railway museums ireland

Climb on board for a short train ride - or travel further afield on a special mainline steam excursion. Many engines and coaches are on display in transport museums and railway centres, with memorabilia from the golden age of steam. The first railway in Ireland opened in 1834, and the network quickly reached into all corners of the island. By 1920 almost 3,500 miles of track threaded the countryside and no Irish town was more than 10 miles from a railway station.

Ireland's national...

A section of the famous Tralee to Dingle Light Railway (1891-1953),  was restored to allow you to experience first hand the thrill of what it is like to be a passenger in a steam train. This is a must for adults and children alike.
It is advisable to contact prior to arranging your visit as the staem train is not always open to the public....

The old National School has been converted to display photographs, townland maps, documents and artifacts from local industries. It also houses temporary exhibitions and 'Heritage World' - a genealogical research service with over 5 million records on database. Just 400 yards from the Heritage Centre, an ancient cross was discovered in 1776. It now has pride of place in the village and is one of the historic treasures of Ireland....

Visitors to the museum will be able to see there the inscribed spade with which Charles Stewart Parnell turned the first sod for the laying of the West Clare Railway. The west Clare project was initiated in 1883 and construction began in 1885. The railway, which opened for business in 1887, ran at first from Ennis to Miltown Malbay through Ennistymon. It was afterwards extended to Kilkee and Kilrush, serving Lahinch and other coastal towns on the way.

One of its engines, the Slieve C...

It was an inspired decision to take the railway station-house and signal-box at Moira into State care as a gesture towards preserving industrial archaeology in the province. The station-house dates from 1841, and is the oldest surviving station building in Northern Ireland.

The station-house preserves much of the original woodwork inside, while the signal-box retains the complicated series of levers for regulating the signals along the line which are fast being replaced everywhere by...

Climb on board for a short train ride - or travel further afield on a special mainline steam excursion. Many engines and coaches are on display in transport museums and railway centres, with memorabilia from the golden age of steam. The first railway in Ireland opened in 1834, and the network quickly reached into all corners of the island. By 1920 almost 3,500 miles of track threaded the countryside and no Irish town was more than 10 miles from a railway station. Ireland's national railw...

The Lartigue Monorail was a unique railway line which ran from Listowel to Ballybunion between 1888 & 1924. Reputed to be the only one of its type in the world to commercially operate, it was characterised by an engine and carriages which ran along a single rail standing 3 feet off the ground through the centre of the train. Designed by French engineer Charles Lartigue, you can now be part of history and experience this unique mode of transport at the reconstructed Lartigue Monorailway, Listow...

Welcome to Donegal's only operational narrow gauge railway. Here, nestling deep in the heart of spectacular mountanous scenery steepted in tradition, myth and folklore, and running along the crystal clear waters of Loch Finn you are invited to relive those nostalgic days when Donegal had about 200 miles of narrow gauge railway operated by the County Donegal and Londonderry & Lough Swilly Railwya Companies.

Theis unique journey is a three mile return trip right along the shore of Loch...

Climb on board for a short train ride - or travel further afield on a special mainline steam excursion. Many engines and coaches are on display in transport museums and railway centres, with memorabilia from the golden age of steam. The first railway in Ireland opened in 1834, and the network quickly reached into all corners of the island. By 1920 almost 3,500 miles of track threaded the countryside and no Irish town was more than 10 miles from a railway station. Ireland's national railw...