Dublin’s Railway Architecture

On Wednesday 17 December 1834 the first passenger railway line in Ireland opened as the Dublin and Kingstown Railway Company, with its central termini at Westland Row. Over the next four decades thousands of miles of railway tracks were spliced through Ireland’s landscape, creating an expansive web of public connectivity and human endeavour. Ireland’s capital city further gained a total of five terminal railway stations: Harcourt Street, Broadstone, Heuston, and Connolly, with each demonstrating the style and ambition of each respective railway company. Join this talk to find out more about the history of railway development in Dublin through the architecture of its terminal stations, the architects and engineers who designed them, and the Irish manufacturers and builders who made them manifest.

This talk forms part of the Oak Room Heritage Talk Series, created by Dublin City Council’s Heritage Office as an action of the Dublin City Strategic Heritage Plan 2024-2029. It is part-funded by the Heritage Council.