Community breathes new life into iconic railway station

A former lifeline for the area, a world famous film set and soon to be a hub for the community – Ballyglunin Railway Station has certainly had a significant impact over the years.

And now, thanks to the determination of a group of local volunteers, work is being carried out to ensure this historical station is around for many years to come.

Since 2004, volunteers have been plugging away to ensure that the station doesn’t become just another dilapidated building.

The Quiet Man, starring John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara, featured Ballyglunin, or Castletown as it was re-named for the 1952 film – something that has brought international attention to the restoration project.

But for locals like Ballyglunin Community Development Charity committee member, Micheál Finn, the station holds many fond memories.

“The station was built in the late 1800s and it was a very busy station because there was no motor transport at that time and you would have an awful lot of people going to Tuam, Galway and Knock; they’d go through for the Ballinasloe Fair and for going up to Dublin for football and hurling matches.

“They used to load cattle and stuff here and deliver them from here to the Blake Estate and the beet was another thing – the beet pulp, beet seed and beet manure.

“There was also the cargo. Each week, a wagon of cement would come up and that would have to be unloaded by hand; they were a hundredweight [112 pounds] so the same as three bags now; and the manure was in two hundredweight bags but we used to handle them no problem,” laughs Micheál.

Treasurer and Director on the charity’s board, Mark Gibson, says they want to keep those stories and connections with the station alive.

“Leo Moran, the man who ran our crowdfunding campaign last year, said it quite elegantly and he was saying that it was the connection with the outside world.

“Not everybody had a phone at the time and a lot of people emigrated from Ireland through Ballyglunin. A lot of people would have mixed emotions with the history of the station.

“What we are really about is creating a focal point for the community,” says Mark.

Passenger trains haven’t passed through Ballyglunin since 1976. Despite this, the committee found it very difficult to get a lease on the station – forcing them to work with a licence until they were granted a ten year lease last September.

It’s 14 years since the committee first got involved and carried out some minor repairs just to keep the station standing but, as Micheál explains, when long-time station house resident, Mrs Niland died in 2006, a decision had to be made about its future.

“When we started this project first, there was a man down from Dublin to assess the place and I asked him what would happen the station if the local community didn’t take over.

“He said to me, ‘what will happen is there will be an eight-by-four sheet of plywood stuck on every window and it will fall in its own good time’ – that’s what spurred us on not to let that happen,” says Micheál.

Work started on the station’s store and signal cabin with the support of the Rural Social Scheme and the Heritage Council.

Work on the station roof commenced last year and is due for completion in the next few weeks – with the committee hopeful that the entire community will soon see the work that has gone into getting this far.

Chairperson of the committee, Kathleen Boyle, says that the station will serve as a community space and a major attraction for those in search of the west’s heritage.

“It will be a renewal for the village. At the moment, we are getting an audit done of all the historic sites because there are plenty of historical buildings around – Galway County Council are funding that.

“It is this side of Galway that has been neglected really – we missed out on the Wild Atlantic Way and there are lots of areas in the middle but people don’t come off that track so you have to make something of it yourself,” says Kathleen.

Committee member, Leonie Finn, believes there is an opportunity to link up with other areas with long established heritage centres to create a trail in Galway and its surrounds.

Mark says that this project is really the community taking responsibility for a state-owned building.

“CIE have been very supportive of the project and naturally, it is something that the local community are doing for CIE. It is a publically owned building so there is a contradiction there that we are fundraising to prevent a state-owned building from dilapidation.

“That said, we are passionate about the building. The volunteers that restored Kilmainham Gaol were celebrated by the 1916 programme and it was gratifying for us to see that – they said themselves that people thought they were a bit mad at the time but had they not done that, that iconic building would not be there now,” he says.

Fundraising for the project hasn’t always been easy but the committee has had huge support from locals – as well as a number of people outside of Ireland.

One American visitor happened to own a timber yard in Tennessee and sent over around €200,000 worth of timber for the project.

Micheál says local people really kept them going in the beginning and that there has been huge goodwill for the project.

“In the beginning, it was all local people that supported us with race nights and stuff like that.

“Abbey Acts, a local drama group, came on board with us and we had the Quiet Man play, adapted by Frank Mahon. He’s dead now but he came here when we were staging it and he gave us permission to use it for free – I think 510 people saw that in three nights,” he says.

Frank Mahon’s association with Ballyglunin was strong and when he died, his ashes were buried in Kilmoylan.

His family have donated his entire library to the Ballyglunin project and according to Kathleen, this will be a real feather in their cap when they do get up and running.

“Notre Dame University would have gladly taken the books and they actually wanted them but the family chose to give them to us – they will be housed here and we will protect them.

“We really want to keep the building alive and it is fine to do something like this but it has to be used. We had Hugh Maguire down from the Hunt Museum and he’s now a consultant – he offered us great advice and he could see the potential here,” says Kathleen.

Last year, the project received huge support in an online crowd funding campaign – raising €30,000 in just 30 days.

This money, together with €10,000 form the National Heritage Council, has enabled them to get the roof done and further funding has been made available through the Town and Village Renewal Scheme.

Volunteer conservationist, Joe Boyle, says that irrespective of future uses for the railway lines, the work they are doing will serve it well.

“It is either a train or a greenway that is going to go up along here and this will be the stop off – there is nothing else between Tuam and Athenry,” he says.

It took a while to get everybody on board and they hope that support will grow as people see the possibilities once work is completed, as Kathleen explains.

“I don’t know if it is a source of pride yet because I don’t know if everyone sees our vision but when the roof is done and the windows are repaired and you have that structure on the outside – it is hard to envisage now because the scaffold is outside but it will be a lovely looking building.”

Kathleen says they hope attract school tours, older visitors looking to reminisce about times past and tourists looking for attractions in Galway – ensuring that the station used as much as possible. Eventually, they want to be in a position to employ people to maintain the site and give tours.

Having already installed a ‘bug hotel’ and with plans in place for the planting of native fruit trees, they also want to create a safe place to bring young children.

Ultimately, according to Mark, they just want to create something the community can be proud of.

“It is a great example of bottom-up and what can be done by the community,” he adds.

To make a donation towards the restoration project, visit Ballyglunin.com; and to keep up with developments, follow Ballyglunin Restoration Project on Facebook.