A journey through Cork’s historic railways

Our local studies department boasts an impressive collection of books detailing the fascinating history of Cork’s railways. Our collection includes:

The Schull & Skibbereen Railway by James I. C. Boyd

The railways of West Cork ‘reflections and reminiscences’

Lost railways of Co. Cork by Stephen Johnson

The Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railway : an illustrated history. Volume 2: 1900-1950 by Colm Creedon


Irish railways in pictures. No. 3, The railways of Cork compiled by the Irish Railway Record Society

Cork city railway stations : an illustrated history by Colm Creedon

Great Southern Railways : an Irish railway pictorial by Donal Murray

These books, and many others, can be viewed in the local studies library on Floor 2 of Cork County Library, Carrigrohane Road. There are also members of staff on hand to answer any questions you may have.

Another valuable source for the history of Cork’s railways is ‘The Dermot McCarthy Railway Photograph Collection’ which can be freely accessed from our digital archive at corkdigitalarchive.ie. ‘The Colm Creedon Collection’, which features the work of the late railway historian, including digitalized images of his scrapbooks and notebooks, can also be found in our digital archive.