Pages Past: High drama as train robbed at Multyfarnham
Westmeath Examiner, October 18, 1975
High drama as train robbed at Multyfarnham
“AS WE GO TO PRESS the final amount stolen during last Thursday night’s daring train robbery at Multyfarnham Station is expected to reach six figures,” a story on the front of the Westmeath Examiner of October 18, 1975 revealed.
The dramatic train robbery didn’t make it as the lead story that week as the real big news was the canonisation of St Oliver Plunkett – ‘Rome is an Irish city this week’ trumpeted the headline over that.
The train robbery story stated that early estimates had put the amount stolen at only “several thousand” but by Monday morning that was stated by CIÉ officials to be a “conservative figure”. To date, despite extensive garda investigations, there had been no trace of the raiders, believed to be six armed men.
In his account of the robbery, the writer revealed that the drama began at 11.38pm, just three minutes after the Dublin-Sligo train had left Mullingar Station: “The signalman at Multyfarnham, Philip Newman of Clonhugh, had left his cabin to open the railway gate to allow the train through. Before he left the cabin, he cut the signals at red.
“As he made his way to the gates, he was set upon by two masked and armed men. He was overpowered and brought to a disused station building where he was held at gunpoint. When the train approached the station, the driver, Thomas Egan, Sligo, noticed that the signals were red and against him entering the station. He blew the train’s whistle to attract attention and just as they stopped, a number of armed men rushed towards the train and jumped into the driver’s cabin.
“Mr Egan was forced to drive the train into the station and when he stopped, his assistant, Mr Michael Melton, Sean Costello Street, Athlone, and the guard, Mr Jimmy O’Grady, Sligo, were brought to the guard’s van. Mr O’Grady was forced to open the van. One of the raiders asked for the bags with the red labels and specifically for the Donegal bags. It is believed that they made off with six bags destined for Donegal, Lifford, Sligo, Ballymore, Longford and Tubbercurry.
“Before leaving the scene, the gang ordered the driver, his assistant, the guard and the signalman into the guard’s van where they were bound with nylon rope and gagged with elastoplast. The raiders, who, it is believed, left the scene in a number of cars, carried a variety of firearms. Apart from the sawn-off shotguns and the rifle, other members of the gang had handguns.
“The only description of the culprits is in respect of two of the men. One is described as 5’9” or 5’10” and with a Donegal or Northern accent. He is believed to be the tallest of the group. The second man was about 5’8” and had a squeaky voice.
“It was over an hour before the gardaí received word that the train was overdue at Lanesboro. Squad cars from Granard and Mullingar rushed to Multyfarnham.
“At first it was feared that the train might have been booby-trapped, but when it was searched, nothing was found. The four men were found safe in the guard’s van and were released by Gardaí Denis Naughton and Hugh Cafferty from Mullingar.
“Later, the gardaí found the tracks of a vehicle which appeared to have backed up to the building in which the signalmen had been held. Local people have been questioned as to whether they saw or heard anything suspicious on the night but so far, gardaí have no positive leads.”
Westmeath Examiner, October 17, 2015
GAA defends ticket prices
The Westmeath GAA County Board had defended the admission charges to games in Cusack Park, amid claims that GAA fans were being priced out of supporting their clubs, journalist Rodney Farry wrote in the edition of October 17, 2015.
The report stated that for the coming Sunday’s hurling championship decider between Raharney and Clonkill, the admission prices were €15 for adults; €10 for students over 16 and OAPs and €3 for unaccompanied U16s. Children attending the game with a parent could attend for free.
Mr Farry wrote that the paper had been contacted by GAA fans who believed the current rates were actually deterring families from attending matches.
However, defending the prices, Cusack Park secretary James Savage explained that the revenue generated from admission to matches went towards funding the county board’s activities: “We have to get revenue to run county teams, coaches and development squads. Admission receipts alone don’t come near to it but if we reduce them further we have to find the funding somewhere,” he said.
Westmeath Examiner, October 15, 2005
Lidl and Tesco
Journalist Ronan Casey revealed that Lidl – which had been refused planning permission a year earlier – looked set to resubmit plans for a major warehouse and distribution centre at Lough Sheever Corporate Park.
“The €25 million, 300,000 square metre project will create between 100 and 150 jobs across a seven and a half acre site. As well as promising that the vast majority of jobs will be recruited locally, Lidl promises spin-off business for local producers and suppliers,” he wrote.
Eilís Ryan, meanwhile, reported that Tesco had received the go-ahead from the planning appeals board, An Bord Pleanála to build a petrol filling station in Mullingar.
The planners had, however, refused permission for the station to operate as a 24/7 facility.
Westmeath Examiner, October 14, 1995
Success for Shamrocks over Rosemount
‘Superb Shamrocks stroll to 4-in-a-row’ was the headline on a report of the county senior football championship, held the previous Sunday, in which Shamrocks registered a score of 0-18 to Rosemount’s 1-7. The win was their seventh county title in 10 years, but the report stated that while Shamrocks had a habit of producing “scintillating football”, their performance on Sunday was “arguably their greatest ever display”.
Mullingar Shamrocks: Dermot Ryan, Ned Moore (captain), Brian Lalor, Paul Ahearne, Michael Fagan, John Conlon, Bill Sex, Tom Ormsby, Kevin Cahill, Eddie Casey, Ciaran Ryan, Denis Corroon, Bernard Flynn, Mark Treanor and Michael O’Reilly. Subs: Paddy Monaghan for P Ahearne; Eric Smith for D Corroon and Aidan Lyons for E Casey.
Rosemount: Pat Fox, Padraig Maxwell, Tom Darcy, Joe Farrell, Niall Keenan, Michael Molloy (captain), Martin Loddick, Andrew Boland, Tom Geoghegan, Damien Kelly, Padraig Moran, John Healy, David Keane, James Kelly and Cathal Keane. Subs: Declan Keane for John Healy; Mike Geoghegan for Joe Farrell and John Fox for Michael Molloy.
Westmeath Independent, October 18, 1985
Health Board chasing farmers
“Farmers who still haven’t paid their arrears for health contribution and levies will be visited by health board officials in the near future, we have learned this week,” stated an item in the Westmeath Independent.
Stating that the arrears figure was “still hovering” around the £1 million mark, the article explained that the Midland Health Board had decided to follow the example set by the Eastern and Mid-Western Health Boards by visiting farmers’ homes looking for money.
“The Midland Health Board will send officials to farmers’ homes within the next fortnight. These officials will be authorised to collect outstanding arrears on the spot,” it added.
Westmeath Examiner, October 18, 1975
Oliver Plunkett canonisation
The editor of the Westmeath Examiner, Nicholas Nally, had travelled to Rome to report on the canonisation of the Meath diocesan saint, Oliver Plunkett. Mr Nally revealed there was a large Westmeath delegation present, including 20 priests from the diocese, along with Most Rev Dr J McCormack, bishop. The priests were Very Rev PJ Regan, Adm, Mullingar, Vy Rev M McManus, PP Multyfarnham; Vy Rev J Dermody, PP Kilskyre; Vy Rev J Carey, PP Delvin; Vy Rev Fr Holloway, PP Kilbride; Vy Rev Fr Bartley, PP; Rev Fr Shortall, CC, Oldcastle; Rev T Caffrey, CC Mullingar, Rev M Smith, bishop’s secretary; Rev T Mullen, CC Collinstown; Rev E Daly, CC Tullamore; Rev T Gillooly, CC, a native of Fore; Rev M Keogh, CC Delvin; Rev W Behan, formerly CC in Ballynacargy; Rev P Moore, CC Mullingar and Most Rev William Dunne, who was from Delvin but who was Bishop of Kitui.
Wrote Mr Nally: “From across the Palazzetto di Tizio da Spoleto late last night, the sound of a mixed ‘choir’ rendering Galway Bay and Danny Boy under the colonnades could be heard from the Westmeath people present, conducted by Paddy Power from Cullion.
“Paddy, a long time ago, made a promise to be present at the canonisation ceremonies as soon as Blessed Oliver was to be declared a saint, and despite an anxiety over air travel, he travelled on his own and kept his promise.”
Westmeath Examiner, October 16, 1965
Exiles playing GAA in Yukon
Westmeath was well represented on the teams that played hurling and football games at a sporting event that had just been held “on the borders of Alaska and Yukon”.
The hurling match saw a final score of 4-6 to the Calumet team and 2-4 to the Elsa team.
“Seconds after the throw-in, former Collinstown star Jim Gavigan crashes home a goal and follows up with a point to give Elsa an early lead,” began the report.
Other Westmeath players name-checked with the report were Owen Moore from Delvin, Frank Reilly from Turin, Billy Bell from Clonkill, Jimmy “Ballyhaw” Gaffney from Delvin. Also from Westmeath, although their locations were not given, were Matt Loughrey, A Carey, L Whelan, Pat Corroon, Jim Cleary, George Anderson, Ed J Cruise, Willie Bell, Richard Connell, P Mulhearns and J Mulholland.
In the Gaelic football game – the first ever played in the Yukon – the line-up included some of those who lined out on the Calumet and Elsa teams in the hurling, but other names were Jimmy Cleary from Mullingar, Pat Matthews, Alan Dick and Pat Loughrey.
Westmeath Examiner, October 15, 1955
Rare bird found
The body of what was described as “a strange bird” found in Mullingar had been identified as that of a rare specimen, mainly found in the Arctic Circle.
The report stated that while cycling to work on the morning of October 6, Mr H Bruton of Lynn, Mullingar, had found the dead bird lying on the road.
“Apparently it had been blown inland during the severe storm the previous night,” stated the report, going on to explain that the well-known ornithologist, PJ Kennedy, had identified the bird, which he described as follows: “It was an immature long-tailed Skua, also formerly called Buffous Skua. In the adult, the central tail feathers extend from 5” to 8” beyond the rest of the tail.
“In Ireland, this Skua is scarce and irregular in its visits. I notice this is the first record for Westmeath.
“These birds breed in the Arctic Circle”.
The report concluded by stating that the bird had been handed to the curator of the museum for preservation.
Westmeath Examiner, October 20, 1945
Cattle loading row
At a meeting of the Westmeath Committee of Agriculture more than half a century ago, tempers flared over delays at Mullingar railway station during the cattle fairs. Gerry L’Estrange complained that farmers had been left waiting all day to have their cattle loaded, with no proper rotation observed. Even an English visitor, he said, was shocked at the disorder compared to stations back home.
Mr Black suggested easing the chaos by loading some animals at the Northern Bank, while Mr C McGurk said that concerning the last fair day in Mullingar, there were fairs also in other towns and consequently sufficient wagons were not available. Owing to the emergency, it was impossible to obtain sufficient fittings and steel for the construction of wagons. Consequently, CIÉ could not provide more wagons than they had at present.
If anyone had a grievance, concluded Mr McGurk, as regards loading facilities or anything else, the proper thing to do was to bring it to the notice of the railway superintendent and he was sure that everything would be done to make matters right.
The committee decided to protest to the superintendent regarding the manner in which cattle were loaded, asking that they be loaded in strict rotation as they arrived, and that some of the cattle for Liffey Junction and such places be loaded at other banks to relieve congestion.
Westmeath Examiner, October 19, 1935
VEC given schools updates
The Westmeath Vocational Committee had met that week and during the meeting, the inspector’s report for 1934–1935 was submitted.
In his assessment of Mullingar Technical School, the inspector noted that enrolment in the day school was satisfactory and teaching standards were high across all subjects. However, student attendance was poor, and some students were taking long absences and returning whenever they wished. The inspector recommended stopping that practice, stressing that it weakened the effectiveness of teaching and could affect school morale.
He also pointed out that arrangements for night classes were unsatisfactory, and that courses in domestic science and commercial subjects had not been properly organised. This issue was discussed in detail with the headmaster and the CEO, with hopes that better night classes in these areas would be organised next term.
The report mentioned that a boys day school was opened in Killucan during the year, working with the Mullingar school. The school premises were described as only adequate. There had been plans to develop the centre with a focus on rural education, but the agricultural instructor was unavailable at the last moment, so rural science could not be offered. Seventeen boys enrolled and made steady progress, but attendance dropped off in the spring.
Finally, a promising day continuation class started at Castlepollard, enrolling 49 students. Initially, the class faced challenges because only one room was available, but a second room was later secured to provide space for manual instruction.