Thurles railway station

Thurles railway station serves the town of Thurles in County Tipperary in Ireland. The station is on the Dublin–Cork Main line, and is situated 86.5 miles (139.2 km) from Dublin Heuston.^[1] It has two through platforms and one terminating platform.

Thurles Durlas
Station platform, September 2024
General information
Location	Railway Road, Thurles, County Tipperary, E41 H027 Ireland
Coordinates	52°40′35″N 7°49′19″W
Owned by	Iarnród Éireann
Operated by	Iarnród Éireann
Platforms	3
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
History
Original company	Great Southern and Western Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Southern and Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Southern Railways
Key dates
1848	Station opens
1880	line to Clonmel opened
1963	Clonmel passenger trains withdrawn
1967	line to Clonmel closed

An average of 17 trains each day between Dublin Heuston and Cork Kent serve Thurles station.^[2]

History

Grave at Ardmore Cathedral of Declan Hurton (IRA), killed at Thurles station in December 1921.

The Great Southern and Western Railway opened the station on 13 March 1848.^[3][1] The station was designed by Sancton Wood.^[4]

On 5 August that year William Smith O'Brien was arrested on the station while waiting for a train after an unsuccessful insurrection in Ballingarry in South Tipperary.^[1] There is a plaque at the station commemorating the event.

In 1880 the Southern Railway of Ireland opened between Thurles and Clonmel on the Waterford and Limerick Railway (W&LR), making Thurles a junction.^[5] Following failure to pay a debt the Board of Works took over the line with operations handed to the W&LR until that was absorbed by the GS&WR in 1901.^[5]

On 9 December 1921, Old IRA members were being released during the Irish War of Independence. As internees reached Thurles railway station, a bomb was thrown at the train. Vol. Declan Hurton was injured and later died of his wounds.^[6][7]

CIÉ withdrew passenger services from the Thurles – Clonmel line in 1963 and closed the line to freight in 1967.

Thurles station has three times won the Irish Rail Best Intercity Station prize.^{[citation needed]}

Services

Train Services

Preceding station	Iarnród Éireann			Following station
Templemore		InterCity Dublin–Cork Main Line		Limerick Junction
[[Dublin Heuston or Portarlington railway station|Dublin Heuston or Portarlington]]		InterCity Dublin–Tralee Main Line
Templemore		InterCity Dublin-Limerick Main Line		Limerick Colbert
	Disused railways
terminus		Great Southern and Western Railway Thurles–Clonmel line		Horse and Jockey

Bus Services

Local Link buses serve Thurles Railway Station.

391 Thurles to Limerick

850 Athlone to Thurles (Sundays only)

850 Portlaoise to Thurles

See also

• List of railway stations in Ireland

References

1. Murray & McNeill (1976), p. 174.
2. "Dublin Heuston to Cork" (PDF). Iarnród Éireann. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
3. "Thurles station" (PDF). Railscot – Irish Railways. Retrieved 7 September 2007.
4. "Wood, Sancton: Works". Dictionary of Irish Architects. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
5. Murray & McNeill (1976), p. 128.
6. O'Halpin, Eunan; Corrain, Daithi O. (20 October 2020). The Dead of the Irish Revolution. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300123821 – via Google Books.
7. "December 1921". irishhistory1919-1923chronology.ie.

Bibliography

• Murray, K. A.; McNeill, D. B. (1976). The Great Southern & Western Railway. Irish Railway Record Society. ISBN 0904078051. OCLC 3069424.

External links

• "Thurles". Iarnród Éireann.