One hundred years ago
THE worst railway accident ever re- ported from Ireland occurred on the 12th inst., on the Great Northern line. An excursion had been arranged on that day for the Sunday-school children of Armagh, and at 9.30 a train of fifteen carriages left the station, laden with a thousand boys and girls, and their teachers and friends. It was soon per- ceived that the engine was not strong enough for its work, and about two miles from the town, near the top of a steep incline, the train came to a stand- still. According to the officials, the couplings broke; according to all inde- pendent witnesses, the driver and guard uncoupled the last seven carriages, "propping" that section with a stone or two under the wheels. The section with the engine then moved on, and the section left behind, jarred by the jerk, knocked aside the stones and rolled back towards Armagh down the incline. Gathering speed from its own weight, it dashed on at forty miles an hour, and crashed into a slowly moving train just come out of Armagh. Two of the carriages were telescoped, and eighty children and grown-up persons were killed, sixty more being seriously in- jured. The scene was so indescribably shocking, that a carman named Hughes, who came up to assist, died of horror at the sight.
The Spectator, 15 June 1889
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