This tunnel hosted a light railway linking the Glenarm town quarry with the harbour. It appears that the buggies or wagons that carried the limestone from the quarry to the boat were drawn by horses. There is no record of steam propulsion. There was little, if any, gradient between the terminals so the rail made it possible for relative ease of horsepower moving loads of limestone. The railway began in the quarry close to the bottom of the kilns and could have been used to transport either limestone, or the burnt lime from the kilns, depending on the shipping requirement.
The tunnel running under the road to Feystown was open at both ends until the early 1960’s. The rail tracks in the tunnel are still there, and there is a solitary buggy on them. The tracks that crossed the coast road and meandered to the harbour have long gone, like the horses, victims to progress and the diesel lorries.
By the 1960’s quarrying limestone ceased in the town quarry and it was used as a rubbish dump by the local council and others. Later the quarry was filled in and landscaped. The tunnel was sealed at both ends and largely forgotten. In recent years the road end was opened showing the industrial architecture of many years ago. For health and safety reasons the opening is secured by a cage allowing viewing but not entry.
This post is part of the What’s That? Project. Funded by The Community Arts, Culture and Heritage Fund & The Community Foundation for NI. The aim of the project is to highlight local historical sites and give people a short history of what is there. Photos by John Healy.
