Trains, Coal and Turf: Transport in Emergency Ireland - Hardcover

Peter Rigney

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0716530090 ISBN 13: 9780716530091

Publisher: Irish Academic Press Ltd, 2010

Synopsis

During the middle of the twentieth century, the Great Southern Railways (GSR) operated all railway lines in Éire, was the country s biggest coal importer, and one of the State s largest single employers. Crucially, it was also othe main transport provider during the Emergency. In this fascinating account, Irish transport historian Peter Rigney describes how the GSR kept the trains moving, and successfully challenges the view that rail service during the Emergency was in a state of chaos. He highlights the importance of a rail service to the State at the time: it played a key role in the Anglo-Irish trade diplomacy which helped the Allied war effort, it kept the economy ticking over, and it was the main means of transporting turf to heat homes. Based on a wide range of sources, such as the British and Irish national archives, the archives of the Irish Railway Society, contemporary media reports, and railwaymen memoirs, Rigney goes on to examine such other diverse themes as soap rationing, fuel diversity, and desertion from the British forces, and ultimately succeds in producing the most comprehensive account of the Irish economy during the Emergency.

About this title

About the Author

Peter Rigney is Industrial Officer with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. He holds a doctorate in history from Trinity College Dublin, and is co-author of The Parliament of Labour a history of the Dublin Council of Trade Unions. He has written a number of articles for the Journal of the Irish Railway Record Society.

Edition details

• Publisher: Irish Academic Press Ltd
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0716530090
• ISBN 13: 9780716530091
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272