Newspapers

Here are images of the Armagh Guardian newspaper which I accessed at The Irish and Local Studies Library in Armagh.

 

Powerpoint

So I have finally completed the written piece of my project which is due in on Tuesday 30th April. I now plan to start on my powerpoint which will summarise my project and the research which I put into it. The end is near! :-)

Mindmap of websites

Images II

Grave of William Walker, age 13 from Barrack Street, Armagh

Grave of Isabella (age 22) and Bethia (age 20) McFarland from Barrack Hill, Armagh

Grave of Ernest Logue, age 10 from Palace Row, Armagh

Grave of William McMullin age 20, who was the son of Reverend McMullin

Grave of Edith Irwin age 12 from Abbey Street, Armagh

All of the above graves are located in St Mark's graveyard, Victoria Street, Armagh.

Images

I went to St Mark's Church in Armagh to see if I could find the graves of some of the victims who died in the 1889 collision. Fortunately enough I was able to locate and photograph between 5 and 6 different graves in the upper left hand side of the graveyard. I am convinced that there were more than likely more victim's graves in that area, however a lot of the headstones werent readable.

I will upload these images in the coming days..

Visit to the library

I went to the Irish and Local Studies Library in Armagh today to look at their old newspaper articles from around the time of the accident. I came across some interesting information in the 'Armagh Guardian' from 14/06/1889 - just 2 days after the incident. The newspaper contained a detailed description of events, witness accounts, lists of the dead, lists of the injured and an article on the inquest following the disaster. The information on the inquest continued through to the following week, 21/06/1889.

I printed off the articles and will get them uploaded to my blog in the coming days..

Dan Snow's Locomotion

I came across this video which was a documentary on BBC 2 a few months back. About 11 minutes in there is a 5-10 minute piece on the Armagh Railway Disaster

Email

I emailed the person I am hoping to speak to about her grandfather's first hand experience as a surviving passenger on the train to ask if I can record her speaking to me about it. I am now awaiting a response from her.

Amazon mess up my book order

So I ordered a book from Amazon.co.uk on 27/02/13 which took almost a month to arrive. I was happy enough with that as it still gave me plenty of time to read the book and gather information. However, when my book arrived it was not 'Runaway Train, Armagh 1889' but 'The Tay Bridge Disaster 1879.'

Anyway I have reordered the book using a different company so I am hopeful that I will receive it within the next fortnight.

Mindmap

Skype chat

Spoke with Catherine and 'the gang' on Skype at 7pm tonight (19/03/13).

I found the chat very informative as I got a breakdown of the assessment marks and links to mindmap software, google calendar etc. I realise that the blogging part of the assessment is vital and I must update it on a more regular basis.

Progress

I left an enquiry on the Portadown and Armagh Railway Society website (http://dundalkarmaghportadownrailway.com/?page_id=53) as follows:

"Hello,
I came across this website after reading the article about the 125th anniversary of the Railway Disaster 1889 in the Ulster Gazette. I am doing a research project for my AB Degree on the topic of the disaster and the direct consequences of it. I am hoping to speak to someone who may have heard an account of the collision through a survivor of the disaster or railway staff at that time. If you would be interested in speaking to me please email me on LfcLrnx@aol.com
Thank you"

I am pleased to say that I received an email response from the secretary of the Society, Will Glendinning, who kindly agreed to meet with me to see if he could be of any help. I met him on 19/02/2013. He told me about their plans to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the disaster and gave me a contact email for a woman who's grandfather survived the collision.

Ulster Gazette

As next year is the 125th anniversary of the Armagh Railway Disaster, the Armagh / Portadown / Dundalk railway society are advertising in the Ulster Gazette for stories from relatives of victims or survivors of the collision.

 

I also registered with Libraries NI today so now I have access to their online catologue of books.

Why the railway disaster?

I have chosen to write my project on The Armagh Railway Disaster 1889 because I believe that I will genuinely find this topic interesting and I am really looking forward to coming across more information on it. I feel slightly ashamed that despite being from the Armagh area myself, I knew nothing of this tragic event which claimed dozens of lives and to date is the fourth worst railway collision in UK history until I was searching for a topic to write my project on.

I look forward to updating you on my progress!