Kilkenny City Railway Station, which serves the city of Kilkenny, Ireland, is a station on the Dublin to Waterford intercity route. On April 10th 1966 it was given the name Macdonagh Station in commemoration of Thomas MacDonagh one of the leaders of the Easter Rising of 1916. MacDonagh from Cloughjordan in County Tipperary had been a teacher at St Kieran’s College in Kilkenny City in 1902.
The station was designed in the 1840’s by Captain William Scarth Moorsom. He was an engineer working on the railway line which was being extended south from Carlow to Waterford. He had extensive experience working on railway buildings in England, Ireland and Europe. He also designed the viaduct over the River Nore near Thomastown. His design of Kilkenny station was later modified by the architect Sancton Wood who also designed Heuston station in Dublin.
Kilkenny station, which is on a spur line off the main Dublin to Waterford railway line, opened in 1848. However the building was modified in 1868 when a railway line was built from Kilkenny to Portlaoise. In common with many lines in rural Ireland that line was closed in 1962. A railway line from Castlecomer to Kilkenny city was opened in 1919. The line was of great significance in the development of the Castlecomer coal mines. During the 1950’s three trains carrying 90 metric tonnes of coal left Castlecomer for Kilkenny City each day. The line also provided a passenger service from 1921 to 1931.
In recent years the station has undergone a major transformation. The modern station building is now in the old cargo shed and an extensive shopping mall has been developed close by. Today a train journey from McDonagh Station, Kilkenny to Dublin Heuston takes an hour and a half. When the station first opened the same journey took almost three hours.
The first train arrived at Kilkenny City Railway Station in the year 1850 On This Day.
Arriving McDonagh by Bernie Goldbach on 2004-08-03 16:53:55