Skibbereen & District Historical Society

The people of West Cork recall with great fondness the time when this region was connected to the railway network. This fondness is something that Skibbereen & District Historical Society has long appreciated and in recent years our society has organised a number of talks and other events to commemorate our railway heritage. Last year we were involved in the restoration of the railway mural at the ‘Cutting’ and we unveiled the first of a series of information boards about the railways in Skibbereen, which was dedicated to the Skibbereen to Schull Tramway. During Heritage Week 2026 we were delighted to complete our railway information board series with the unveiling of two new boards. The completion of this project was made possible thanks to the support  of Cork County Council and the Heritage Council under the County Heritage Plan Funding 2026 and to the generous sponsorship of two local businesses, the West Cork Hotel and Drinagh Co-operative Limited.

The first new board, which is located at the Schull Road roundabout, is dedicated to the main railway line into Skibbereen, which was part of the Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway. The railway  line to West Cork was commenced in 1845, but it was not until 1877 that it reached Skibbereen. The Skibbereen line met the main railway line to Cork at Drimoleague Junction and had an intermediate station at Madore in Caheragh. The length of the railway to Cork City from Skibbereen was 53 miles (85 km) and it took 2 hour  10 minutes to complete that journey. Despite local protests, the West Cork railway network was closed on Good Friday, 31^st March 1961.

The second new board, located at Kennedy Bridge, Ilen Street, is dedicated to the Baltimore Railway Extension. Opened in 1893, this extension was built to facilitate the then flourishing fishing industry in Baltimore. The extension was eight miles (13 km) in length. It required significant alterations to Skibbereen Railway Station and major engineer works to construct a bridge over the Ilen River and the railway cutting beyond Bridge Street. The journey time from Skibbereen to Baltimore was 20 minutes. The extension line had stations at Creagh and Baltimore and was extended to Baltimore Harbour in 1917. To coincide with the unveiling of this board the Society also launched a new page on its website highlighting what remains of the Baltimore Extension, called Traces of the Baltimore Railway Extension.

On the night, the formal unveiling of the Baltimore Board was performed by Michael O’Sullivan an ex-railway employee and ex-resident of a railway cottage at Bunlick, on the Baltimore line. Michael’s recollections of his days working on the railway and his fellow railway workers provided us with a wonderful account of those times and enthralled all those present. (For a copy of Michael’s speech click here.) Cllr. Deirdre Kelly, representing Cork County Council, also spoke, as did our society chairperson, John O’Neill. Also present were Timmy and Barry Looney of the West Cork Hotel, who sponsored the Baltimore Extension board and Michael O’Brien of Drinagh Co-operative Limited, who sponsored the Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway board. The work on the information board project  was headed by the society’s PRO Niall O’Mahony, who is also behind the research that went into the new website page.  The information boards were designed by local graphic designer Sophie Pentek. The display cases for the information boards were erected by Cork County Council. Skibbereen & District Historical Society is very grateful to everyone who helped with this project.

Skibbereen & District Historical Society will continue our work in preserving our local heritage. If you have any information on our railway or other heritage, that you would like to share, please contact the society at secretary@skibbereenhistorical.ie.

In 2024, Elizabeth Vetell of New Jersey, USA, a descendant of the Lawtons of Lake Marsh, Aughadown and the Hosfords of Bridge Street, Skibbereen made contact with the Skibbereen Heritage Centre. She was in possession of three paintings that once belonged to the Lawton family. She wished to find out more about her family history and to return the paintings to Ireland. Sadly, in August 2025, just weeks before she was due to make her first visit to Ireland, Elizabeth died. However, thanks to the efforts of her cousin and the executor of her estate, her wish for the paintings has become a reality and they are now in the possession of the Skibbereen and District Historical Society.

The most significant of the paintings is a portrait of Hugh Lawton (1778-1859). A colourful and sometimes controversial character, he was born into a very wealthy family of Cork City wine merchants, who also owned land in Aughadown parish. The son of Christopher Lawton and Mercy Hutchinson, at the time of his birth, the Lawtons were at the height of their wealth and influence. Two years previously, in 1776, Hugh’s grandfather, also Hugh Lawton, was elected Mayor of Cork City. Such was the elder Hugh’s renown, that a full length portrait of him as Mayor was commissioned, which is now in the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork. Hugh was educated in Eton and Oxford the portrait of him as a child was possibly painted before he was sent off to boarding school. In later life he settled in Lake Marsh House, Aughadown, where he and his wife, Anna Maria Warren, raised twelve children. In Aughadown he is remembered in local folklore and in the 2025 Skibbereen Historical Journal local historian, William Casey, wrote an extended account of his life.

There are two other paintings in the collection. One is another portrait, which is believed to be of Hugh’s uncle William Hutchinson of Bantry. The Hutchinsons owned a large estate around Bantry, where their chief residence was Blackrock House. Later they sold much of their lands and Blackrock House to the White family and the house became known as Bantry House. The third is a painting of a ship. One of Hugh’s sons, William Henry, was the captain of a merchant ship, the Dartmouth, and the family tradition was that the painting was of that ship.

In time, the paintings came into the possession of Hugh’s granddaughter, Anna Maria Lawton who was married to Archibald Hosford of Bridge Street, Skibbereen. Her son, Hugh, emigrated to the USA. In 1926 his daughter, Helen, though aged only eight years, was sent to Ireland so that she could be company to her grandmother, who was unwell. A year later, when Helen returned to the USA she was given many of the Lawton heirlooms including the three paintings. Elizabeth Vetell was Helen’s last surviving child and it was her wish to see the paintings returned to Ireland.

So what now for the paintings? Ideally they would form part of an exhibition in a local museum in Skibbereen town, a facility that that the Skibbereen Historical Society believes is much needed and long overdue. While their future is being organised they are being stored in a safe and secure location, but they are not being hidden away. Recently the paintings made a brief return to their old home, Lake Marsh House in Aughadown, and the Society will make them available to the public at a Heritage Week event on Thursday 20th August 2026. For details of that event click here.

On Friday evening, 10 July, Skibbereen Historical Journal Vol. 22 (2026) was formally launched at Abbeystrewery Hall in Skibbereen. The event was presided over by the chairperson of the Skibbereen & District Historical Society, John O’Neill, and the guest speaker was Finola Finlay of the Roaringwater Journal blog. In her talk Finola spoke about the articles in this year’s Journal and examined the themes that runs through the new volume. These include resilience, particularly that of women in the past, as demonstrated in the article by Eugene McSweeney on the visit by Anna Parnell to Ballydehob in 1881, at the height of the Land War, and the article by Patricia Sears on the families from the Mizen Peninsula who, after the Great Famine, settled in the slums of London’s East End. Similar linkages were examined by Finola for each of the fourteen articles, listed below, included in the 2026 Journal.

The chairperson of the editorial committee, William Casey, also spoke. He thanked all those involved, including the other members of the editorial committee and the contributors – without whom there would be no journal. He particularly mentioned the five new contributors to this year’s Journal and expressed the hope that this was a good sign of things to come.

The articles in this year’s volume are:

The Land War in Ballydehob and the visit of Anna Parnell – Eugene McSweeney
Brow Head Signal Station, a ‘malicious destruction’ – Rachel Julia Barrett
The Human Element at a Wireless Station: Life at Crookhaven – H.W. Leech
Michael Sullivan: A Poor Man’s Evidence to the Devon Commission 1844 – Michael Casey
Dr Dan Donovan, Famine Hero – Terri Kearney
From West Cork to London’s East End – Patricia Coveney Sears
1926 The Irish Free State at a political crossroads – Donal Corcoran
The Long Walk – Bantry to Dublin 1966- Ted Cadogan
The Rural Ideal in the writings of Peadar Ó hAnnracháin – Cáit Pléimionn
A tidal mill on Sherkin Island – Conleth Manning
Winter 1947 – Mary McCarthy
St Patrick’s Cathedral, Skibbereen – Philip O’Regan
Fr Charles Davis – Tracey Wood Wolfe
Discovering the Donovans of Dromig and Lassanroe: a personal journey – Bill Wolfendale

This year’s Journal is selling for €12 and is available in local shops in Skibbereen and throughout West Cork or it can be purchased online at https://tinyurl.com/SHJ-2026. 

The death took place on 13 February 2026 of Paddy Leahy, Ballincollig and formerly of Skibbereen. Paddy was a founding member of Skibbereen & District Historical Society and contributed generously to the Society over many years.

Paddy contributed several articles to the Society’s annual journal and helped to organise a number of outings for members. In all his dealings with the Society, Paddy was a very positive influence and was always encouraging. While Paddy was a quiet and an unassuming man, he was good company and was generous with his time and talents.

Paddy was a good community man and contributed generously to various organisations, including the Hill Walking Club, the Scouts in Skibbereen, Skibbereen Geriatric Society and Castlehaven GAA and parish.

Paddy was born in Waterford and moved to Skibbereen in the late 1970s to take up a position with Cork County Council. During his long career, Paddy held various senior engineering posts, both in the Western Division of Cork County Council and in Cork County Hall. On retirement, Paddy and Rosemary moved to Ballincollig to be closer to family.

Paddy Leahy is survived by his wife Rosemary, son Gary, daughter Susan and grandchildren. At a recent meeting of Skibbereen & District Historical Society, a vote of sympathy was extended to the Leahy family.

The time when West Cork was served by a network of railway lines, including a line to Skibbereen and Baltimore, and a light railway from Skibbereen to Schull, is frequently and fondly recalled. This summer the nostalgia for our railways was clearly on display when a large crowd attended the walking tour focused on local railways organised by the Skibbereen & District Historical Society for Heritage Week. Earlier in the year the society hosted a talk in Drimoleague by John C. Dwyer on the West Cork Railways and in 2023 we presented a talk on the same topic by Chris Larkin in Skibbereen. Both of these talks were very well attended. These three events are just part of ongoing projects undertaken by our Society to recall and preserve the history of the West Cork railways. Two of these projects had major milestones this week.

The first of these was the formal unveiling of the recently refurbished railway mural at the ‘Cutting’ in Skibbereen. This iconic image dates from 1994 and is the work of renowned local artist, the late Russell Barrett. Beloved by locals and visitors alike and known as one of Barrett’s finest works it depicts a train passing through the Cutting on its way to Baltimore. Over time, the weather had taken its toll and after 30 years the mural was in need of some care and attention. The new owners of Baby Hannah’s pub, John O’Driscoll and Ann Coakley, on whose gable the mural is located, were determined that it should be restored. They were aided in their efforts by Russell Barrett’s sister, Angela Muckley. They were also supported by local councillors, including Cllr. Joe Carroll, who at the time was Mayor of County Cork. It quickly became obvious that it would require specialised experts to complete the restoration and this work could not be completed without grant aid. When approached, Skibbereen and District Historical Society were delighted to become involved to co-ordinate the project and to manage the grant application process. Our committee member Adrian Healy took the lead in this work. Funding was secured from the Heritage Council Community Heritage Grant Scheme and from Cork County Council, through their Heritage Grant Scheme and Arts Programme. The Cork County Heritage Officer, Conor Nelligan, and County Conservation Officer, Emma Baume, were very helpful in this process.

With funding in place, a mural restoration specialist, Claudia Koch from Germany, was then contracted to do the work. During July, August and into September, Claudia and her assistant Susanne Keller worked on the restoration and the finished product is much admired. We are delighted that the mural which is an important part of the portfolio of the late Russell Barrett, is much loved by the people of Skibbereen and that poignantly recalls our railway heritage has been saved for all to appreciate. This would not have been possible without the efforts of the current owners of Baby Hannah’s, who on top of everything else provided Claudia and Susanne with free accommodation, the determination of Angela Muckley to see her brother’s work preserved and the generous funding received from the Heritage Council and Cork County Council. Our thanks and congratulations to all those involved.

The second project that was formally unveiled this week is the first of what  we intend will be a series of information boards that will recall Skibbereen’s railway heritage. The first board, located by the footpath at the Schull Road roundabout, close to the location of the site of the old railway station, is dedicated to the Schull and Skibbereen Tramway & Light Railway. That light railway operated from 1886 to 1947 and it is often recalled for its slow and unreliable service. On a more positive note, it also was responsible for the construction of the iconic 12-arch viaduct in Ballydehob and for aiding the development of the Mizen Peninsula. (For more information on this railway see https://skibbereenhistorical.ie/skibbereen-to-schull-tramway.) The work on the information board was headed by our secretary Niall O’Mahony and it was designed by local graphic designer Sophie Pentek. It was financed from the society’s own resources, a grant from Cork County Council’s Community Fund and by money we received from Access Credit Union Ltd.

It is our intention to erect two further boards, one dedicated to the main railway line into Skibbereen, which opened in 1877, and the second recalling the Baltimore extension line that was completed in 1893. If you have any information on our local railways or you believe you can help us in our continuing work then please contact our secretary  by email at secretary@skibbereenhistorical.ie.