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To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the closing of the Sligo Leitrim and North Counties Railway artist Seamus Dunbar joins forces with the Manorhamilton and District Historical Society and rail enthusiasts from the region in presenting an exhibition of historical memorabilia from the times of the railway. The line ran from Sligo through Manorhamilton over the border to Enniskillen and on to Belfast and mainland UK.

The exhibition is both an historical appreciation of the struggles to keep the railway going up until its closure in 1957 and an evaluation of the present and future uses and advantages the railway presents today. Stories, machines, technology, objects and photos from the past are juxtaposed with more contemporary readings and interventions such as the endeavours of the SL&NCR Rail to Trail Working Group, whose project to develop a walking and cycling trail will see the old railway once again providing a link between North Leitrim and the wider world.

Séamus Dunbar

Manorhamilton artist Séamus Dunbar became intimately acquainted with the route of the Sligo, Leitrim & Northern Counties Railway when he followed the line on foot from Enniskillen to Ballysodare as an Artist’s Walk when completing a Masters Degree at Ulster University in 2013. An Arts Council funded personal development residency at Leitrim Sculpture Centre in 20116-17 allowed him to revisit the subject by working with Manorhamilton and District Historical Society to curate an exhibition to mark the 60th anniversary of the closure of the line.

The Manorhamilton & District Historical Society

Since its rejuvenation in 2013, the aim of the society has been to focus attention on our rich heritage and to research, collect and record, for present and future generations, the history of our area. Towards this aim, lectures on a wide variety of historical and archaeological themes, by local and visiting speakers, have been organised. Outings to places of interest, such as the Titanic Centre, Glenview Museum, King House and the 1916 exhibition in the GPO, are fondly remembered by both society and non-society members. Exhibitions are of special interest and bring together past and present residents of the town. The 1914 exhibition remembered the many forgotten casualties of WW1. The centenary of 1916 was commemorated by the renaming of Lower Main Street to Seán Mac Diarmada Street. The pageantry of the day was enhanced by the participation, in period dress, of local groups and clubs, the strains of marching bands and the impressive precision of the army. The accompanying exhibition in the Sculpture Centre traced 100 years of Manorhamilton history.

This year our exhibition marks the closing on September 30th 1957 of the railway, the S.L. & N.C.R . It is an event which will evoke many memories, both happy and sad but then that’s what history is all about. Understanding our past anchors our present and future.