The Midland and Great Western Railway


In the summer of 1845, just a few months before the first signs of the devestating potato blight appeared, an Act of the British Parliament gave the newly-formed "Midland" Company the right to to build a rail line from Dublin to Mullingar. There was fierce competition with the rival Great Southern and Western Railway to be the first rail company to reach Galway. It was then projected that Galway would soon become the main port for all transatlantic passenger traffic between Europe and America. That commercial dream never materialised but the bitter rivalry between the two companies continued unabated for a generation.

The first sod for the new line was cut by the Lord Lieutenant, Baron Heytesbury, at Broadstone in January 1846. The Midland had bought the Royal Canal for £298,059 and the rail line ran along the canal bank. The new line quickly reached Enfield and was opened for traffic in June 1847. The Freeman's Journal reported: "The carriages, particularly the first and second class are got up in a very superior style. In some of the first class carriages there are beds fitted up after the fashion of berths in steam packets, and there are other carriages for the exclusive use of ladies when they travel alone and do not want to enter mixed trains...".

By October 1848, the line was operational as far as Mullingar and in 1855 a branch line was built to Longford. The Midland got the better of its dispute with the Great Southern and fairly rapidly built its line to Athlone and on to Galway. The Galway route opened for traffic on August 1st, 1851. Its impact on business in the West was dramatic. Previously it took four days to transport heavy goods to Galway - the train could deliver them in ten hours. It also made it much easier for migrant labourers from the West to travel to England and Scotland for seasonal farm-work. To facilitate these dirt-poor migrants, the Midland introduced a special 4th class and by 1865 this was being used by 200,000 people a year.

In 1858 the Midland advertised a unique combination service: from Dublin to Athlone by train; Athlone to Killaloe by steamer, and on to Limerick by horse-drawn omnibus. The train left Broadstone at 7.45 a.m. and you were meant to arrive in Limerick at 6.45 p.m. The first class fare was 12s. 6d. Over a period of 40 years the Midland extended its network through the centre, west and north-west of the country either by building new lines or taking over lines built by smaler local companies. There were train services to Navan (from Clonsilla) Streamstown, Clara, Ballaghadreen, Sligo, Loughrea, Ballinrobe, Claremorris, Westport and Achill. A 49-mile line from Galway to Clifden was opened over one hundred years ago, in 1895. So great was the number of cattle transported from Ballinasloe that every year all the Midland directors spent the entire week at Ballinasloe Fair, wining and dining their cattlemen customers. The long-time Midland manager, an Englishman named Tatlow, reported: "It was an arrangement which gave pleasure to both hosts and guests and was not without advantage to the company. A good dinner solves many a difficulty, while the post-brandial cigar and a glass of grog, like faith, moves mountains".


Back