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Joseph Pike (1851 - 1929)

Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railways

by Susan O'Brien

Railway Boom 1830

Blackrock Station June 1850

Annual day trip for members of the Blind Asylum

Railway Boom

1830

Joseph Pike was chairman of the Cork, Bandon and South Coast Railways, Cork.

With the invention of the Steamships in the 18th Century, transport in Ireland improved. This method of transport however, was only useful to people travelling overseas; there was still no method of transporting people from one place to another.

People needed a form of transport that was cheap, efficient and quick.

Rail provided this missing form of travel.

Experiments in rail roads had been carried out since the middle of the 18th Century and a lot of progress was made.

In the mid 1830's there was a railway boom.

The railways were very expensive but they had many advantages and the people who put money into them were certain to make a profit.

Railways provided a fast and efficient form of transporting perishable goods.

On 15th June 1847, Lady Deane cut the first sod of the Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway at Dundanion Castle, situated two miles from Cork.

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Blackrock Station

June 1850

The Blackrock Station was opened to serve the public in the highly populated area.

The train left Albert Street Station every hour during the winter months, 13 times a day, and 14 times a day during the summer months. It would then continue its route through Dundanion, Blackrock Village, Bessborough and Ballinure, Rochestown and finally onto Passage.

This line was said to have been a seaside line, being quick and efficient, and the trains were very much up-to-date.

In June 1850, over 100 years ago, a big day in the history of Blackrock, when the first train, bearing the Directors of the Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway, steamed under Dundanion Bridge.

The Blackrock Station was closed on 10th September 1932 and the tracks were lifted in 1933. The site lay derelict and overgrown until 1984, when it was redeveloped into a cycleway and footpath.

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Annual Day Trip

for members of the Blind Asylum

At the time of the railways, the Pike family were residents at Bessborough House, and as the train stopped at Bessborough, the Pike's became involved in the railways.

They even had their own train, which had the name "Pike" written on it.

There was also a railway bridge called "Pike's Bridge".

It was also said that the family organised a day trip for the people of the Blind Asylum each year.

These people would be brought by train to the Bessborough House estate, and there they would be allowed to wander around the gardens and be entertained by the Cork Military Band.

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