Ballyglunin Train Station

Ballyglunin is a small village near Corofin. It has become famous for it’s train station, which was featured in the making of the ‘Quiet Man’ film in 1952.
Ballyglunin Station (right), also known as Ballyglooneen, was opened in Nov. 1860 as a station for passenger traffic with a single 225 ft. platform on the east side of the track.

It owes its existence undoubtedly to its proximity to Ballyglunin Park, residence of the Blakes, as well as Skerritt’s of Brooklodge House and Bodkin’s of Armagh House. For customers such as these a first class service was provided.

Around the turn of the century, Robert Blake would regularly have his evening meal cooked in the Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin and delivered to Ballyglunin station packed in special ‘hay boxes’, the thermal food containers of the day. A special extra delivery would arrive on the evening mail train if there were guests in residence or a county gathering planned. In 1903 GS&WR were the new owners of the line from Athenry to Claremorris. They revamped Ballyglunin and built the west platform of equal length but with a canopy and a single storey residence, waiting room, office & toilets, and lamp room (important at the time), and with a footbridge spanning the tracks,

The Quiet Man

Another moment of glory was in 1952 with the shooting there of some scenes of the famous film The Quiet Man. It was late June but they were unlucky with the weather and what appears for less than five minutes on the film took almost three weeks to et `in the can’. The film opens with the arrival of a returning emigrant by train. The station was named “Castletown” for the film and a special old steam train with two 1920 type carriages came out from Tuam each day for that scene and for another where Maureen O’Hara newly wedded is leaving by train when hubby, John Wayne rides in and finds her in the last carriage and drags her away to get her `fortune’ from her brother. This second scene caused most trouble and I watched at least six re-takes one fine Sunday, before my patience ran out. But eventually they got the film made and it proved a winner and it has done more than anything else to make Ballyglunin known far and wide.