Travel: By rail and road across Ireland

Across Ireland

I like relatively short rail journeys — trips of less than 3 hours or hops where multiple short trips are combined. I’ve also made all-rail escapades that have gone on for weeks. To make the most of our recent rail-themed trip to Ireland, my wife Kris and I mixed it up; we traveled both by train and by road where necessary to see the sights and make railroad photos.

Driving in Irish cities is an acquired taste, so our urban journeys were largely rail-based, except for trips to and from Dublin airport, which has no rail connection. We traveled by train between Dublin and Cork via the fast but crowded Irish Rail InterCity service [see “Irish lessons in train travel,” “Commentary,” February 2023].

Cork’s Kent Station is a regional hub, serving as the terminus for Intercity services from Dublin and Tralee and the primary focus of suburban services from Cobh (pronounced ‘cove’) and Midleton.

Kent is an interesting station. Tracks enter from the Dublin-end via a tunnel. The main tracks are protected by a curved train shed that serves Dublin and Tralee services as well as a handful of through trains running between Cobh and Mallow. Most Cobh and Midleton suburban trains depart from the opposite end of the station and run every half-hour weekdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., hourly at other times.

Irish Rail’s 2600-series diesel railcars built in 1994 by Japan’s Toyku Car Corp. and similar 2800-series cars built in 2000 handle suburban services.

I’m fond of the Cobh Branch. This double-track line makes several stops as it island hops to the historic station at Cobh. At Glounthaune (Cobh Junction) the line splits from the Midleton route. The iron footbridge is a nice photo vantage point.

Cobh is a pretty town spectacularly situated on hillsides rising up from the harbor, with a magnificent cathedral rising high above all other buildings.

In season, ferries connect Cobh with Spike Island. Located in Cork Harbour, this prison island is an Irish equivalent to San Francisco Bay’s Alcatraz.

Vantage points to photograph Irish Rail’s suburban trains against the backdrop of the harbor, can be found by following the elevated road above the tracks back toward Cork City when exiting the station.

Killarney is another destination popular with American visitors. I’ve traveled to Killarney by rail on previous trips. For this trip, however, we rented a car in Cork.

Killarney Station features a modest stub-end train shed over the main platform. Content to leave our rented car behind, we took short train trips to Tralee and Mallow.

Our Irish holiday continued with more rail trips as part of the adventure. The final highlight was Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s seasonal steam trips between Dublin’s Connolly Station and Maynooth. For information, visit steamtrainsireland.com. For information on Irish Rail visit irishrail.ie/en-ie.