Life & Times of Aodogán O'Rahilly, part 9 ....

9/10/2020

Please refer to our Blog for September 4, 2020 and prior entries regarding the status of the village of Greenore which was put up for sale by auction by the Dundalk, Newry and Greenore Railway Company. This entity was part of the very complicated conglomeration of railway companies that straddled the international borders of the Republic of Ireland with Northern Ireland which is part of the United Kingdom.

The Dundalk, Newry and Greenore Railway Company had come under the ownership of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) which in turn had been assimilated by the 1947 Transport Act to become a part of British Railways, but in the Republic of Ireland that faction outside of the jurisdiction of the UK was represented in the Republic of Ireland by Great Northern Railway (Ireland) company, (GNRI). We dealt with this very complicated issue back on July 24, 2020 under the heading of 'Sabotage from Dundalk, part 5', but when it came to reporting this story in the press, it was easier for the reporter to take editorial liberties with the facts by simply claiming that the properties bought by Weatherwell Ltd., had been purchased from British Railways. This of course was factually incorrect.

However, this kind of sloppy reporting was then repeated when it came to the various sales by auction involving the assets wrapped-up with the village of Greenore. Careful attention must be paid to several areas of reporting when it comes to Weatherwell Ltd and their purchases.

On April 6, 1954, it was reported that Weatherwell Ltd., and not Aodogán O'Rahilly bought the derelict railway station and former port land which covered more than eight acres, but incorrectly reported once again that the seller was "British Railways". The question of whether land formerly used by a port constituted a "port" is another issue that is skipped over by the press. (See report right).

What should be noted is that Weatherwell Ltd had a factory at Clondalkin, just outside Dublin where Aodogán O'Rahilly also lived. This company has a working relationship with a gypsum mine at Kingscourt, County Cavan which is about 30 miles from Greenore.

The Weatherwell Ltd plan is to demolish the former train station and all other facilities and turn the site into "a modern factory with machinery for manufacturing plaster board and plaster." This does not happen, but a loan is secured by Weatherwell Ltd with that purpose in mind.

Another item worthy of note is that the purchase by Weatherwell Ltd does not include the golf course nor the railway hotel.

More tomorrow. In the meantime please pay attention to the strict details which many writers have simply ignored and made foundational claims that are totally false, but upon which these same authors have then layered more false information. It may be tedious reading, but the blame is with the numerous authors who have decided to ignore reality and peddle mythology.