End of the working line for Brendan
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Kelly Carpenter, Cormac Murray, Janet Murray, Brendan Murray, Darragh Murray and Eva Burke.Image 2 of 10
John Murray, Brendan Murray and Tony Masterson at Brendan’s retirement do on Friday evening.Image 3 of 10
Janet and Brendan Murray at the party in Clarkes on Friday.Image 4 of 10
Cormac Murray, Janet Murray, Brendan Murray and Darragh Murray.Image 5 of 10
Eva Burke, Janet Murray and Julia Burke.Image 6 of 10
Susan McPhillips, Claire Ward, Brendan Murrayand Angela Piggott.Image 7 of 10
Rosie Mulvany and Claire Burke.Image 8 of 10
Mícheál Corcoran and Tony Martin.Image 9 of 10
Eileen Coleman, Marion O’Riordan and Caroline Troy from Irish Rail.Image 10 of 10
Michael Doolan, Brendan Murray, Dermot Caffrey, John Tyrrell and John Dooner.After almost 45 years working with Irish Rail, signal ganger Brendan Murray from Mullingar hung up his hi vis for the last time last Friday, the day before his birthday on St Valentine’s Day. He was joined by family and friends to celebrate his retirement and his birthday in Clarke’s Pub, Patrick Street, on Friday evening.
Brendan is a native of Ginnell Terrace, Mullingar, and now living in Abbeylands. “I never left Mullingar, just moved around a lot”, he laughed in an interview with the Westmeath Examiner.
He started his working life as a metre reader with the ESB. He then worked in a dry cleaners and at the GAF factory in town, before it became Tarkett.
Brendan joined Irish Rail when he was 20 “with fellows my own age and younger”, many of whom are now dead. When he started, they all had to work seven days a week, whether they liked it or not; in more recent years pay deals came in and staff now enjoy a five-day a week, he explained.
“I’ve seen a few changes,” Brendan mused. When he started, all the signals were manually operated – now they are almost all electrical. The headquarters were based in Mullingar, now they are in Athlone.
Brendan’s job took him all over the west of Ireland “from Annascannon to Sligo and on the main line from Tullamore to Westport, Galway, Ballina and all in between”.
The change to electronic signals began in 1982. Gone were the signal cabins and signal operators. At a level crossing, people weren’t dealing with a signal man any more, it all became impersonal, he remarked. However, Brendan stressed that despite the move from manual to electronic signalling, he has always worked with people and has enjoyed “great camaraderie and made great friends”.
Brendan is married to Janet, née Fitzgerald, a native of O’Growney Drive, Mullingar. They have two sons, Darragh and Cormac, who both work in the health service, and one grandchild Rowan.
Brendan is looking forward to having more time with his family and to fishing and walking his dog.