North Kerry line around Barnagh

Grandeeod

Any help appreciated.

I've been researching this line around Barnagh in relation to the N21 road improvements many years ago. At Barnagh station the N21 crossed over the railway on a narrow bridge. Seen in lots of photos and the scene of lots of accidents. Further along the N21 towards Newcastle West, the North Kerry passed over the N21 also in the Barnagh area and the scene of a cash van robbery in 1977. Can anyone locate that particular spot???

The N21 has seen a lot of improvements in that area and its hard to tell how it looked around 1988 or thereabouts.

lottpaul

If it's the place I think you're talking about there was a bridge over the N21 just where the Greenway meets the current road at the bottom of the hill (travelling from Abbeyfeale) below Barnagh. If the link below works you can see the wooden gate at the top of the incline - thats where the old bridge/line was demolished.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.4295955,-9.1280369,3a,15y,348.16h,85.14t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s5b_vbcfb-sN03C1e1C07Aw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en

It was a notorious spot - road twisted as it went under the bridge. There are good maps of the area on Geohive which date back to the early 1900s, and sadly there hadn't been too much improvement by the 1980s.
Don't recall the robbery you're talking about but it could have been there.

Grandeeod

lottpaul wrote: »

If it's the place I think you're talking about there was a bridge over the N21 just where the Greenway meets the current road at the bottom of the hill (travelling from Abbeyfeale) below Barnagh. If the link below works you can see the wooden gate at the top of the incline - thats where the old bridge/line was demolished.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.4295955,-9.1280369,3a,15y,348.16h,85.14t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s5b_vbcfb-sN03C1e1C07Aw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en

It was a notorious spot - road twisted as it went under the bridge. There are good maps of the area on Geohive which date back to the early 1900s, and sadly there hadn't been too much improvement by the 1980s.
Don't recall the robbery you're talking about but it could have been there.

Cheers, Geohive was very helpful.

Grandeeod

The provisional IRA staged a cash van robbery in July 1978, taking £430,000. A fake roadworks/diversion was set up. Traffic was diverted onto the old Barnagh road. The cash van was then directed onto an empty N21 and at the point where the railway crossed the road, it was stopped and the money taken. It lead to Garda/Army excorts for large cash shipments in the future.

Grandeeod

As I started this thread, I'm updating it. Delighted after a walkabout today around Barnagh that I have finally figured out the original configuration before the road upgrade in the area back in the 90s. Working on a project that was postponed during the Covid period about the north Kerry line. The wanderers site was a massive help in getting a sense of how things have changed. Along with Ciaran Cooney's great IRRS film shows that include footage from it. A long way to go with this but it will be worthwhile.

The_Wanderer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121010070#Comment_121010070

Glad to be of help!