Like Paddington Bear, the Past Tracks project came to life on a railway platform. In fact, so did Algernon Worthing in Oscar Wilde’s masterpiece, ‘The Importance of Being Ernest.’ I was standing on the platform at Hazelhatch, near Celbridge, County Kildare, awaiting the Dublin train, with drizzle cascading down my neck, wishing there was something, somewhere, that might entertain me. A little local history perhaps. Of the great battles that raged when Brian Boru’s forces swept through these parts a thousand years earlier. Of the Italian fresco painter who caught Lady Cloncurry misbehaving with a suitor at nearby Lyons. Of the roadside beer-seller from up the road whose grandson founded the Guinness brewery …
History should never just be boring old dates dates dates. It should be full of the vibrancy and personality and passion of the people who have gone before. In Ireland, we are surrounded by the past wherever we stand. Every field, hill, stream, rock, street or railway platform has a story to tell.
A Nationwide film about the project aired on 4 March 2026 and can be viewed here.
As we glide through the countryside in trains, buses and motor cars, we are often utterly unaware of the history that whizzes by. We vaguely take in hilltop summits crowned with ancient forts, ruined castles, hollow churches and crumbling farmsteads. We daydream as we stroll past the bramble-strewn shells of abandoned canals and copper mines, the ghostly outlines of primeval forests, the overgrown graveyards where vanished bloodlines lie, the stumps of pillars that once carried railway lines, but the history itself often eludes us.
In 2019, I teamed up with Irish Rail (Iarnród Éireann) and the brilliant illustrator Derry Dillon, ‘Past Tracks’ to put such history back in focus by installing a series of history panels at railway stations across Ireland. The first ten panels were sponsored by Flahavan’s of Kilmacthomas, County Waterford, a company with a rich history itself. In 2022, we unveiled a further forty panels, spread along all of the major railway lines in the state, including the DART in Dublin.
In 2025, we completed a third round, bringing us up to 100 panels for 100 stations nationwide, including 25 DART stations. These offer upwards of 550 short tales about lesser-known people, places and events connected with Ireland’s rich past. Each tale is illustrated and presented in a manner that seeks to intrigue, amuse and maybe even inspire commuters, passengers and visitors alike as they journey around Ireland.
A Nationwide film about the project aired on 4 March 2026 and can be viewed here.
Hats off to Jack O’Driscoll, Irish-language editor, for his expert translations and grammatical observations, and to Maria O’Brien for her fine reading of the panels also.
The director Sé Merry Doyle told me he was awaiting for a train at Portlaoise station one rainswept afternoon when he espied our panels, with Derry Dillon’s vibrant illustrations. He likened it to ‘a beacon of light on a drab day.’ That is what it’s all about.
The “Past Tracks” project revitalizes local history at railway stations across Ireland through engaging panels, written by Turtle Bunbury and illustrated by Derry Dillon. It aims to connect commuters with intriguing stories about their surroundings, enriching their travel experience and celebrating Ireland’s rich cultural heritage. See also the panels at the Maxol depots of Kinnegar, by Holywood, County Down, and Portrush, County Antrim.
See here for the complete acknowledgments.
The 100 stations covered are:
- Carlow – Bagenalstown (Muine Bheag)
- Carlow – Carlow Town
- Clare – Ennis
- Cork – Banteer
- Cork – Kent Station, Cork City
- Cork – Charleville
- Cork – Cobh
- Cork – Mallow
- Dublin – Adamstown
- Dublin – Ashtown
- Dublin – Balbriggan
- Dublin – Bayside
- Dublin – Blackrock
- Dublin – Booterstown
- Dublin – Broombridge & Cabra
- Dublin – Castleknock
- Dublin – Cherry Orchard & Park West
- Dublin – Connolly Station
- Dublin – Clongriffin
- Dublin – Clondalkin & Fonthill
- Dublin – Clonsilla
- Dublin – Coolmine & Blanchardstown
- Dublin – Dalkey
- Dublin – Docklands
- Dublin – Donabate, with Turvey
- Dublin – Donaghmede & Howth Junction
- Dublin – Drumcondra
- Dublin – Dún Laoghaire
- Dublin – Grand Canal Dock
- Dublin – Glenageary
- Dublin – Greystones
- Dublin – Hansfield & Phibblestown
- Dublin – Hazelhatch (* doubles with Celbridge)
- Dublin – Howth & the Howth Head peninsula
- Dublin – Heusten
- Dublin – Kilbarrack
- Dublin – Killester
- Dublin – Killiney
- Dublin – Kishoge
- Dublin – Lansdowne Road
- Dublin – Malahide
- Dublin – Monkstown and Salthill
- Dublin – Pearse Station
- Dublin – Portmarnock
- Dublin – Raheny
- Dublin – Rush and Lusk
- Dublin – Sandycove and Glasthule
- Dublin – Sandymount
- Dublin – Seapoint
- Dublin – Shankill
- Dublin – Skerries
- Dublin – Sutton
- Dublin – Tara Street
- Galway – Athenry
- Galway – Ballinasloe
- Galway – Galway City (Ceannt)
- Kerry – Killarney
- Kildare – Athy
- Kildare – Celbridge (* doubles with Hazelhatch)
- Kildare – Enfield
- Kildare – Kilcock
- Kildare – Kildare
- Kildare – Maynooth
- Kildare – Monasterevin
- Kildare – Leixlip Confey
- Kildare – Leixlip Louisa Bridge
- Kildare – Newbridge
- Kildare – Sallins & Naas
- Kilkenny – Kilkenny City (MacDonagh)
- Kilkenny – Thomastown
- Laois – Portarlington
- Laois – Portlaoise
- Leitrim – Dromod
- Limerick – Castleconnell
- Limerick City
- Limerick Junction
- Longford – Edgeworthstown
- Longford – Longford
- Louth – Drogheda (MacBride)
- Louth – Dundalk
- Mayo – Ballina
- Mayo – Castlebar
- Mayo – Westport
- Meath – Dunboyne
- Meath – Laytown
- Offaly – Clara
- Offaly – Tullamore
- Roscommon – Boyle
- Sligo – Sligo Town
- Tipperary – Templemore
- Tipperary – Thurles
- Waterford – Waterford City
- Wexford – Wexford Town (O Hanrahan)
- Westmeath – Athlone
- Westmeath – Mullingar
- Wexford – Enniscorthy
- Wicklow – Arklow
- Wicklow – Bray (Daly)
- Wicklow – Greystones
- Wicklow – Rathdrum
- Wicklow – Wicklow