Inchicore CIE Works

At the moment all that exists up in “The Works” is large empty sheds. There is a plan or rather vision / aspiration for a museum of industrial archaeology featuring what Inchicore was famous for, trains, trams and buses. There was talk about the transport museum out in Howth being brought “home” to Inchicore ( some hope) and to form a heritage trail up from the Great War Memorial Park, Kilmainham Gaol and the IMMA etc- everyone knows this makes sense even those who could make it happen.

But as Mary O Rourke (Minister for Transport) has earmarked a National Transport Museum for her own neck of the woods in outer Mullingar – a national transport Museum for the empty sheds in Inchicore that would make perfect sense for the district and Dublin tourism ( like a lot of other sensible ideas for the district ) will not materialise. Also Inchicore’s finest steam engines were left to rust by CIE when they took over from the GSWR Company and only for the wise men of the north coming down to save them these great engines were destined for Hammond Lane to be broken up. They now stand in all their glory up in the Ulster Transport Museum!! – I would strongly recommend a visit to this fine “Inchicore Museum” just outside Belfast. Once again Belfast leads the way.

They also built a lovely little railway shed at the museum for the engines….

also for those interested in rolling stock….

The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland who also maintain rolling stock outside Belfast at Whitehead http://www.rpsi-online.org/

Same story in relation to Aviation, no aviation museum either in the Republic.

A small display in Foynes, museums at Waterford and earlier at Dublin Airport dispersed.

Once again Ulster says yes while Ireland says nothing.

Another great irony associated with Inchicore ( Ireland’s centre of Victorian / early 20th C industrial transport ) is that the original route of the Luas as planned was for it to run through the centre of Inchicore and actually pass the old tram sheds!! on Emmet Road and continue its obvious run via Old Kilmainham to the city centre as in times past i.e. through the centre of population / greatest demand and an ever growing tourist route from city centre out to Kilmainham / Inchicore.

But due to extensive lobbying by local publicans (they assumed they would loose the custom of their drink driving customers) and mickey mouse car dealers who sell their bangers up every lane along the route and out onto the road – the Luas was criminally diverted from the home of the tram and the people it was originally designed to serve and forced to take a sharp right at The Black Horse (Nass Road Bluebell) and travel along no mans land on Davitt Road at the back of Drimnagh, where on one side you have Lyons Tea, Berger Paints, Knorr etc and on the other a natural mote between the centre of population and the new tram, namely the Grand Canal.

The biggest crime of all is that these mickey mouse types are now leaving the district because of the rise in value of their property sites and the ever growing traffic gridlock in the area – but the legacy they have left us and our tourists is that Kilmainham / Inchicore is now completely bypassed by the Luas which would have diverted traffic down Davitt Road and out of the district, now the opposite will take place.