Railway

The biggest change in Glenmore during the early years of the twentieth century was the building of the New Ross to Waterford railway line. We have previously published several posts concerning the railway and the posts are listed at the end. Today, we are going to highlight the set backs encountered by the railway itself, the recorded feelings of New Ross leaders toward the project and the published list of proposed compensation to people in the path of the line from Rosbercon to Ballyverneen, Glenmore..

The Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway [hereinafter DW&W] incorporated in 1846. In 1876 it purchased the line from Macmine to Ballywilliam and built the line from Palace Junction to New Ross. The New Ross branch opened for traffic in 1887. That same year efforts were made to extend to Waterford. This was never carried out and the enabling Act expired through lapse of time. (New Ross Standard, Fri. 18 Dec. 1897, p. 2). For a concise history of Wexford railways see, Oliver Doyle, “Tracking Wexford’s Railway History” Irish Independent, 21 April 2015.

New Ross Against the Railway Extension

In 1897, the DW & W again sought an Act of Parliament to extend its line to Waterford. The New Ross Town Commissioners and New Ross Harbour Board both opposed the proposed extension to Waterford. The railway pointed out that opposing the line only helped the Fishguard and Rosslare extension which would choke the port of New Ross. In the opinion of the Town Commissioners the extension line from Rosbercon to Waterford would be more damaging to New Ross than the other line would be (New Ross Standard, Sat. 13 Feb. 1897, p. 2).

Unfortunately, the New Ross newspaper did not print any articles concerning how the people of Rosbercon and Glenmore felt about the extension through their parishes. The Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway (New Ross and Waterford Extension) Act 1897 was passed into law on 6 August 1897 and the company estimated that it would require capital of £200,000 to build the extension (New Ross Standard, Sat. 18 Dec. 1897, p. 2).

Funding Difficulties

Although the Act was passed through Parliament the funding did not follow. In December 1897, it was agreed by the stockholders of the DW & W that the building of the extension line was to be a joint undertaking with the Waterford, Limerick and Western Company. Shortly, after the agreement the Waterford Company’s lines were amalgamation with the Great Southern and Western Company. After the withdrawal of support from the Waterford and Limerick Company the DW&W decided to proceed with no partners in the building of the extension (New Ross Standard, Sat. 22 July 1899, p. 8) through the issuance and sale of stocks.

It was reported in the New Ross Standard, in February 1899 that “[f]or the past six months there was not much talk in New Ross concerning the projected railways in the neighbourhood. The general opinion was that the South Wexford railway would be built sometime, but the New Ross to Waterford extension was never going to be constructed. This gave Rossonians time to breath, as the prospect of having their river barred, and about half their trade diverted from them was not a pleasant thing to look forward to. But of late Ross is again threatened with being made a by-way…the building of both lines will soon be commenced, and the line that was considered as all but dead and buried, is perhaps the first to be constructed” (New Ross Standard, Sat. 11 Feb. 1899, p. 4).

Official sources revealed that the promotors of the DW&W secured the necessary cash and construction was to commence in a couple of months. Two engineers were busy making preparations for the work (New Ross Standard, Sat. 11 Feb. 1899, p. 4).

An editorial published later in February 1899 addressed the continued decline in the trade of Ross. “It is to a great extent traceable to the difficulty of obtaining building leases. The Ross people are business people, but instead of being facilitated in enterprise, they are often cramped. Of course it was only human to expect that after Colonel Tottenham was rejected for the borough of Ross he (as its head landlord) would not go out of his way to help its people…Of course Colonel Tottenham would persist in refusing long term leases, those who would have in view certain enterprises might easily get building ground at the other side of the river, and when the railway extension is made to Waterford, a factory in Rosbercon could have splendid rail and water facilities” (New Ross Standard, Sat. 25 Feb. 1899, p. 4).

Building Commenced Without Ceremony

In late July it was announced that the construction of the New Ross to Waterford Extension was to commence in August 1899. Lists of the sums of compensation proposed to be allowed landlords and tenants for acquiring their lands for the railroad were issued. The newspaper published the list for the portion of the line between Rosbercon and Ballyvergin (sic) [Ballyverneen]. It was noted that the landlords are the “best off” and the tenants were not getting what they expected. The newspaper predicted lawsuits (New Ross Standard, Sat. 29 July 1899, p. 5).

The building of the extension commenced at the New Ross end during the week of 20 August 1899. Active preparation had been in progress for over a month and on the 25^th two gangs of navvies were put to work at Rosbercon and Raheen. “The contractors…had nothing in the nature of a ceremony attaching to the digging of the first sod”(New Ross Standard, Sat. 26 Aug. 1899, p. 4).

It was assumed that the contractors, Pearson and Co., would complete the extension line and have it ready for traffic by the end of two years. It was noted that its construction would provide much needed employment in the district” (New Ross Standard, Sat. 26 Aug. 1899, p. 4).

The newspaper stated its belief that the completion of the “missing link” at Macmine junction would allow trains from Dublin to Waterford without shifting. Another anticipated improvement was the erection of a “more respectable” station house at New Ross ”(New Ross Standard, Sat. 26 Aug. 1899, p. 4).

“Mr. Hobson, an eminent engineer, is the gentleman entrusted by the contractors with the supervision of the building of the New Ross Extension Railway line. Mr. Hobson will reside at Airmount House, New Ross, until the line is constructed. There are now over a dozen gangs of navvies engaged, comprising in all about 400 men. Satisfactory to say, three-fourths of the workmen are local, so that there are no labourers in New Ross District idle who wish to work” (New Ross Standard, Sat. 16 Sept. 1899, p. 4).

Railway Compensation—Rosbercon to Ballyverneen, Glenmore List

The New Ross newspaper published the compensation list for the extension from Rosbercon to Ballyverneen, Glenmore. From the fact that the adjudicator who heard the claims sat in New Ross and Waterford it appears that jurisdiction was based on the Poor Law Union division. In other words, the eastern edge of Glenmore parish was in the New Ross Poor Law District and the rest of Glenmore parish was in the Waterford Poor Law District.  We have divided the list between landlords and tenants, but we believe that the list was not exhaustive.

Landlords

[1] Major Guilburne, in respect of property in Rosbercon, to receive £? 10s. [not legible]

[2] Colonel Tottenham, to receive £220.

[3] Captain Glascott, to receive about £202.

[4] Mr. Thomas Boyd, Chilcomb House, was offered the “nice sum of somewhere about £460 out of different lands.

[5] John T. Tottenham “got a good sum.”

[6] Dr. Mackey [landlord of Graiguenakill, Glenmore] to receive about £220 out of different lands

Tenants

[1] Mrs. Mary Anne Kenny, to receive £136, her rent was to be extinguished.

[2] James Shea to get £7 5s 10d; his rent was to be reduced by 25s 6d.

[3] P. Dooley, for different lands in Raheen, was offered $99 16s 8d, and a rent to be reduced to £8 4s 4d.

[4] Representatives of Edward Doolan, Shanbough to receive £36 odd, and a rent reduction of £2 7s;

[5] Mr. John Mullally, Forristalstown, [Glenmore] was offered £19 8s, and a rent reduction of 13s 10d.

[6] Mr. James Cullen to get £14 19s and a rent reduction of £1 13s 2d;

[7] Mr. John Doherty (Ned) was offered £25 and a rent reduction of £2 9s 4d.

[8] William Forristal, Ballyverneen, was offered £101 7s 6d, with a rent reduction of £3 19s 8d.

[9] Ellen Dunphy, Ballyverneen, was offered £13 17s and a rent reduction of 14s 2d.

[10] Mr Patrick Forristal, Ballyverneen, [believe this was Nicky the Miller’s father] was offered £42, and a rent reduction of £3 17s.

[11] Mr. Richard Dunphy, Ballyverneen, was asked to accept £22 16s 8d, and a rent reduction of 28s 10d.

In a future post we will provide the claims brought by these people and others to arbitration for the damages suffered by the building of the extension line through their fields, haggards and sometimes their homes.   

For further information see our previous posts:

[1] Post of 2 Feb. 2020,  “Glenmore and the New Ross to Waterford Railway Line”

[2] Post of 10 Oct. 2021, “A Glenmore Fire &  the ‘Hell Fire Jack’ Steam Engine”

Please send any corrections or additional information to glenmore.history@gmail.com.

Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh