Transport and Health

The Railway Era

<P> The coming of the railways coincided with the arrival of the telegraph, and marked the start of a new era. The country was changing, and quickly. Before then people could travel only as fast as a horse could carry them, now they could travel at nearly 100 miles an hour. </P> <P> The railways introduced mass transport, and fostered emigration and the move to the cities, the development of seaside resorts, and even a standard time zone across the country - all the trains kept 'Dublin time'. </P> <P> National markets developed, with national newspapers and brand-name products replacing small local ones. Whole empires were built on the back of railways. But with World War I interest switched to roads and motor cars, and many railway lines fell into disrepair and closed. </P>

Image: sketch of the Dublin-Kingstown railway, opened in 1834

The Railway Era
Image: sketch of the Dublin-Kingstown railway, opened in 1834

The Railway Era

<P> The coming of the railways coincided with the arrival of the telegraph, and marked the start of a new era. The country was changing, and quickly. Before then people could travel only as fast as a horse could carry them, now they could travel at nearly 100 miles an hour. </P> <P> The railways introduced mass transport, and fostered emigration and the move to the cities, the development of seaside resorts, and even a standard time zone across the country - all the trains kept 'Dublin time'. </P> <P> National markets developed, with national newspapers and brand-name products replacing small local ones. Whole empires were built on the back of railways. But with World War I interest switched to roads and motor cars, and many railway lines fell into disrepair and closed. </P>

Image: sketch of the Dublin-Kingstown railway, opened in 1834

Enlarge image

Ireland's canal era began in the 1730s with a short canal linking Newry and Lough Neagh. This was the first summit-level canal in Ireland or Britain. The first major Irish canal was the Grand Canal, begun in 1755 to link Dublin with the Shannon and Barrow rivers. Other canals and navigations - including works to make the Shannon more navigable - soon followed.

Ireland's first railway was also the world's first commuter line. Linking Dublin and the developing resort town of Kingstown [Dun Laoghaire], it opened in 1834 and is still busy. By 1859 the country had 1,500 kilometres of mainline rail. An extensive narrow gauge network came later.

This was also the grand era of public health engineering. To prevent the return of the cholera and fever epidemics, drinking water and sewerage systems were built to cater for the growing city populations.