Cavan might be the last place you would want to end up for Christmas, but that is only if you didn't know the many attractions of the town! A lovely shot from Mr. O'Dea of the railway station in Cavan with a full stop, which is what we will be doing until after the Christmas.
On behalf of all at the NLI and from the Marys, we would like to wish all our many followers and contributors a very happy and peaceful Christmas and a prosperous New Year. For those who do not celebrate Christmas we wish you the compliments of the season.
Just to remind us that the season is made of children's memories here are the final lines from a poem by Patrick Kavanagh:
I was six Christmases of age
My father played the melodeon,
My mother milked the cows,
And I had a prayer like a white rose pinned,
On the Virgin Mary's blouse.
Photographer:
James P. O'Dea
Collection:
O'Dea Photograph Collection
Date : Wednesday, 25 February 1959
NLI Ref.:
ODEA 14/80
You can also view this image, and many thousands of others, on the NLI’s catalogue at
catalogue.nli.ie
Info:
Owner:
National Library of Ireland on The Commons
Source:
Flickr Commons
Views: 6938
Paddywhack56
A very Happy Christmas to all at NLI. 🎉
O Mac
Two years later.. Sad. catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000305541/MooviewerImg?mobile...
derangedlemur
Thanks for another great year of entertainment. Merry Christmas, all!
cargeofg
Infrastructure destroyed and Beeching did the same this side of the water also. Merry Christmas and be safe and careful. In Wales Nadolig Llawen is used for Merry Christmas but correct translation is Joyful Christmas. Double LL is pronounced as C.
BeachcomberAustralia
Flickr is sometimes amazing! Reverse-ish view in 2015 via https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/23531031844/ Merry Christmas NLI and the flickroonies. Thanks for lots of photos, facts, fibs, fun, frolics, and escapism. Looking forward to more in 2021 ...
Quite Adept
A Happy Christmas to you and to all your followers who do amazing detective work on the photos. It has been a lovely distraction to read all about the history that has been uncovered. Thank you. See you for more in 2021.
National Library of Ireland on The Commons
https://www.flickr.com/photos/quiteadept Zoe, some of them are Quite Adept at it!
BeachcomberAustralia
Almost forgot - 25 February 1959 was a Wednesday ...
John A. Coffey
Nollaig Shona daoibh.
suckindeesel
A peaceful and socially distanced Christmas to all. It was the end of the line, in more senses than one, as it was where the MGW line from Mullingar met the GNR line from Clones. It was built by the MGW in 1856 by was shared by both companies. However, they maintained separate loco and goods sheds, the one shown with circular windows was the MGW goods shed. The end came with the closure by Stormont of cross-border GNR services. It became a line without connections and closed in 1960
Foxglove
Marys, thank you for delivering an image every day and curating and managing the flow of comments , as ever I am in awe of the detailed investigations that several of the regular contributors make,
Carol Maddock
Happy Xmas, one and all, and to our inimitable Marys who keep this crazy car on the road! See ye in the New Year... :)
Inverarra
Many thanks for all your great photos, information and good humour. See you next year.
O Mac
[http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/] That photo you linked above is of Crossdoney Station. Co. Cavan.... eiretrains.com/Photo_Gallery/Railway%20Stations%20C/Cross...
BeachcomberAustralia
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected] Oops! Sorry! Too much eggnog.
Oliver (Wolbadger)
A Happy Christmas to you and all your loved ones. Stay safe and well!
silverio10
Buenas fotos antiguas .
suckindeesel
The Christmas Train It was Christmas Eve, a Thursday On the Northern Express Christmas Train We were on our way north through the wilds And our destination was to be old Hornepayne One hundred and eighty two people Three kittens, one goat and nine dogs Were riding up north on the railroad Oh, I forgot to mention six hogs There was snow coming in from the waters Surrounding the bays, both Hudson and James The engineer was prepared for a whopper This would not be a time to play games It was nineteen twenty in the year of our lord The great war had been done for two years These people were travelling homeward To spend Christmas with those they held dear The storm was gathering force over water There was no way to safely arrive They only had one option before them If he wanted them all to survive He pulled the train off on a side spur They were not getting home safe tonight But, the train, being old wasn't worthy Of surviving the storm and it's fight The conductor gathered up all his courage And he entered each car in their turn He said "It looks like we're here for a while" The storm looked real bad, as they'd learn Remember it was nineteen twenty The trains had no heat to keep warm There was just an old stove and the engine To keep them alive in the storm The lines were down, so no message Could be sent via morse code machine They were stuck in the Ontario wilds In a storm worse than they'd ever seen They prayed and they sang hymns all together Christmas carols and some all would know As they sat, and they watched out the window At the wind whipping, white sheets of snow It was just after four when it started Six hours in it was worse One man, a fellow named Woolner Said "we're stuck on a CP rail hearse" The children were kept calm by their mothers The men were watching as well They were keeping an eye on the weather They would not die in this frozen hell It was just before midnight I reckon When the storm broke enough to see out The snow was now done and was over Of this there was surely no doubt Christmas Day...it was now after midnight Some were sleeping while others were not They had left to go start a fire This was an idea given plenty of thought The people awoke and they followed To the fire to keep warm and still pray They would make the best of a bad situation Don't forget it was still Christmas Day Christmas happens, it doesn't pick a location It doesn't give a **** where you are Christmas happens, and it gives a feeling Of goodness, whether you're close or home is quite far These people all stuck in the forest Still a day or so from where they would go Spent a Christmas with a whole bunch of strangers some dogs, cats and hogs and a goat Gifts that were destined for family Were opened that night by the crowd And the carols they sang in the forest Shook the snow, they were singing so loud The trees were lit up by the fire Snow was covering branches up high When they looked up into the dark heavens And they saw the bright lights in the sky The rainbow of colours was awesome It shone brighter than bright in the sky But one thing stood out in the distance The one star that shone bright from on high What was it that brought them together Made them share this Christmas as one Was it the storm that was the only reason Or was there something else there that had come The word came on out from the engine The lines of communication were back They should all get on back to their carriage And he'd get this train back on track When they all climbed aboard to get moving Every seat had a package, all wrapped No one saw who delivered the presents As they were all in this outland, and trapped Was it Santa come through to deliver Their presents while they all went to pray It's a question that no one can answer It's a puzzle that remains to this day If you ever go north on the railway And you pass by the park near Hornepayne Remember the big storm they encountered And the magic on the Christmas Train Roger Turner
John Spooner
For anyone missing a fix of [https://www.flickr.com/photos/nlireland] + railways in the next week or so, I can recommend a 1993 BBC program on youtube in which Michael Palin travels from Derry to Kerry via Kildare Street , mostly by steam train. youtu.be/n_PzUzaf5uc
National Library of Ireland on The Commons
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected] A very nice poem.
National Library of Ireland on The Commons
https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnspooner I watched it. very nice, thank you for the recommendation. Mary