level crossing

Railway level crossing gates, erected c. 1900, serving Dublin to Sligo Railway line. Still in active use. Comprises pair of timber gates/barriers with cast-iron and steel fittings. Concrete posts to gates. Altered single-storey level crossing guard’s house adjacent to the southwest having hipped slate roof with rendered chimneystack, painted coursed rubble masonry walls, and square-headed openings with replacement fittings. Located in the rural countryside to the southeast of Longford Town.

A typical late nineteenth-century/early twentieth-century set of timber level crossing gates, which retain their early cast-iron and steel fittings. These gates were constructed to standard designs by the Great Midland and Western Railway Company and are one of a number of similar structures along the Dublin to Sligo line in County Longford. Many level crossing gates have been replaced in recent years making this example an increasingly rare surviving early example. They remain an integral element of the industrial heritage of County Longford and of the railway heritage of Ireland, and are an interesting and subtle historical reminder of the work of the great Victorian and Edwardian railway engineers. The altered level crossing guard’s house adjacent to the southwest adds to the setting. This level crossing was originally opened in 1855 but the present gates may have replaced earlier gates here.