The story.
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.
This mural is a salute to the Great Northern Railway works - between 1887 and 1939 47 engines were built right here in Dundalk and employed over 1200 people.
This mural depicts the actual blueprint used in the construction of steam engine “GNR Slieve Donard 172”.
In 1938/1939 a series of steam engines were built, all called after mountains:
Slieve Donard
Slieve Gullion (still running)
Errigal
Galteemore
And Carantoohill
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