Six decades after Maureen O'Hara and John Wayne arrived into a Co Galway railway station for the filming of John Ford's The Quiet Man, actors and musicians have endorsed a community campaign to save the building.
Known as "Castletown" in the classic film, Ballyglunin station between Athenry and Tuam in north Galway has fallen into serious disrepair. The local community initiated a crowdfunding drive on Thursday with Leo Moran, Saw Doctors musician, to raise €30,000 for a new roof.
The station dates back to 1860, when the Blake family lived in nearby Ballyglunin park. It is said Robert Blake had his evening meal cooked in Dublin’s Shelbourne Hotel and had it delivered to the west by train, using hay-filled boxes to keep it warm. The building was subsequently acquired by the Great Southern and Western Railway Company, and latterly Iarnród Éireann before its closure in 1980.
We need everyone's help to save this iconic building so that future generations can enjoy and understand our past
The station is still a key part of the West on Track community campaign to reopen western railway links along the Atlantic seaboard.
However, the Ballyglunin Community Development Charity has interim plans for an arts and heritage centre. It is due to sign a 10-year lease shortly with Iarnród Éireann.
Mark Gibson, one of the charity’s directors, said the station was remembered by many emigrants, and the group has developed links abroad. Ms O’Hara is said to have endorsed the group’s work before she died, describing the station as “part of Ireland’s great cinematic history”.
“We need everyone’s help to save this iconic building so that future generations can enjoy and understand our past,” Mr Moran said.
“The Ballyglunin Community Development Charity has huge plans to develop this amazing location, however the roof is now at serious risk of collapse. If nothing is done, we’ll be saying goodbye to an important slice of Irish history,” he added.
The campaign's fundraising ideas include using the famous station waiting room for a private event and a Quiet Man day out for four people, retracing the journey John Wayne took down the tracks.
