Congratulations to the Transition Year students, who recently won the Galway Civic Trust Local Heritage Competition, which took place on April 4th at GMIT in Galway.

The winning project was centred on the iconic Ballyglunin railway station, which is currently in the process of being restored by a Local Community Group.

As many of the students in TY live in close proximity to the Ballyglunin Railway Station, so they were very interested in learning more about their local heritage. The girls also felt they were also fortunate to have been introduced to the world-renowned film ‘The Quiet Man’ from a very young age.

The girls researched into the background of this idyllic Railway Station, from its opening in 1860 to when it closed down its passenger services in 1976. The fact that two scenes from ‘The Quiet Man’ were filmed at the Ballyglunin station made the project all the more interesting.

The students visited and toured the station, facilitated by Mr Mark Gibson of the Restoration Committee, as preparation for the project to identify with the cultural and historical background of this picturesque railway station, located six miles from Tuam.

The girls built a scaled down model of the station for the project, and collected many stories from local people connected with the station.

The student are delighted to have completed a project of such significance to the local heritage and thank Mr Michael Quinn and all members of the Galway Civic Trust for having organised such a prestigious competition.