An image of the old railway station at Milltown

The old railway station

The Railway Station, now no longer in operation, was first opened in April 1894 and was finally closed in 1963.

It is situated to the north-west of the village. It was opened to serve the village and surrounding area.

A short editorial carried in the Tuam Herald on the 10th of November 1877 records the names of a number of shareholders who contributed towards the funding of the Tuam to Claremorris extension, which included the Milltown section.

Those noted as contributing were: 

  • John Bodkin, Kilclooney (50 shares)
  • John Birmingham, Millbrook (20 shares)
  • D.J. Kirwan, Dalgin (20 shares)
  • Martin McDonnell, Dunmore (40 shares)
  • D. Flannery, Milltown (20 shares)
  • James McDonagh, (Clerk of Petty Sessions) (5 shares)
  • Rev. T. McWalters (3 shares).

Though Milltown Railway Station lies abandoned today it still retains many of its original features. The station house (occupied by the Greene Family until 2012), platform, signal cabin, goods shed and railway sidings are all still intact. The

Railway Line
Railway line looking North

line was originally built by the Waterford, Limerick and Western Railway which operated between Limerick and Claremorris and was later taken over by the Great Western Railway.

Old railways are an often overlooked but are increasingly important wildlife habitat. The line in Milltown has not been used for many years and is no longer sprayed or cut to clear it of encroaching plant life such as meadow grasses, tall herbs and shrubs. This has led to an explosion of bird species along its length that use it for both feeding and breeding.

In summer, nesting Willow, Sedge and Grasshopper Warblers are found along with Whitethroat, Stonechat, Meadow Pipit, Linnet, Lesser Redpoll and Long-tailed Tit. In the more mature scrubby areas, especially next to conifer plantations, Chiff-Chaff and Blackcap have both started to breed in recent years. In winter, the railway is a good place to see large numbers of Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chaffinch and Reed Bunting, which flock together as they search amongst the abundant vegetation for seeds. These flocks in turn provide prey for Sparrowhawks, which are present throughout the year in reasonably good numbers.

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