Food.

[Metrovik]

Bit of a strange one here, and probably clutching at straws but here goes....

As part of my college course I have to create a short (5-10 minute) video of the history of Food and Drink. Naturally, I was thinking of covering the historical role of Irish railways in food production and transportation. Ideally I'd like to shoot on location in the style of a historical documentary. I was thinking of using the likes of the Guinness storehouse, Poolbeg lighthouse (with a ship in the background) etc. for one or 2 shots, Has anyone any suggestions of other significant sites to use? I appreciate the oddity of this question, but all help is appreciated!

[DJ Dangerous]

Will it feature the importance of Tesco Luxury Italian Mixed Peel?

[jhb171achill]

42 minutes ago, Metrovik said:

Bit of a strange one here, and probably clutching at straws but here goes....

As part of my college course I have to create a short (5-10 minute) video of the history of Food and Drink. Naturally, I was thinking of covering the historical role of Irish railways in food production and transportation. Ideally I'd like to shoot on location in the style of a historical documentary. I was thinking of using the likes of the Guinness storehouse, Poolbeg lighthouse (with a ship in the background) etc. for one or 2 shots, Has anyone any suggestions of other significant sites to use? I appreciate the oddity of this question, but all help is appreciated!

A unique question indeed!

The role played by the railways in food production was essentially transporting it. Cattle trains, grain traffic, would be the principal traffics. I'm not sure what relevance Guinness or Poolbeg would have to it - maybe find a station with an old cattle bank still surviving? Where do you live? If you were to go to Whitehead, there's a restored GNR grain van in the musuem there.

[RobertRoche]

Mallow sugar factory maybe

[Metrovik]

21 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

A unique question indeed!

The role played by the railways in food production was essentially transporting it. Cattle trains, grain traffic, would be the principal traffics. I'm not sure what relevance Guinness or Poolbeg would have to it - maybe find a station with an old cattle bank still surviving? Where do you live? If you were to go to Whitehead, there's a restored GNR grain van in the musuem there.

The idea behind Poolbeg was to show that alot of the food went for export so to get a container ship or similar passing behind would be quite novel (despite containers not yet existing). I was thinking guiness could incorporate the brewery railway or the tramway to Kingsbridge yard? I'm based on the south side of dublin during the week for college but I usually live in the Midlands.

[jhb171achill]

8 minutes ago, Metrovik said:

The idea behind Poolbeg was to show that alot of the food went for export so to get a container ship or similar passing behind would be quite novel (despite containers not yet existing). I was thinking Guinness could incorporate the brewery railway or the tramway to Kingsbridge yard? I'm based on the south side of dublin during the week for college but I usually live in the Midlands.

I see what you mean... if you did that you could do a voiceover as well, over still images of Guinness in wagons, cattle trains (which was the BIG thing, really), or grain vans somewhere.

[Flying Snail]

Cattle were once one of the major types of traffic on trains, and Dublin played a big part of it. Cattle would arrive into Dublin at places like Broadstone and Cabra for the Dublin Cattle Market near Hanlon's corner and then were driven (walked) down North Circular Road to North Wall. So you could film along the route.

IIRC you're a Laois man: Portlaoise, where I'm originally from, is a good example of how the railways tied in with food production. Odlum's had a siding on the north end of the station by the up platform with an access road that looped up from beside the railway bridge on the Ridge Road (beside the roundabout). There's traces of it still visible. At the other end of the up platform was a cattle bank, and a little beyond the old Maltings (beer is food ) across from the station had rail access too. The Tirlán mill in Knockmay is beside the old Waterford railway line and I could be wrong by I have a memory of it getting some grain deliveries by rail in the 90s, and who knows, it might again.

Speaking of Odlums, the mill in Portarlington also had access to the railway (and a canal) - the mill is still there, but the railhead (and canal) are gone

Edited 5 hours ago by Flying Snail

[Flying Snail]

And of course, we can't forget sugar beet and the famous beet campaigns!!!

From farm to factory, literally!

Edited 5 hours ago by Flying Snail

[cheesy_peas]

Cadbury's (or whatever they call themselves now) formerly Fry Cadbury's Rathmore chocolate factory. Still in operation, albeit the rail connection has been lifted.

[Mayner]

Grain

The Canals and later the Railways were mainly built to transport food (export/import). Maltings & Mills at Grand Canal Dock re-purposed since the 1990s as Apartments and Offices.

In a more modern context the Alexandra Rd Odlums silo (if it still exists) is an excellent example of https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/50060591/odlums-mills-alexandra-road-dublin-1-co-dublin a silo used for grain imports once connected to the Alexandra Rd Tramway

Cattle were shipped (by the trainload) from the great fairs in the West to pastures in the East (Mullingar-Consilla & Meath Line) for fattening before export on the hoof (mainly by rail) through Dublin Port. 

My mother travelled on the B&I North Wall-Liverpool Ferry during the mid 60s and spoke of cattle being unloaded (possibly Birkenhead) before arrival at Liverpool. 

Before the introduction of car ferries the B&I Ferry/cattle boat, docked at the Campshires on the North Wall Quay, with stock yards on the West side of Guild Street/Spencer Dock.

Cattle traffic by rail dropped off during the 60s with the shift from live cattle to meat exports (higher value) regional plants and the shift to ro-ro ferries during the 60s-70s.

Processed meat (bacon/pork) and dairy (particularly from Munster ) became and remained important traffics from the early 1900s into the ISO container era. 

Plants at Roscrea, Dromod and Rathkeale shipped meat in containers until he stations closed to wagon load traffic, dairy (butter, cheese) likely to have been significant traffic from plants close to Tralee, Mallow & Charleville stations until the 1990s.

A mid-late IRRS paper on the Mayo Line the author wrote about the unusual nature of poultry traffic during the 19th Century. Eggs exported in large quantities for use as pottery glaze in the Staffordshire pottery industry and young birds for fattening in the east/Dublin area, both possibly by passenger train.

Ballina Beverages.

Should we class the soft drinks concentrates currently exported by rail through the Dublin and Waterford ports as  Irish food exports?