In 1966, the State renamed fifteen stations on the rail network after the executed Leaders of 1916 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Rising.
A further fifty years on, and to mark the centenary of the Rising, Iarnród Éireann and the Royal Irish Academy have developed new display panels to enable daily commuters, tourists and visitors to learn more about the people whose names are celebrated in the train stations.
There are sixteen panels in total, one about each leader, each of which will go on display at the station named after that leader around the rail network (Pearse Station was named after both Padraig and William Pearse). All sixteen panels will be on display together in Pearse station, Dublin 2.
The displays feature a specially commissioned portrait of the leader by artist David Rooney and information about their lives, taken from the Royal Irish Academy’s “1916 – Portraits and Lives” publication. A QR code is included in each display so that customers can download the chapter of the book about that person for free. They can also be downloaded through the following link www.ria.ie/research-projects/1916-portraits-and-lives
The stations renamed in 1966 after the executed leaders of the Easter Rising are:
- Pearse Station (after Padraig and William Pearse; formerly Westland Row)
- Connolly Station (James Connolly, formerly Amiens Street)
- Heuston Station (Seán Heuston, formerly Kingsbridge)
- Cork Kent Station (Thomas Kent)
- Limerick Colbert Station (Con Colbert)
- Dun Laoghaire Mallin Station (Michael Mallin)
- Waterford Plunkett Station (Joseph Plunkett)
- Galway Ceannt Station (Eamonn Ceannt)
- Dundalk Clarke Station (Thomas Clarke)
- Drogheda MacBride Station (John MacBride)
- Sligo MacDiarmada Station (Seán MacDiarmada)
- Bray Daly Station (Edward Daly)
- Wexford O’Hanrahan Station (Michael O’Hanrahan)
- Kilkenny MacDonagh Station (Thomas MacDonagh)
- Tralee Casement Station (Roger Casement)