Now that's a real wedding train
Majella Foley and Kieran Gallagher on their wedding day with Andrew Roche of Iarnród Éireann at Banteer Railway Station. Credit: Photo by Bernadette Hayes
Thursday July 02 2009
YOU can take the woman out of Banteer, but it's clearly a lot harder to take Banteer out of the woman. Blushing bride Majella Foley is living proof of that after she and her husband, Donegal native Kieran Gallagher, cerebrated their big day in style last Saturday – with a little help from their friends at Iarnród Éireann.
The couple, who met in London five years ago, wanted to do something to make their big day extra special. Majella, who grew up in a house next to Banteer railway station, hit upon a unique way of making sure the 200 guests got to the church on time. What better way to do that than hire out a whole train for the day?
Guests joined Ireland's first ever wedding train 11.45am in Killarney for the 45-minute journey up to Banteer, to see Majella and Kieran tie the knot at St Fursey's Church.
During the journey guests from both sides had the chance to mingle before the ceremony. As the train arrived in Banteer Majella was putting the finishing touches to her wedding ensemble.
"The church is only a short walk from the station and my home place. When I heard the stampede of people coming out of the train station at about 12.30, I knew it was time to finish up and get to the church," said Majella.
She said that as well as being an important part of Banteer's history, the railway station also played a big part in her life before she left for London.
"It was not unusual for us to open our door to tourists who forgot to get off at Mallow. One of two even ended up staying at our house for the night," she recalled.
"It seemed fitting for me that the railway played some role in my wedding. It was also very handy as it meant that everyone arrived at the same time, and on time."
After the nuptials the entire wedding party got back onto the train and travelled back to Killarney for the wedding reception, enjoying a celebratory glass of champagne along the way. Each of the guests was also presented with specially printed wedding train tickets to mark the occasion.
"The whole thing worked really well and put an extra special gloss on the day. It was brilliant to be able to mix with our guests on the way back to Killarney," said Kieran.
Iarnrod Eireann Business Development Manager Andrew Roche said they were only too delighted to help out Majella and Kieran. "This is the first time we have ever done anything like this. We were delighted to make one of our brand new three-carriage trains available for the day," he said.
"It was great to see so many people enjoying themselves without having to worry about driving back to Killarney for the reception. We hope this will be the first of many special wedding trains," he added.
- BILL BROWNE bbrowne@corkman.ie
