A beautiful sunny afternoon heralded my arrival at the seaside station of Laytown. Alighting from the train the light bounced off the ice-cream yellow paintwork on the former GNR wooden station building.
Originally opened in 1844 by the Dublin and Drogheda Railway, Laytown promised “celebrated Velvet Strands” and it is not difficult to see why: the station is raised above its nearby coastline, offering views across the southern bay to the hinterland of Braymore Point, whilst Bettystown’s strand, famous for horseracing, is located to the north.
The station built by the DDR still stands, now a private residence, as the two-storey rendered house to the entrance of the car park. Although recorded as built around 1847 by Buildings of Ireland, the Dictionary of Irish Architects records an entry in the Dublin Builder from 1865 where a “new station and two workmen's houses recently erected by Dublin & Drogheda Railway Co.”. The architect is unknown, but it can demised that this more permanent station replaced an earlier incarnation, or perhaps even just a platform. The building contained the station master’s living quarters on the upper storey.
In 1899 the board of directors at the GNR approved the construction of a new wooden station at Laytown, with the original DDR station to be retained completely as the station master’s residence. The tender was awarded to a Mr Thomas Creaser at £323. And so two grand structures now co-existed: the new station bearing the hallmarks of semi-arch windows, doors and a beautiful central glazed entrance with wooden sliding doors to the waiting area, ticket office and ladies waiting room. The yellow-brick chimney stacks evidence the provision of heat, and the stylistic polychromatic brickwork of the GNR.
Today it is with a heavy heart that I stand in front of such a rare surviving example of a wooden GNR station now boarded up, its painted cream-cone promises peeling and warping. A drawing for the station has not been located but an exact version for Ballyward and Leitrim shows the immense effort taken in so carefully designing and constructing these types of stations.
 |
| Source: Irish Railway Record Society Archive |
Another GNR wooden incarnation was the signal cabin with its red-brick base and moulded semi-arch window and door hoods. The signal cabin stood at the northern end of the eastern platform but is again, like so many of its brethren, no longer in situ. The detailing of the moulded woodwork tied it to the station building, as did the stylised brickwork which chimed with the half-formed arches of the wooden-framed windows and doorways.
 |
| Source: Eiretrains |
Another casualty has been the ironwork lattice-girder footbridge. Like the one preserved at Malahide, the lattice-design is an example of the engineering genius of the DDR’s chief engineer: Sir John Macneill. Macneill formatted and championed the lattice design for its strength and adaptability for scale: from footbridges to the Boyne Viaduct, Macneill demonstrated the qualities of this design.
 |
| Source: Eiretrains |
Leaving the station I walk toward the beckoning seaside, stopping to admire the ellipsed hammered-stone bridge over the narrow road. The original DDR infrastructure still survives here at least. Pat’s supermarket supplies me with a 99 ice-cream cone, as I cross the road to gaze at the Laytown viaduct. I’m enjoying it so much I forget to take a photograph, so here’s Google Maps’ version from 2019.
 |
| Source: Google Street View |
The Dublin Builder records that the viaduct was originally a wooden structure built by the DDR and replaced by that company in 1865 for a new iron one. This matches the construction of the DDR station building, showing that Laytown had proven its status as a worthwhile destination.
And so, like the many Victorian tourists before me, I promenade along Laytown’s velvet strands before returning to the station to wait for my train home. But for me, there is no waiting room, no staffed office, and no fire by which to warm the cockles despite having two stations to choose from.
Sources