Railway Tunnel

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Tunnel - passing under a road and stream - constructed in 1879-80 to facilitate the Ballycastle Railway Company’s narrow gauge line between Ballycastle and Ballymoney.

Nestled into the Cape Castle landscape in County Antrim, the abandoned narrow guage railway tunnel is located towards the South of Ballycastle at 5 Islandarragh road, running at approximately 35m in length and largely disguised as a roadway and greenery amongst abutting farmlands. It is difficult to notice the presence of the tunnel as it has been reclaimed by the natural landscape where it integrates itself well within its surroundings.

The stone construction and ringstone arrangement at its elevation gives form to the tunnels barrel profile whilst providing substantial loading guage and structural stability evident through its upper level programming. Occupied as a roadway, the upper level contributes to the natural landscape with mature trees abutting its stepping stone parapet that remains intact. Additionally, a water stream is located from above that extends across the span of the tunnel which appears to have created issues where signs of flooding and water build-up can be seen below, towards the centre of the tunnel.

Historical information

This tunnel was built as part of the Ballycastle Railway Company’s narrow gauge line between Ballycastle and Ballymoney, a roughly 16mile (26km) route that opened in October 1880 and which remained in operation until July 1950.

The idea of a railway link between the two towns was first mooted in the late 1850s, shortly after the completion of the Ballymena, Ballymoney, Coleraine and Portrush Junction Railway’s line in 1855. Plans began to be formalized in the course of the 1860s but a Bill for creation of the line was eventually rejected by the House of Lords in 1868. The scheme was revived in 1876, however, and was finally approved with the passing of Ballycastle Railway Act in July 1878.

Work on the line, under the direction of Belfast-based architect and engineer James Francis MacKinnon and carried out by contractors Butler & Fry of Ballymena, commenced in early 1879 and was completed in September 1880. In order to keep construction costs down, the line was built to a narrow (3ft) gauge and major earthworks were avoided. As a consequence, the track was to follow a somewhat curving route, and aside from a number of small bridges, the only two significant aspects of engineering consisted of a four-arch stone viaduct over the Glentow River, just south of Ballycastle and this, relatively short, straight tunnel at Capecastle.

Although the new service became relatively well used, the line was never a highly profitable one and by the early 1920s it had fallen into financial difficulties. It was closed in March 1924, but after negotiations reopened several months after later having been absorbed by the Northern Counties Committee (NCC), the company that by this time had taken over much of the rail network in the north-east of Ireland. In 1948-49 the entirety of Northern Ireland’s railways passed into the hands of the Government owned Ulster Transport Authority who set about a programme of rationalization, closing the Ballycastle line for good in July 1950.

Since that time many of the structures associated with the route have been cleared away, including the halt at Capecastle itself. In recent years plans have been put forward to restore the route as a greenway, but at the time of writing (March 2024) the outcome of this proposal remains uncertain.

References – primary sources
1 ‘Londonderry Sentinel’ – 28 November 1856, p.2
2 ‘Coleraine Chronicle’ – 14 March 1863, p.8; 31 October 1863, p.6; 14 October 1876, p.7
3 ‘Belfast Morning News’ – 4 November 1863, p.4
4 ‘Belfast News-Letter’ – 30 September 1876, p.3; 6 November 1877, p.4
5 ‘Northern Whig’ – 28 September 1878, p.4
6 ‘Northern Constitution’ – 23 October 1880, p.5
7 ‘Ballymena Advertiser’ – 30 October 1880, p.8
8 “The Ballycastle Railway – An interesting Irish narrow gauge line” in ‘The Meccano Magazine’, (1937)

Secondary sources
9 Patterson, Edward Mervyn, ‘The Ballycastle Railway’, (David & Charles, 1965)
10 McCutcheon, W.A., ‘The industrial archaeology of Northern Ireland’, (HMSO, Belfast, 1980), p.181
11 McBride, Jim, ‘The Ballycastle Railway remembered’, (County Donegal Railway Heritage Museum, 2024)

Online sources
12 Boyd, James I.C., “The Ballycastle Railway” - https://www.ballycastlehistory.com/ballycastle-railway-by-james-icboyd.html (accessed March 2024)
13 Dictionary of Irish Architects - https://www.dia.ie/architects/view/3911/MACKINNON-JAMESFRANCIS - tab_biography (accessed March 2024)
14 ‘Ballymoney Chronicle’ - https://www.ballymoneychronicle.co.uk/news/2023/01/24/news/end-of-the-road-for-the-ballymoney-to-ballycastle-greenway-38520/

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

V. Authorship
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
Z. Rarity
X. Local Interest
R. Age
S. Authenticity

Evaluation

The tunnel at Islandarragh Road was built as part of the Ballycastle Railway Company’s narrow gauge line between Ballycastle and Ballymoney. Construction was carried out under the direction of Belfast-based architect and engineer James Francis MacKinnon and carried out by contractors Butler & Fry of Ballymena, commencing in early 1879 and achieving completion in September 1880.

The railway tunnel survived the clearance of structures shortly after the lines closure and retains its original form and structure. Its key characteristics such as its stone construction, parapet and ringstone arrangement to its elevation remains intact, prominent and in good condition. Historically, this would have been a significant railway link between two towns and, albeit largely hidden as part its surrounding landscape, the tunnel remains an important part of the areas economic, cultural and social history.