Railway Line to Achill

In 1894, the Westport – Newport railway line was extended to Achill Sound by the Great Western Rail Company. The train provided a great service to Achill, but it also fulfilled an ancient prophecy. Brian Rua O’ Cearbhain, a prophet from Erris who lived in the 17th Century – long before trains had been invented – had prophesied that ‘fire carts on iron wheels’ would carry bodies into Achill on their first and last journey. In 1894, the first train on the Achill railway carried the bodies of victims of the Clew Bay Drowning. This tragedy occurred when a boat overturned in Clew Bay, drowning thirty two young Achill people. They had been going to meet the steamer which would take them to Scotland for potato picking. Although the train line was closed in early 1937, The Kirkintilloch Burning Disaster in September 1937 fulfilled the second part of the prophecy, when the bodies of ten victims were carried by rail to Achill. These people had died in a fire in a ‘bothy’. This term referred to the temporary accommodation provided for those who went to Scotland to pick potatoes. It was very common for young people from Achill to spend their summers work in Scotland.