Village to commemorate train crash anniversary

A small village in North Cork is preparing to commemorate the 100th anniversary of a train crash which left one person dead and more than 90 injured.

On Bank Holiday Monday, Aug 6, the people of Lombardstown will unveil a commemorative stone and launch a new book on the history of the local railway station.

The event will recount how a special excursion train carrying 250 English holidaymakers back to the ferry in Dublin from Killarney crashed as it entered Lombardstown railway station.

The most serious injuries were inflicted on passengers in the first carriage and a number of them were trapped in the wreckage.

As Lombardstown was sparsely populated at that time, local help was slow to arrive. A relief train eventually came and carried the injured to hospitals in Cork City.

Cork Corporation mobilised all available ambulances and used lorries to ferry the injured to and from Kent station to hospital.

A Board of Trade inquiry found the driver of the excursion train guilty of negligence. He was formally charged with manslaughter, but later acquitted.