The town that built and maintained the railway.
Dundalk became a major centre of the Great Northern Railway of Ireland, formed in 1876. From its hub here, the company served routes to Dublin, Belfast, Derry and Enniskillen. Its engineering works tied skilled employment and family life to the railway.
The cross-border archives trace the pressures of partition and competing transport, the first Enterprise express in 1947 and the company’s eventual division in 1958. Across three festival years, Chula Mente, Omin and Mack Signs return to that shared inheritance. Mack Signs’ blueprint-inspired work focuses on locomotive No. 172, Slieve Donard, while the other works offer complementary visual tributes.
The full story of Dundalk’s Railway Learn moreLearn more about the subject 3
- History of the Great Northern Railway Louth County Archives & Newry and Mourne Museum
- Rail: Dundalk’s engineering works Louth County Council
- Railway Heritage · Mack Signs EPSO
Historical context and editorial interpretation are distinguished above. Sources researched October 2026.
The story across the years.
Other artists’ interpretations of this subject in the festival collection.
2021Railway HeritageOmin · On the streets
2023Railway HeritageMack Signs · On the streetsThe story behind the wall.
Chula’s Railway Heritage mural adds another artistic voice to the story of Dundalk’s railways. Located on Gray’s Lane, it is one of several festival works exploring the industry and the communities connected to it.
Meet Chula Mente.
View artist profile & all their workChula started painting Graffiti during her time studying History of Arts at college. It allowed her to communicate her passion about art to others.
Since 2013, she has been a collaborator in different education programmes for nonprofit organisations in both formal and non formal systems. They mostly involve social integration of children in at-risk situations such as social exclusion and poverty who need counselling or referrals to resources. They involve different artistic projects which support marginalised groups of children living in Madrid, Guadalajara and Shelter Homes by means of graffiti art.
Chula ́s large murals combine styles taken from many different sources; from Ancient art to Contemporary via graffiti & Street art.
