Irish Railway Architecture

Recovered from my sugar crash at Rush and Lusk , the Dart chugged along to my next destination: Skerries. Opened along the Dublin and Drogheda Railway route in 1844 and built in 1852, my arrival wasn’t exactly the wedding feast at Cana. Resembling a recession-hit local shop, the grey shutters told me the station building was not open for business despite it being 2.30pm on a Monday. Dismayed, I strolled along the platform to snap the signal cabin – we all know the GNR standard at this point – which still retains its solitary position and exposed brick-base (albeit painted a lurid shade of 1990s magnolia). Its wonky name-plate was beginning to feel like a metaphor for the station. Opposite stands a graffitied goods shed, its sliding door missing and the arch-entry blocked up. It is an interesting example which strays from the GNR standard ocular pediments and polychromatic yellow accents. With a diamond-cut pediment and protruding castellated ends, it more resembles a Game of Thro