Cork Western Road
Western Road Station, Cork, and the former bridge over the River Lee in May 2019. The station site lies beneath the River Lee Hotel and the adjacent Lancaster Gate apartments. This was a 3ft gauge system opened to Blarney (largely for tourist traffic - the station and turntable still survive there) in 1887, Coachford in 1888 and Donoughmore in 1893. It was absorbed by the GSR in 1925 and closed completely at the end of 1934. A bridge abutment is visible here emerging from underneath the River Lee Hotel and bridge piers remain in the river. The tracks on the abutment are not original and appear to have been added to show that this was where the railway ran (there is a nearby heritage trail signboard which gives some details about the railway). The bridge was badly damaged in the Irish Civil War but was repaired. After crossing the River Lee, the track ran as a tramway along Western Road.
Location: Cork Western Road
Original line: Cork and Muskerry Light Railway
Photographer: Mark Poustie
Contact photographer: Mark Poustie
Date: 25/05/2019
Image number: 72861
