It's been been sixty-odd years since Maureen O'Hara & John Wayne steamed into 'Castletown' train station in the opening scenes of the John Ford classic 'The Quiet Man'. However, time has only seen love for the film grow as tourists and film buffs can still be found visiting the iconic landmark each and every day.
The station, which is actually called Ballyglunin, was occupied until the mid-2000s but despite the care of the local community, has fallen into disrepair and the roof simply won't last another winter.
The Ballyglunin Community Development Charity, who lease the station from Iarnrod Eireann, launched a crowd funding campaign to raise €30,000 for a new roof. After a month, we are delighted to report they have hit their target and the station will be saved!
Delighted to announce that we have successfully reached our target of €30,000 to save the roof on The Quiet Man train station. Thank you. pic.twitter.com/xiZtpCNVx8
— Quiet Man Station (@BallygluninRail) June 26, 2017
This comes a couple of weeks after Liam Neeson pledged to help save the station.
Neeson got in touch with the community to officially over his support to the campaign, commenting:
"I have been a professional actor for over 40 years, and during that time I have had the great fortune to have made over 70 films with many world renowned directors. Of all those directors, I would say 60 of them have said that John Ford's, The Quiet Man, is in their top 5 list of favorite and influential films. The movie has become part of Irish folklore and is justifiably and rightly called a Classic film.
The Ballyglunin train station in Co. Galway played a significant part in that film. The station is now showing its age, and requires urgent repair. We must save this iconic building, otherwise it will be lost.
Please help save this important part of our film heritage by donating what you can to Fundit.ie or www.ballyglunin.com. Thank you." - Liam Neeson
Muireann caught up with Mark Gibson from Ballyglunin Community Development Charity, the team behind the campaign to save the station:
