Rail Ramble Round Ireland, July 1969

This book is a quirky illustrated travelogue memoir by the inimitable retired Irish-born Glasgow journalist Hugh Dougherty of his week touring and ecploring Ireland by public transport when he was an 18-year-old. It’s fully illustrated with his photographs and a picture of his long-kept battered and sellotaped 1969 summer trains timetable! With just the cash in your pocket and no ATMs or mobile phones, travel was a bit different from today if things went awry. You can feel Hugh’s excitement and fear, too, in his recollections! Locations include Loughrea Station, Cork (with a train going down the middle of the street behind a flagman), Connolly Station in Dublin, Portarlington, Cork Kent Station, Cork Bus Station, Cobh, Tralee, Attymon Junction, Pearse Station, a mad crazy busy Wexford Quay, Howth (with a GNR (1) ‘BUT’ railcar set), and Waterside Station in Derry.