The Waterford, Limerick & Western Railway—125 years on

2026 marks the 125th anniversary of the takeover of the Waterford, Limerick & Western Railway (WL&WR) by the Great Southern & Western Railway (GSWR) in 1901. This was a significant in Irish railway history. Up until then, the WL&WR had been the fourth largest railway company in Ireland, with 342 route miles. In this article, we will take a look at the history of the WL&WR and its legacy today.

An original Waterford, Limerick & Western Railway 2-4-0 locomotive, built as No.44 Nephin, by then CIÉ No.291, is seen at Limerick on 5th July 1955. Photo by kind permission of Ernie's Railway Archive.

What would become the WL&WR started out as the more modestly-titled Waterford & Limerick Railway in 1848. The initial line ran from Limerick to Tipperary, with Clonmel being reached in 1852, followed by Waterford (Newrath) in 1854. Incidentally, the Act enabling its construction had been passed as far back as 1826, predating that for the Dublin & Kingstown Railway by some 5 years.

Beyond Waterford & Limerick

Its system would expand throughout the latter half of the 19th century. In 1856, the Limerick and Foynes Railway reached Ballingrane, extending to Foynes in 1858. This line was worked by the Waterford & Limerick Railway in practice and would pass into their ownership entirely in 1873, under the Waterford & Limerick Railway Act. Under the same Act, the company absorbed the Limerick, Castleconnell & Killaloe Railway, the Limerick & Ennis Railway, the Athenry & Ennis Junction Railway, the Athenry & Tuam Railway and the Rathkeale & Newcastle Junction Railway. As with the Foynes line, in practice, they had been operating these routes from their opening. This effectively gave the company a web of lines radiating north, east and south of Limerick.

Further extensions

The company would further extend this network, reaching locations such as Tralee (1880), Fenit (1887), Claremorris (1894) and Coolooney (1895). Coolooney marked the junction with the Midland Great Western Railway line from Mullingar to Sligo, over which the Waterford & Limerick company had running powers. In addition, they operated the Southern Railway line from Clonmel to Thurles, which opened in 1880, although this remained a separate company.

With the company by now having outgrown the simple ‘Waterford & Limerick Railway’ name, it was retitled the ‘Waterford, Limerick & Western Railway’ in 1896. It was by now the fourth-largest railway company in Ireland.

The end of the WLWR's independence

Its independence as a behemoth would not last long, however. In 1901, it was absorbed by the Great Southern & Western Railway (GSWR), enabling what was already Ireland’s largest railway company to expand its territory further into the west of Ireland. The amalgamation was opposed by the Midland Great Western Railway, which had been battling against the GSWR gaining a foothold in the west for most of its existence. Concerns about awarding the GSWR a monopoly were the subject of debate in parliament. Ultimately, the absorption was allowed, but the MGWR were granted running powers between Athenry and Limerick. The Dublin, Wicklow & Wexford Railway were granted such powers over the Waterford to Limerick section.

And thus ended the independent existence of the WLWR, almost a quarter of a century before any of the other ‘big’ Irish railway companies would see any kind of merger. Its locomotives and rolling stock were gradually repainted into GSWR colours, which meant the loss of the WLWR’s maroon locomotive livery in favour of the GSWR’s black colour scheme.

The GSWR itself was amalgamated into the Great Southern Railway (GSR) in late 1924 (becoming the Great Southern Railways, plural, from January 1925). This in turn merged with the Dublin United Tramways Company to form Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) in 1945. By this stage, some WLWR locomotives could still be found at work, not only on their original lines but also in far-flung places such as as far as east Enniscorthy on the former Dublin South Eastern Railway system and as far south as Clonakilty on the former Cork, Bandon & South Coast Railway network.

The system itself would see much pruning over the 20th century. The GSR ceased passenger services to Killaloe as early as 1931, with CIÉ closing the branch entirely in the late 1940s. Fenit also lost its regular passenger service in 1934, although special excursions would continue until 1978. The Tralee and the Foynes lines vanished from the passenger network in 1963, with freight continuing until 1978 and 2001 respectively. However, at the time of writing, the Foynes line is undergoing an extensive rebuild for freight traffic. The Claremorrs-Coolooney section also lost its passenger service in 1963, with goods continuing until 1975. Passenger trains stopped on the Claremorris to Limerick route in 1976, with a Limerick-Ennis passenger service being gradually revived from the mid 1980s on. The Waterford to Limerick mainline has remained open to this day, along with the Limerick-Birdhill route. In 2010, the Ennis to Athenry line reopened as part of Phase 1 of the Western Rail Corridor, with further re-openings northwards to Tuam and Claremorris mooted for the future.

Táilte Tours guide Jonathan Beaumont with WLWR Family Saloon carriage No.77 on our visit to Belturbet during our 'Three Museums' tour back in 2024.

In terms of the WLWR fleet, there are sadly few survivors, with none of its elegant locomotives having escaped the scrapyard. However, the former ‘Family Saloon’ carriage, No.77, survives at Belturbet Heritage Railway Museum. The body of carriage No.25 (GSWR 907) is also believed to survive at a non-rail location. Carriages 934 and 935 were briefly preserved by the RPSI but were unfortunately destroyed by fire in the late 1990s. As such, the Family Saloon is an extremely important survivor in the Irish railway scene. It is well worth a visit, should you be in the Belturbet area.

Often forgotten as one of the ‘major players’ in the development of the Irish railway network, the Waterford, Limerick & Western Railway can be said to have more than made its mark on its development. While routes such as Limerick Junction to Waterford and Limerick to Athenry are considered by many to be ‘branch lines’ today, it’s worth bearing in mind that they were once important mainlines in their own right.