Armagh railway station

Armagh
Ard Mhacha
Location
Location Armagh
Area County Armagh
Operations
Original company Ulster Railway
Post-grouping Great Northern Railway (Ireland)
History
1 March 1848 Station opened
1865 Newry and Armagh Railway completed
12 June 1889 Armagh rail disaster
1910 Castleblayney, Keady and Armagh Railway completed
1932 passenger service withdrawn from Armagh – Keady section of CKA
1933 Armagh – Markethill section of N&A closed
1 October 1957 Station closed
Disused railway stations in Ireland

Closed railway stations in Ireland
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

 

Armagh railway station was a railway station that served Armagh in County Armagh, Northern Ireland.

Contents

Development

The Ulster Railway opened Armagh station in 1848, linking the city with Belfast.[1] The Ulster Railway was extended from Armagh to Monaghan in 1858[1] and Clones in 1863.[2]

The Newry and Armagh Railway (N&A) opened in 1864, and had its own temporary terminus just outside Armagh until it started using the Ulster Railway station in 1865.[1]

The Castleblaney, Keady and Armagh Railway (CK&A) was completed in 1910.[1] In 1876 the Ulster Railway became part of the new Great Northern Railway (GNR), which took over the N&A in 1879 and the CKA in 1911.[3]

Rail disaster

Main article: Armagh rail disaster

The Armagh rail disaster, which killed 80 people and injured 260, occurred on 12 June 1889 on the N&A line near Armagh.[4] An excursion train had to climb a steep gradient, but the locomotive stalled. The crew decided to divide the train but when they did the rear portion had inadequate brake power and ran back down the gradient, colliding with a following train. Most of the eighty people killed were women. It was previously thought that more children were killed, but most children were saved by jumping out of windows.

Decline and closure

The partition of Ireland in 1922 hastened the railways' decline, and the GNR closed the Keady – Castleblayney section of the CKA in 1923.[5] The GNR withdrew passenger trains from the Armagh – Keady section of the CKA in 1932 and closed the Armagh – Markethill section of the N&A in 1933.[5] The Government of Northern Ireland made the GNR Board close the remaining lines serving Armagh on 1 October 1957: the goods branch from Armagh to Keady and the main line through Armagh from Portadown as far as the border at Glaslough on the way to Monaghan.[5][6]

Routes

Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Retreat   Great Northern Railway
Ulster Railway		   Killylea
junction   Great Northern Railway
Castleblayney, Keady and Armagh Railway		   Irish Street Halt
1909 - 1932
Armagh (N&A)
1864 -1865		   Great Northern Railway
Newry and Armagh Railway		   junction

References

  1. ^ a b c d Hajducki, S. Maxwell (1974). A Railway Atlas of Ireland. Newton Abbott: David & Charles. map 8. ISBN 0 7153 5167 2. 
  2. ^ Hajducki, 1974, map 14
  3. ^ Hajducki, op. cit., page xiii
  4. ^ McCutcheon, Alan (1969). Ireland. Railway History in Pictures. 1. Newton Abbott: David & Charles. pp. 104, 105. ISBN 0 7153 4651 2. 
  5. ^ a b c Hajducki, op. cit., map 39
  6. ^ Baker, Michael H.C. (1972). Irish Railways since 1916. London: Ian Allan. pp. 153, 207. ISBN 7110 0282 7.