Of the 309 miles of “light” railways, made under the 1889 and subsequent Acts, 194 were constructed on the ordinary gauge of the country, 5 feet 3 inches, and the remainder on a 3-foot gauge.

Several Light Railway or Tramway Acts were passed in Ireland between 1860 and 1883, under which 295 miles of light railways at a cost of 1,389,784 pounds were constructed.  With the exception of the small sum of 144,804 pounds, the interest on the whole of this capital was guaranteed by the Baronies, the Treasury repaying the Baronies one-half but not to exceed two per cent.

The lines constructed under “Balfour’s Act” are situated mostly in Connemara, Kerry, Mayo and Donegal, serving districts remote and thinly populated, where as commercial ventures they could not have been projected.  That they have proved to be of great benefit to the country is beyond question.  They have developed fishing and agriculture, and have brought the tourist into districts little visited before.  Live stock and farm produce are able to reach their market, and places before isolated are in touch with the outer world.

One of the first of the railways made under the 1889 Act was a short line of 8 miles from the County Down line at Downpatrick to the little fishing village of Ardglass.  It stood first on the list of lines recommended for construction in the Report of the Allport Commission.  Primarily it was intended for the development of the herring traffic which for years had abounded on the coast, but no sooner was the line opened, than that perverse migratory fish sought other seas, and did not return to Ardglass for I don’t know how long.

The promotion of the Ardglass railway, and the steps necessary for obtaining an Order in Council for its construction and working, familiarised me with the Light Railway Legislation of Ireland, with which in subsequent years I was often concerned.

In the autumn of 1889, in company with Mr. Jackson (afterwards Lord Allerton), then Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Andrews and other directors of the County Down, I visited Ardglass.  Under the new Act the Treasury, in connection with the projected railway construction, held the purse strings, and the Treasury, so far as we were concerned, was Mr. Jackson.  We of the County Down were keen on getting the line sanctioned, and were very anxious concerning Mr. Jackson’s visit.  He was a man who drove a hard bargain, so it was said.  Certainly he was an able man, and I greatly admired him that day.  Later in life, when he was Lord Allerton, and Chairman of the Great Northern Railway of England, I met him again and liked him well.