DONEGAL’S railway heritage has been brought to life in a newly produced map.

After securing funding through the ‘Creative Ireland’ programme, Donegal Railway Heritage Centre has now produced a map, showing some of the main Donegal railway heritage still to be seen across the county, and across the border.

The programme was administered by Donegal County Council.

Niall McCaughan, Manager of the Railway Museum said there has been a rise in railway heritage, locally, nationally and internationally over the years.

He said the uniqueness of railways which once operated in Donegal still holds a special place in the hearts of local people and visitors.

 “Although much of our great railway heritage has disappeared over the decades, there still is surprising a lot about, hidden in plain sight and some of Donegal’s railway heritage is still in operation for different purposes, including as the Bus Éireann bus station in Letterkenny and their depot in Donegal town, both previously part of the Donegal railway network. This includes Station buildings, halts, Gatehouses and bridges. With this in mind, we have produced a simple easy to read folded Heritage Trail guide for the county, as well as some locations just across the border.”

The guide focuses on a county-wide spread of some of the best accessible sites to be seen.

“The guide is A3 when folded out flat, has a map of key locations on one side, and a narrative for each location on the other. Each location also has the Google coordinates and/or Eircode; simply by typing this into your phone’s search engine (Google), you will be given the exact location for it. You can then Click on your device in order to get detailed directions on how to get to it from your current location. We have also taken new photographs of most of the locations, and have been reinvigorated by the quality of the railway heritage still available.”

The guide is available in hard print and will be online shortly.

“We particularly would like to thank Brid Uí Bhaoill and her colleagues at the Creative Ireland unit in Donegal County Council, who kindly funded this project, which is an important part of the history of Donegal,” said Niall.

Creative Ireland is a five-year Programme which connects people, creativity and well-being.

“This project in particular has brought groups right across the county together to collaborate on it, and it will be used in the future to inspire young people about out great railway heritage, as well as bring joy to those who fondly remember the railways which seemed to touch everyone’s lives who lived in this part of Ireland.”

The guide is currently being distributed across the North West, and is also available at the railway museum in Donegal Town.

For more information contact info@donegalrailway.com or telephone (074) 9722655.