Sweet Dreams at Navan

Upon my first visit to Navan in 2018 in search of the railway station I was astounded that such a large town could have had its train service removed, when much smaller villages along the Sligo and Maynooth routes were still connected to the capital. Little did I know that two years later I would marry a Navan-native, settle in the area and pass the station every day, miffed and mournful at its wasted potential. The line opened with ambition 172 years ago in 1850, built by the Dublin and Drogheda Railway as a branch line from Drogheda to Oldcastle.

Boyne Valley Railtour at Navan, 1977, Railway Preservation Society of Ireland

My station safari was rewarded by passing over the extant railway tracks at the station’s level crossing – the line is still in operation for Tara Mines – and the heralding of the former station master’s house. A typical two-storey GNR example, its red brick man has been pebbled-dashed, disguising the polychromatic contrast intended for the, still exposed, yellow brick window and door heads. The wooden bargeboards and gables remain, the elegant cruciform central pitch over the first-floor landing window demonstrating a Neo-Gothic flair for cottage orné detailing. The stone wall to the front is also the original installed by the GNR at stations across its entire network. 

Navan Station Master's House, Osgood, S. 2018. 

The entrance to Navan station is now occupied by Bus Eireann, who also use the large hammered limestone former goods warehouse, which was part of the original station complex built in 1850. The goods offices which stand to the front of the warehouse were added by the GNR to designs by W. H. Mills in 1904, whilst a new iron roof was installed in 1892 by the ironmongers Courtney, Stephens and Bailey of Dublin. There is no record of the original station which stood at Navan, only the remains of that built by the GNR in 1885. 

Navan Station Goods Warehouse, Osgood, S. 2018.

But standing in front of the yellow-brick station building, there is something a bit off, despite the uniformity in design and brickwork. I wander to the platform side, where the sunkissed yellow, red and blue brickwork comes to life. Unfortunately the purple-hue of the original Staffordshire blue bricks had been painted a rather austere black at some point, rather gaudily interfering with the intended colour-scheme. This has rubbed off the lower string-coursing where the original blue can be seen. 

Navan Station Front Elevation, Osgood, S. 2018.

What was once a glazed screen with sliding double-doors to the main booking and waiting area has been removed and boarded up, as are the doorways and windows, with the charming addition of metal bars. Examining the segmental arch window and door heads I realise what it is that has made the station’s appearance so jarring: the arches have not been raised high enough from the labelled string-coursing. My suspicion is confirmed when compared to Malahide where the arch is raised by five courses, at Navan it is four. This has made the upper part of the station at Navan  appear rather squat. 

Navan Station Platform Elevation, Osgood, S. 2018.

Such a discrepancy may be the work of the building contractor, David Mahood and McMurray. Were they not provided with enough yellow Aston Hall Premier buff bricks? Given the building’s dimensions, Navan would have required about 20,115 yellow bricks, not to mention the Staffordshire blue and Belfast red complimentary courses. Such a decision is lost to time, but does demonstrate the importance of communication in design, the supply of materials, and the aptitude of the hand of the maker. 

Difference in brick courses and colours, Navan left, Malahide right. Osgood, S. 2018 and 2021.

At the end of the platform the water tower remains, and standing opposite is the GNR signal cabin. Perfectly in-tact with its red-brick base, corresponding segmental arch and slatted wooden box, the windows have been replaced, but they would have corresponded with the round-edged windows of the glazed screen to the station’s platform. Uniting with the station master’s house are the wooden bargeboards with their circular perforations, pointed finials and curved brackets. On the platform stand the old signal boards, their levers still in-situ. 

Navan Signal Cabin, Osgood, S. 2018.

Back at my desk I discover a drawing for Navan from the Irish Railway Record Society archives. It illustrated a group of buildings to the east of Navan station, which stand underneath the large railway viaduct built by the Dublin and Drogheda Railway in 1850 of rusticated limestone, which crosses the Rover Boyne. These residential buildings belonged to the DDR and then the GNR, and many still stand today. A walk along Academy Street and under the viaduct will reward the passer-by with stone houses with red brick window and door surrounds. 

Buildings under Navan Railway Viaduct, IRRS Archive

And so I pass the station complex every day, now expecting my own Navan-native. The station lies in wait as a sleeping collective of GNR architecture, in anticipation of a return to cosmopolitan connectivity. A new local and her future progeny can dream. 

Sources

Buildings of Ireland 

CIE Archive

Irish Architectural Archive 

Irish Railway Record Society Archive 

Railway Preservation Society of Ireland