Early days The original station, known as Dundalk Junction, opened on 15 February 1849. It was so named because it served as the junction between the
Dublin & Belfast Junction Railway and the
Dundalk & Enniskillen Railway, which operated between Dundalk and
Castleblayney before being extended to
Clones,
Enniskillen, and
Cavan. This station, located south of the current one, was designed by Sir
John MacNeill. The Dundalk & Enniskillen Railway line originally terminated at Quay Street and crossed the Belfast line on the level at a location known as Dundalk Square Crossing. and the following year, it combined with the
Irish North Western Railway and the
Ulster Railway to form the Great Northern Railway (Ireland) (GNR). The current Dundalk Clarke station was built in June 1894 and designed by William Hamilton Mills, featuring his signature polychromatic brick style, predominantly in yellow, which is also found in stations like
Lisburn,
Malahide, and
Howth. With the
partition of Ireland in 1921, customs controls were introduced at Dundalk for cross-border routes operated by the GNR. A police station was created on the platform with suspect, good smugglers stopped for questioning and detained. The railway also played a role in tourism and commuter transport, with services such as the
Bundoran Express linking Dublin with the Donegal resort town via Dundalk.
Dundalk, Newry & Greenore Railway In 1873, the
Dundalk, Newry & Greenore Railway was established, operating from Quay Street station. It was run by the
London & North Western Railway (LNWR), which influenced the locomotives, rolling stock, and station architecture. The line was absorbed into the
London Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1922 and later managed by the GNR in 1933. Services ceased in 1951, though rolling stock retained LNWR colors long after they had disappeared from English tracks. One of these historic carriages is preserved at the
Ulster Transport Museum in
Cultra.
End of the Great Northern Railway The GNR's financial struggles led to government control in 1952 with the formation of the Great Northern Railway Board (GNR(B)), jointly overseen by the
Dublin and
Stormont governments. Passenger services to
Enniskillen ceased in 1957, while freight continued to Clones until 1960, with the last freight operations from Barrack Street Yard lasting until 1995. In 1958, the GNR(B) was disbanded, and its assets were divided between
Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) in the Republic and the
Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) in Northern Ireland. This led to the peculiar arrangement where locomotives were swapped at Dundalk for cross-border operations. On 10 April 1966, as part of the 50th anniversary of the
Easter Rising, the station was renamed "Dundalk Clarke Station" in honor of executed Rising leader
Thomas Clarke.
Modern developments CIÉ was reorganised in 1987 into separate operational entities, with Dundalk Clarke station coming under
Iarnród Éireann. In January, 1995 Iarnród Eireann announced the closure of their goods yard in Barrack Street and all goods traffic would be re-located to a new £2.5m depot on the old Irish North line alignment on the Ardee Road. On 31 May 2024, the "All-Island Rail Review" was launched at Dundalk Station by Transport Minister
Eamon Ryan and Northern Ireland Infrastructure Minister
John O'Dowd. == Design ==