25th anniversary photographic exhibition
Castlerea Railway Museum will celebrate its 25th anniversary this year. To commemorate this milestone, the museum is creating a new display of photographs that will show the progress of the museum over that time, from its creation with the lifting of its original train locomotive into the building via crane, to its use for public events, to the many visitors (including the famous ones!) who have passed through its doors.
Museum curator Sean Browne, a long-time local photographer and videographer in Roscommon, has gathered hundreds of photographs over the years as the museum has evolved.
The hope is that the photo exhibition now being planned will be a collaboration with the wider community. Over 25 years, the museum has been a popular visitor attraction for locals and tourists, including national and international rail enthusiasts. As the museum began life as part of the Hell’s Kitchen pub, many people in Castlerea would also have attended social occasions in the building, enjoying the unique experience of nights out in a bar lounge that included an original A55 diesel locomotive!
Submit your photos!
Everyone who submits a photo will be entered into a draw for a special prize. The exhibition will be launched in June, in advance of the 25th anniversary of the arrival of the A55 train to the town on July 7th, 1998.
Were you at the museum on the 7th of July, 1998, the day the A55 locomotive arrived in Castlerea, and did you take a photo? Maybe you were one of the first through the doors for the official opening on the 12th of June, 1999? Did you take photos on your visit to the museum over the years, or in the Hell’s Kitchen lounge with the train in the background?
Please send your photos (with a short explanatory caption) to scealheritage@gmail.com, contact us through the Facebook page (facebook.com/castlerearailwaymuseum), or contact Sean Browne at the museum on 087 2308152.
Castlerea Railway Museum and its 25th anniversary photo exhibition is supported by the Roscommon County Council Creative Ireland Programme. Further information can be found at creative.ireland.ie and ireland.ie.
