William Dargan

William Dargan
Born	1799 (1799) County Laois, Ireland
Died	1867 (1868) Dublin, Ireland
Other names	The father of Irish railways.

William Dargan (1799–1867), an engineer, often seen as the father of Irish railways, came from Killeshin, County Laois, Ireland. Born in 1799, he constructed Ireland's first railway from Dublin to Dún Laoghaire (then Kingstown) in 1833. He constructed over 800 miles (1,300 km) of railway to important urban centres of Ireland. He was a member of the Royal Dublin Society and also helped establish the National Gallery of Ireland. He was also responsible for the Great Dublin Exhibition held at Leinster lawn in 1853. His achievements were honoured in 2004 when Dargan Bridge, Dublin a new cable stayed bridge for Dublin's Light Railway Luas was named after him.

Biography

Dargan, the son of a farmer, was born in Killeshin in the county of Laois on 28 February 1799, and having received an English education was placed in a surveyor's office.

The first important employment he obtained was under Thomas Telford in constructing the Holyhead road in 1820; when that work was finished he returned to Ireland and took small contracts on his own account, the most important of which was the road from Dublin to Howth.

In 1831 he became the contractor for the construction of the Dublin and Kingstown Railway, the first line to be built in Ireland. He next constructed the water communication between Lough Erne and Belfast, afterwards known as the Ulster Canal, a signal triumph of engineering and constructive ability.

Other great works followed — the Dublin and Drogheda Railway, the Great Southern and Western Railway and the Midland Great Western Railway. By 1853 he had constructed over six hundred miles of railway, and he had then contracts for two hundred more. He paid the highest wages with the greatest punctuality, and his credit was unbounded. At one time he was the largest railway projector in Ireland and one of its greatest capitalists.

He made arrangements in 1853 for the Dublin exhibition. He began by placing £30,000 in the hands of the committees, and before it was opened, 12 May 1853, his advances reached nearly £100,000l of which he ultimately lost £20,000. At the close of the exhibition the Irish National Gallery on Leinster Lawn, as a monument to Dargan, was erected, with a fine bronze statue of himself in front, looking out upon Merrion Square. The queen, who had visited Mr and Mrs Dargan at their residence, Dargan Villa, Mount Annville on 29 August 1853, offered him a baronetcy, but this he declined. Wishing to encourage the growth of flax, he then took a tract of land which he devoted to its culture, but owing to some mismanagement the enterprise entailed a heavy loss. He also became a manufacturer, and set some mills working in the neighbourhood of Dublin, but that business did not prosper.

Latterly he devoted himself chiefly to the working and extension of the Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway, of which he was chairman. In 1866 he was seriously injured by a fall from his horse. While he was incapacitated for work, his affairs became disordered and he stopped payment, though it was believed that his assets would pay more than twenty shillings in the pound. His embarrassments, however, affected his health and spirits. He died at 2 Fitzwilliam Square East, Dublin, on 7 February 1867, and was buried in Glasnevin cemetery. His widow, Jane, was granted a civil list pension of £100 on 18 June 1870.

Works

• MacNeill's Egyptian Arch
• Ulster Canal
• The Cut, Banbridge

See also

• History of rail transport in Ireland

References

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Dargan, William". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.