Railway Workers

According to a notice in the Enniskillen Chronicle and Erne Packet of the 5th of May 1836 a group of notables in Derry/Londonderry had agreed to establish a company by the name of the “North- West of Ireland Railroad Company”.

The Railways first arrived in Fermanagh with the opening of the Londonderry and
Enniskillen railway in 1854 soon followed by the Dundalk and Enniskillen railway.

By January 1890 the local papers were reporting that between 80 and 100 men from Enniskillen and other stations had met to join the Amalgamated Society of Railways Servants (ASRS).

The forerunner to the Impartial Reporter advised its readers of the development with a sensational headline, “Militancy on the Railway”. The article went on to tell how 100 workers from local railways stations had met with the ASRS organising secretary, Mr
Watson (Thomas Watson was an assistant secretary of the ASRS from 1883) in their rooms in Enniskillen Townhall.

Amongst the local leaders of railway workers was Daniel Sweeney a Locomotive Driver.

Daniel was born on the 12th of September 1884 in Bishop’s street in Derry. He got married to Hannah (nee Doherty) in 1908. According to the 1911 census he was working in Derry as a Locomotive fireman with two young children.

By 1917 he was working from the Enniskillen shed. In August of that year he was awarded a certificate by his fellow railway workers in Dundalk who were members of the National Union of Railwaymen. The certificate was awarded as a, “ As a token of his indefatigable exertions and self- sacrifice in organising work on behalf of the branch.
– He translated his principles into action”.

Daniel had worked to improve the organisation of Railway Workers in the Dundalk area with his fellow members, increasing branch membership from 25 members in April to 154 in June 1917. It had grown further to 305 members by October of that year.

Nearly 10 years later in January 1926, Dan was still active and was nominated by Enniskillen Labour Party to run in the elections to Enniskillen Urban Council along
with John Jones (Corporation St), James Ginn (Market St), William Kelly (Strand St), Terence Carroll (Darling St) and Patrick Drum (Castle St).

A year later in March 1927, Dan was nominated by Enniskillen Workers Council ( A successor to Enniskillen Trades and Labour Council) to attend the annual conference in
Belfast of the Northern Ireland Labour Party along with John Jones and Arthur Copley.

Sadly in 1931 Dan died suddenly at the age of 46 while out walking his greyhound aptly named “Engine 44”  “. A short life lived fully in the service of his fellow workers and his class