Page 88 - Greystones Archaeological Historical Society

A WALK AROUND GREYSTONES

Before ending your walk at the station, take a look at the
Carnegie Library a little further on. This is one of sixty-six such
libraries in Ireland whose building was financed by the American
industrialist and philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie. Built in 1910
on land donated by Mrs Le Blond, owner of the Hawkins-
Whitshed/Burnaby estate, the library was recently refurbished,
with windows in the upstairs reading-room offering excellent
views of the South Beach and the coast beyond.

Now retrace your steps to our final stop, the Station, opened
in 1856, a year after the opening of the Bray/Wicklow railway line
th
on 29 October 1855. Situated on the boundary of the La Touche
and Hawkins-Whitshed/Burnaby estates, it was erected at a cost
of £3,000. Though most of its users over the years have been
blameless commuters, shoppers and holiday-makers, the station
has seen its fair share of excitement, most notably during the
troubled years of the War of Independence and the Civil War. In
1918, for instance, Eamon De Valera was travelling home by
train one night to his home in Greystones when he was informed
that two detectives were on the same train, and intended to
arrest him when they arrived at their destination. The engine
driver offered to slow down the train as it approached the station
so that De Valera could jump off, but he chose not to accept this
offer, and when he stepped out onto the platform was
approached by the two detectives and put under arrest.
Imprisoned in Lincoln Gaol, he later made his escape to the US,
only returning to his family in Greystones in late 1920.

A couple of years later, with the Civil War raging, the Station
or its environs was the scene of a more farcical encounter, when
Dev’s former comrades in the Free State administration issued
orders for his arrest. In Greystones the local Gardaí, on the
lookout for the wanted man, apprehended instead the Church of
Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, Dr J A F Gregg. Described as ‘tall,

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