Call to mark railway families with new mural along Limerick Greenway

CALLS have been made for families who worked on the railway at Barnagh in West Limerick to be remembered in the mural which the council is commissioning for the new underpass there.

The underpass was built as part of the upgrading of the greenway along the old Limerick to Kerry railway line and lies under the N21 at Barnagh.

Last month, Limerick City and County Council issued a call-out for artists to submit proposals for a “railway themed” mural and the deadline for submissions was last week.

Now Liam O’Mahony, chairman of the Great Southern Trail Group Ltd, which pioneered the greenway before it was taken over by the council in 2016, has called for the railway families at Barnagh to be remembered and depicted in whatever mural is commissioned.

Welcoming the initiative of a railway-themed mural, Mr O’Mahony pointed out that the Dore, Harnett and Murphy families had long associations with Barnagh going back to the 1930s, “Unfortunately,” he said, “we don’t have information on families before that.”

But, he continued: “We suggest that the families of the railway personnel who worked and lived in Barnagh Station during its final years be consulted on the design of the mural.”

Meanwhile, Mr O’Mahony and his group have lodged an objection to the naming of the greenway as the Limerick Greenway. And they have made their views known to the Oireachtas committee on Transport and the Department of Transport.

Naming it the Limerick Greenway, Mr O’Mahony contended, is confusing as it will eventually extend along the old Great Southern rail line to Fenit in Kerry.

The greenway currently begins in Rathkeale and extends for 40 kilometres to the Kerry border. But the plan is that it will continue through Listowel and Tralee to Fenit and will also extend eastwards through Adare, Limerick city and on to Castleconnell and Montpelier.

“The Kerry section will be known as the North Kerry Greenway,” Mr O’Mahony pointed out. And his concern is that people will assume this is a totally different greenway.

Money was spent on consultants who came up with the Limerick Greenway, he continued, and he understands it will be marketed as such. He is in favour of retaining the Great Southern link, and naming it the Great Southern Greenway or else the Limerick Kerry Greenway.