and Dublin ran daily and by the 1820s travel time had been reduced to fourteen hours. The Royal Mail Coach provided a Day-Mail and NightMail service to both destinations, departing from its office in Hill Street. Travelling northwards, the coach passed though Loughbrickland, Banbridge, Dromore, Hillsborough and Lisburn. Southwards the route passed through Dundalk, Castlebellingham and Drogheda. Other coaches such as the ‘Fair Trader’, ‘the Lark’, the ‘Shamrock’ and the ‘St. Patrick’ also ferried passengers along the same route. In the early 1800s milestones were located along the route, marking distances in Irish miles. The milestone on the junction of O’Hagan Street and Hill Street reads Dublin 50, Dundalk 10, Banbridge 10.
Coaches were also available from Newry to Downpatrick, Armagh and Dungannon. The Downpatrick coach departed three days a week, (returning the following day) stopping at Hilltown, Castlewellan and Clough. The ‘St. Patrick’ travelled to Armagh via Markethill three days a week. The Mail Coach also stopped in Markethill and Armagh on its way to Moy and Dungannon.
The arrival of the railways further reduced journey time between Belfast and Dublin to five hours, leading to the demise of the coach service. The railways however, could not venture everywhere and horse drawn transport still remained an important means of travel right up until the middle of the 20th Century.
An early milestone on the turnpike road, near Sheepbridge, about four miles north of Newry. The milestone gives the distance to Banbridge in Irish miles.
© Crown Copyright
‘The Mountain House’, in the townland of Lisnalee near Mountnorris, county Armagh, was an 18th century hostelry which served the traffic passing along the busy Newry – Armagh turnpike. It is now a public house.
© Crown Copyright
Receipt from James O’Neill, a company which hired out horse-drawn vehicles. Newry and Mourne Museum Collection
Trading places: Newry and Mourne’s maritime trade
Conor Keenan
As an island, Ireland has always depended on marine navigation to remain connected with the rest of the world. Since the arrival of the Vikings in the 9th century, Carlingford Lough has been widely exploited for trade.
Established in the 17th century as sugar plantation owners in Jamaica, the Needham family inherited part of the Bagenal Estate, including Newry, in 1712. Under the Needhams manufacturing in the town flourished, with export routes by sea or via the inland canal making the town an ideal location for merchants. This entrepreneurial era gave Newry some of its most distinctive and enduring street names such as ‘Sugar Island’ and ‘Merchants Quay’.
In the 19th century, the area had links with ports in Ireland and Britain. Greencastle was linked to Greenore via a small ferry and, from there, a weekly service ran to the Isle of Man and to Holyhead in Wales. A train linked Holyhead with Euston Station in London. A regular steamer service ran between Warrenpoint and Liverpool, exporting butter, linen and livestock, and oysters from Carlingford.
Sea travel facilitated emigration, which increased as a result of the Great Famine in the mid 19th century. One of the many boats which sailed from Warrenpoint at this time was the Lady Caroline. After one such voyage to New Brunswick in Canada in June - July 1847, the Government Emigrant Office in St. John, New Brunswick made the following remarks:
“Barque Lady Caroline, sailed from Newry 6th June—105 passengers. It is a very satisfactory report that neither sickness or death occurred on board this vessel during the voyage, and that the passengers were landed in cleanly condition and a healthy state.”
The Ordnance Survey memoirs of 1834-36 list timber imports to Newry from Quebec and St John, New Brunswick in Canada and a number of Baltic ports such as Riga, Danzig and Memel. Kilkeel and Annalong were also trading ports, and exported Mourne granite to England.
The increased size of merchant vessels in the second half of the 20th century meant that they could no longer use the port facilities of Newry, and the port transferred to Warrenpoint in the early 1970s. As the Anna Broere left the Albert Basin in Newry in March 1974, it brought the port’s proud maritime tradition to a close.
Maritime shipping remains a feature of the area as the Port of Warrenpoint continues to flourish. In 2013 it became the second biggest general cargo port in Northern Ireland with over three million tonnes passing through the port.
The SS Ebony, operated by the Newry and Kilkeel Steamship Company (managed by Joseph Fisher & Son Ltd) from 1947 until 1957. Courtesy of John McParland
Boats from Scandinavia unloading timber at the Port of Newry in the 1960s. Courtesy of John Matthews
Map showing some of Newry’s international trading links in the 19th century.
Two
engineers and their legacy
to the Newry Canal – Richard Castle and John Brownrigg
Geraldine Foley
The Newry Canal was built to transport coal from Coalisland, county Tyrone to Dublin. Completed in 1742 it was envisaged that home-produced coal would reduce the reliance on coal imported from Britain. Although this ambition was not fulfilled, the Canal became a vital trade route linking mid-Ulster with the Port of Newry.
The design and construction of the Canal benefited from the presence in Ireland of a young European
architect and engineer named Richard Castle. He had studied canals in Holland and France and in 1730 wrote a treatise entitled ‘An Essay on Artificial Navigations’ which illustrated how he would carry out the Canal’s construction.
Some of Castle’s work is still visible today, most notably the intact wooden cill at lock 10, near Poyntzpass, which is the original 1730s construction. Oak beams covered with deal planking created the ‘step’ in the locks over which the lighters were floated to rise the 78ft from sea level to the summit of the Canal. The remaining wooden cills are unique to the Newry Canal as these have been changed to stone or concrete on most other waterways.
Lock keeper’s cottage at Poyntzpass. Courtesy of Brian Cassells
In 1800 a programme began on the Newry Canal to upgrade infrastructure and correct earlier design faults. Much of what we see along the Canal today dates from 1800-1811 and can be attributed to the architect and surveyor John Brownrigg. The pride and confidence felt about the Canal is reflected in the monumental construction of the two new locks at either end of the re-aligned summit level at Terryhoogan and Poyntzpass. Granite replaced wood in the cill and floor, while massive dressed blocks replaced the brick and rubble stonework of the earlier lock chamber walls. Even today, after more than half a century of complete neglect, these locks remain sound and useable.
Both Castle and Brownrigg have left us a written legacy of their involvement with the Newry Canal and we can get a glimpse of the men themselves through their writing. Castle was a visionary, careless about practical detail, who was sacked from the Canal in 1736. He went on to design some of Ireland’s most famous buildings including Leinster House and the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin.
Brownrigg, on the other hand, was concerned about the living conditions of his workmen and the construction details of his projects. He left us some of the best loved features of the Canal we know today; like Jerrettspass Bridge and Carnbane (no.5) lock.
Map showing the route of the Newry Canal from The Antient and the Present State of the County of Down, by Walter Harris, 1744.
The Armagh railway disaster, 1889
Sean Barden
The railway came to Armagh in 1848, and by 1865, a line connected the city to Warrenpoint, which was a popular destination for Sunday School, and works, outings. The annual Armagh Methodist Sunday School excursion to Warrenpoint was hugely popular with all religious denominations in the city, and the daytrip planned for 12 June 1889 sold 941 tickets.
By this date Great Northern Railway Ireland (GNRI) Company ran the line but at that time many crucial safety precautions were optional including the expensive Automatic Continuous Brake. Although it allowed emergency stopping, the GNRI chose not to install this system.
On the day of the outing, the first in a series of bad decisions was made when a light engine was chosen to pull the excursion train instead of a more powerful locomotive. The second mistake was to assign a driver who had only two years’ experience and had never driven the steep gradients on the line.
On the morning in question as many as 1,200 passengers packed into thirteen carriages. Some overheard the stationmaster and driver arguing about the engine’s capability. When the driver refused help from another engine, and the carriage doors were locked, the scene was set for potential disaster.
The train stalled while attempting the first gradient just fifteen minutes into the journey. The obvious solution would have been to slow down the 10.35
passenger train from Armagh which could then push the excursion train over the summit. Instead the catastrophic decision was taken to uncouple nine carriages, take the first four to Hamiltonsbawn and return to collect the rest later.
The carriages were now held only by the brake van and some stones wedged under the wheels. As it started, the engine jolted back setting the vulnerable carriages in motion. Futile attempts were made to stop the runaway train but it accelerated for 1½ miles before meeting the oncoming 10.35 train from Armagh.
They collided on a steep embankment and the smashed carriages with their occupants were flung in all directions. Witnesses encountered a horrific scene littered with the dead and injured. There were 90 fatalities and over 400 people injured.
In the days after the crash an inquest returned a verdict of manslaughter by six GNRI employees. Four of the men were sent for trial but all were eventually acquitted.
Just three weeks after the Armagh crash a similar tragedy was narrowly averted at Goraghwood, county Armagh when carriages carrying soldiers became detached from a train. Luckily there were no fatalities but it hastened the passage of the Regulations of Railways Act which was passed by the end of August.
The Armagh disaster was a terrible human tragedy but it led directly to the enforcement of what had been only discretionary safety measures, and undoubtedly saved many lives.
The Armagh Railway disaster at Killuney, near Armagh. Courtesy of Armagh County Museum
The development of bus transport in south Down
Noreen Cunningham
In the latter part of the 19th century and early 20th century horse-drawn charabancs were a common mode of transport. These were replaced by motorised charabancs in the years after the First World War, and these in turn were superseded by buses in the 1920s. These vehicles carried passengers on day trips and outings and to church services, football matches and other sporting events.
As a popular tourist destination, south Down was particularly well served by road transport companies. One of the earliest, established in 1873, was Norton & Company of Kilkeel, which had been brought to Ireland by the Earl of Kilmorey. Providing tourist coaches for the locality, they also had interests in local hotels. Some hotels ran their own services. For example the Mourne Mountain Touring Company was established in 1913 by G.B. Morgan, a local hotel manager. With the closure of the Warrenpoint – Rostrevor Horse Tramway in 1915, Hugh McAnulty of Warrenpoint, saw a gap in the market, and bought a charabanc to carry passengers from Warrenpoint Railway station to their destination.
After the First World War, there was an expansion in road passenger transport, with the companies buying motorised buses and providing additional services. Some of the bus companies were formed by exservicemen. In Newry, Jack Bannon, who had served in East Africa during the First World War, was involved in the Frontier Bus Company in the early 1920s.
The rail companies also moved into the bus business, facilitated by the passing of the Railways (Road Vehicles) Act (NI) of May 1927. In response to the new legislation, the Belfast Omnibus Company (BOC) was formed as part of an attempt to rationalise road passenger transport in Northern Ireland.
The BOC acquired buses from private operators to establish a network of services, and purchased vehicles from local companies including the Frontier Bus Company, Newry and Kilkeel based operators such as David McAtee and Mrs Anne Sloan.
In 1932, the three main railway companies made a request to integrate road and rail transport in Northern Ireland. Their proposal was accepted and this led to the Road and Railway Transport Act of July 1935.
In October 1935, the new Northern Ireland Road Transport Board (NIRTB) came into being and absorbed the bus services of the railway companies and all the other providers apart from Belfast Corporation and those companies operating cross-border services
With the Transport Act of 1948, the Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) was established, which saw the amalgamation of road and rail transport. Further change was to follow in 1967 with the introduction of the Transport Acts. Road and rail operations were now split, with bus operations being taken over by Ulsterbus.
George Major (second left) and Jack Bannon (third left) both worked in Newry as managers for the Ulster Transport Authority. Jack was in charge of buses and George ran the freight transport section.
Courtesy of Patrick Bannon
The Frontier Bus Company was an independent bus company in Newry and those involved in this early pioneering bus service were Jack Bannon, Fred Dunlop and George Irwin. Their first vehicle (pictured here) was known as ‘The Wasp’ as this was the bus maker’s name.
Courtesy of Patrick Bannon
McAtee’s bus company was founded in 1924 by David McAtee, a Kilkeel hairdresser and mechanic. He had five buses that carried passengers on various journeys to Belfast. Newry and Mourne Museum Collection
Transport and the First World War
Robert Whan
The First World War had an impact on both land and maritime transport. Fuel became scarce and expensive. In August 1916 Norton & Company withdrew its recently introduced motor bus service between Kilkeel and the railway station at Warrenpoint and reverted back to horse-drawn long cars. G. B. Morgan, the licensee of the Great Northern Hotel, was also forced by the wartime restrictions to stop using the three 13-seater Dennis charabancs he had acquired in 1913 for the day trips organised in the area by his Mourne Mountain Touring Company. The local railway service was reduced and fares increased. Nonessential, particularly excursion, travel was hindered and from April 1918 all Sunday trains on the Newry –Warrenpoint line, were suspended.
On 4 February 1915, the Germans launched a campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare. The most significant victim of the new policy was the British passenger liner, RMS Lusitania. On its way from New York to Liverpool, the RMS Lusitania was torpedoed by the German submarine, U-20, off the southern coast of Ireland, with the loss of 1,198 passengers and crew.
The Newry area had strong links with Liverpool, with many local people emigrating there to find work in merchant shipping. Several men from the Newry and Mourne area were on board the RMS Lusitania and lost their lives. Stephen McNulty, aged 27, from Jonesborough, was a third-class passenger on the vessel. Among the crew who lost their lives were
Patrick Campbell, Bernard Cassidy, Michael Corboy, Isaac Linton, Patrick Loughran, Michael McGuigan (all from Newry), Frank McAteer (Warrenpoint), Edward Ryan (served as Rice, from Burren), Terence McParland (Forkhill) and Stephen McNulty’s brother, Peter. These men were engaged in the ship’s Engineering Department as either firemen or trimmers. Andrew McKindrey and Patrick McKenna, two firemen from Newry, along with John McEvoy, a greaser from Jonesborough, were fortunate to survive. Others from the district had lucky escapes. Daniel Dow, the regular Captain of the RMS Lusitania, who came from Warrenpoint, was on leave at the time and another Warrenpoint man, William O’Hagan, chief bedroom steward on the liner, did not travel on the final voyage after his wife’s premonition that the ship would sink.
German mines also posed a danger to Allied shipping. On 20 February 1916 the SS Dingle struck a minefield off Kentish Knock, whilst going from Sunderland to Caen, France with a load of coal. All of the crew, with the exception of the Captain, were from the Newry area. Edward McParland from Fathom, Newry, was the only survivor of the disaster.
Norton & Company’s office at The Market House, Kilkeel, early 1900s. Courtesy of the National Library of Ireland, Lawrence Collection
Captain Daniel Dow. Son of John Dow, land steward at Narrow Water, Warrenpoint, he captained the RMS Lusitania from August 1913 to March 1915.
Courtesy of Michael Dow
The impact of partition on road and rail transport in the Newry and south Armagh area
Shane McGivern
The constitutional issue surrounding Ireland’s connection within the United Kingdom was resolved with the Government of Ireland Act in 1920 when two devolved states, the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland, were established. This arrangement partitioned the island of Ireland.
Partition led to a massive change of life for those who found themselves living along the new border. Newry being a ‘border town’ meant differences in taxation on various goods such as tea, cocoa, chicory, sugar and alcohol and these price variances led to the practice of smuggling and the establishment of Customs posts on ‘approved roads’ which had an immediate effect on travel around the border.
The Great Northern Railway running between Dublin and Belfast was affected by Partition. The first incident to occur on the line took place on 24th June 1921, just two days after the opening of the Northern Parliament. At around 10.30 am a train, carrying British troops (10th Hussars) who had been on duty at the Parliament opening, was derailed following an explosion on the line near Adavoyle Station. The train had been carrying 113 men, 4 officers and over 100 horses. Three soldiers died and an assistant guard died as a result of the derailment. Three local men working close to the scene were shot in retaliation. These men were James Boyle of Aghayalloge, Owen Rice of Faughilotra and Patrick
McAteer of Flurry Bridge who later died of his injuries in Louth Infirmary, Dundalk.
Disruption to rail transport along the border continued over the years with many bridges such as Kilnasaggart and sections of the line being continually damaged by explosions. This intensified during the Troubles in the 1970s and became a regular occurrence up until the 1990s.
Road transport was also greatly altered as a result of Partition. Border roads have been blocked on various occasions over the years. The IRA Border Campaign of 1956-62 had seen many concession roads being blocked and, following the escalation of IRA activity in late August 1970, 25 unapproved roads on the south Armagh/north Louth border were ‘spiked’. This was done by bedding heavy iron posts in concrete across the road and meant that the roads were inaccessible to motor traffic. On August 24th, a meeting of over 100 people took place in Jonesborough Parochial Hall. Paddy O’Hanlon M.P. addressed the meeting where reasons for opposing the spiking were outlined. Many people in Dromintee worked in Dundalk and the spiking caused a general nuisance. Added to this, one third of Dromintee parish was in county Louth and this caused a detour of 5-6 miles each way for those going to Mass.
By the 1990s, transport between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland had largely ceased to be affected by Partition, especially with the establishment of the Single European Market in 1993, which removed trade barriers among EU nations.
The aftermath of the derailment of the troop train near Adavoyle. Over 40 horses were thought to have been killed and a pit was dug in which the horses were buried. Some of the horses had previously seen combat and had survived the First World War.
Members of the 9th Independent Parachute Squadron Royal Engineers erecting road blocks at Edenappa (Armagh)/Carrickaneena (Louth) in late August 1970 and the McGeough family pictured at the road block.
Courtesy of Maura Winters
Courtesy of Cathy Brooks
Warrenpoint railway line –a personal memory
Barrie Domleo
My younger brother Andrew and I were very lucky to have known Warrenpoint at the time we did. The seaside town was my mum’s home and mine for the first two years of my life. From the mid 1950s for over a decade, we would return every three or four years, for a month long summer holiday with my grandparents.
Mum, my brother and I would travel from our home in England, by train to Liverpool, overnight boat to Belfast and train down to Warrenpoint. Dad would come and join us for the last fortnight.
Andrew and I were not avid railway enthusiasts, but we soon fell under the spell of the little line. Once we were old enough to be let out alone, we would migrate to the railway station, just to see what was happening. Warrenpoint was the seaside terminus of the single track line, very popular with tourists, particularly on summer weekends. On a Sunday afternoon, there could be two or three excursion trains parked up, with their engines simmering quietly in the sun.
The line was predominately operated by elderly steam locomotives, some still wearing their Great Northern Railway Ireland azure blue livery, under a coating of grime. The 4-4-0 and 0-6-0 tender locos were smaller and neater than we were used to seeing on the English Southern region main line. Particularly pre-1962, many locomotives were still carrying brass name plates such as Lough Gill and Lough Melvin, Meath, Louth and Down, Slievenamon and Lugnaquilla.
Weekends brought not only the tourists, but also a few enthusiasts to share “our” railway. During the week, we had the place largely to ourselves. Initially, the staff at Warrenpoint were puzzled by these two English kids haunting their station day by day. They were, however, kind, funny and, once they realised we could be trusted, they were amazingly tolerant.
A breakthrough came when the signalman, George Walker, invited us up to his signal box. He discovered that we were the grandchildren of a respected neighbour. Thereafter, Warrenpoint was ours to explore. My brother, barely into his teens, began “blagging” footplate rides to Newry and back. One crew, amused by his interest, began teaching him to drive the locomotives and fetched in a wooden beer crate, so he could reach the regulator.
In 1961, aged 15, I began photographing “our” railway, using my father’s folding Kodak camera. There was about a 50% failure rate, with many pictures ruined by strange patches of fogging. Eventually, the truth dawned, that there were pinholes in the camera’s bellows.
Like many English branch lines, it became apparent that the Warrenpoint’s days were numbered. My grandmother wrote and warned us that the summer of 1964 was likely to be the last. So it was no surprise to my parents and grandparents that we were in Warrenpoint that summer. This time, we came with two 35mm still cameras. I also brought a 9.5mm cine camera and about 20 minutes of colour cine film stock. We were determined to give the railway our best effort at recording its charm. With the clarity of hindsight, we ought to have taken some tuition in railway photography and tried to find more money for colour transparency films. As it was, out of the 470 pictures, only 72 were colour.
Although the staff at Warrenpoint had been very kind to us, this year we wanted to roam further afield, so I applied to the Ulster Transport Authority for permission to walk the line for photography purposes and to film from the loco footplates. They came up with passes for the two of us and never enquired about our ages.
That summer had largely good weather and I can recall hours spent by the lineside in the sun, cine camera set up, railway timetable in hand, only for the train to arrive with the locomotive the wrong way round, an extra coach or a goods wagon tacked on the rear. The joys of film making!
At the end of August we said goodbye to our beloved railway and retreated with our film, photographs and a few mementoes given to us by George Walker. For cost reasons, many of our black and white pictures had only been negative developed and thumbnail contact printed. About 10 minutes of the cine film was successful, the remainder largely unusable due to under exposure.
The following year my persuasive brother managed an August holiday back in Warrenpoint, in time to photograph the start of the demolition of the line and to add a few more mementoes. I also wanted a look, so a few weeks after my brother returned, I descended on my long suffering grandmother, for a week’s railway photography.
In the years that followed, the pictures were looked at periodically and the cine film run, until it began looking very second-hand. The collection was consigned to a cupboard for several decades. Then,
I learned that the BBC still had a telecine machine capable of running 9.5mm film. I had them scan the film, managing to bring to life much of the underexposed material. But, sadly they could do nothing about the dirt and scratches. In 2015, technology had moved on and I took my cine film to Pinewood Studios. There, the old film was put through a wet-gate scanner and several software routines to turn back the clock, quite remarkably.
I discovered the ‘Old Warrenpoint Forum’ on the internet. I cleaned up a couple of dozen of our colour transparencies and sent them to the moderator, Brian McCalmont. He was very complimentary and created a section on the website for our pictures. I have to say, the reaction from the viewers was magical and I managed to encounter on the website, Pauline Reardon, the daughter of our signalman friend, George Walker.
Spurred on by the website reaction, I decided to try to use our photo and film material to make a documentary film, in a personal tribute to the line. Learning the technology of digital film making, was a steeper learning curve than I realised.
I returned to Warrenpoint in summer 2013 and 2014 to photograph and film the now almost invisible railway. In the course of that, I met and talked to the staff at Newry and Mourne Museum at Bagenal’s Castle, who helped with material from their archives. In turn, it has been my pleasure to contribute my brother’s and my photographs to this exhibition.
As to the documentary film, well let’s just say it’s still a work in progress.
Bus outside Warrenpoint Railway Station c.1964.
Courtesy of Barrie Domleo
Some of the passengers pictured at Edward Street Station, Newry, after the arrival of the final train from Warrenpoint in January 1965.
Courtesy of Barrie Domleo
George Walker, signalman, at Warrenpoint Railway Station c.1964.
Courtesy of Barrie Domleo
Staff at Warrenpoint Railway Station, James Cromie, Station Master (left) and Jimmie Lyttle, Railway Clerk (right) pictured in August 1964.
Courtesy of Barrie Domleo
Left to right, Hughie P. McGuigan, Temporary Porter, Felix B. McCourt, Ticket Collector and Jimmie Lyttle, Railway Clerk, pictured at Warrenpoint Railway station in August 1964.
Courtesy of Barrie Domleo
Acknowledgements
Thanks are due to the staff and volunteers of Newry and Mourne Museum for their assistance in this exhibition and accompanying booklet:
Declan Carroll
Joanne Cummins
Jackie Dodds
Caroline Hegarty
Conor Keenan
David Kilner
Greag Mac a’ tSaoir
Amanda McKinstry
Shane McGivern
Anna Savage
Dympna Tumilty
Dr. Robert Whan
Thanks also to the Northern Ireland Museums
Council for the funds to conserve artefacts used in this exhibition and to Landfill Communities Fund administered by Ulster Wildlife.
We would also like to extend a special thanks to those who contributed to the exhibition through articles for the booklet, donations, loans, expertise or memories including:
Sean Barden, Armagh County Museum
Patrick Bannon
Catherine Brooks
Brian Cassells
Barrie Domleo
Geraldine Foley
Cristina Gaillard
Alexander Lyons
Irwin Major William McAlpine
Gerry and Rose McKevitt
Captain John McParland
Niall Quinn
Pauline Reardon
Mr and Mrs Hugh Rowland
Denis and Maura Winters
The McGeough Family
Compiled by Noreen Cunningham and Dr. Ken Abraham
William Murdock Collection, Newry and Mourne Museum
Every effort has been made to correctly attribute photographs used in this booklet and accompanying exhibition.
Employees at the Shell Oil Depot, Edward Street, Newry in the 1930s, featuring William Murdock (left). Oil and petrol were delivered to local garages throughout the district.
An early road sign near Mountnorris, county Armagh, pictured in the early 1960s.
© Crown Copyright
Back cover: Craigmore Viaduct, 1964 Designed by Sir John MacNeill and constructed by William Dargan, the Craigmore Viaduct, near Newry, opened in 1852 for the Dublin & Belfast Junction Railway. Built using local granite and just under a quarter of a mile in length, it is the highest railway bridge in Ireland.
© William McAlpine
Design: G. Watters
