How increasingly frequent flooding is disrupting a vital Co Clare rail link
Railway flooding in Ballycar, Co Clare, is a long-standing, regular and frustrating issue for anyone familiar with the train service linking Ennis and Limerick.
The Ballycar area experiences regular flooding due to its geological and hydrogeological environment, where the underlying limestone rock, thin soil covering and exposed bedrock combine to produce a shallow network of springs, turloughs and disappearing streams.
The flooding is mainly caused by prolonged, sustained rainfall in the Ballycar Lough area and natural constriction to the outflow stream of Ballycar Lough between the swallow hole and the spring.
As Irish Rail spokesperson Barry Kenny explained, the Clare area simply has a problem with draining water.
“When you have heavy rainfalls in the winter, the water tends to build up and then it simply just starts to flood because it’s going out so slowly,” Mr Kenny said.
Flood waters risen more than a meter above the tracks during some flood events
“When it does flood, we tend to have a little bit of an advance warning. It's not like when there’s a big storm and you have sudden flooding. We’ll see this slowly rising. And when it goes above the rail head, that’s when we’re in trouble.”
The railway track in Ballycar has flooded significantly on a number of occasions in the past, despite 2003 works that involved Irish Rail raising the track level by 60cm. Flood waters risen more than a meter above the tracks during some flood events.
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In addition to causing disruption to rail services, these flood events caused disruption to the water supply in Newmarket on Fergus, blocked local roads and restricted access to farming lands.
There are fears the problem will get worse due to climate change. According to Clare County Council’s five-year Climate Action Plan published in 2024, flooding is an emerging risk for the region.
Mr Kenny said: “There’s probably records going back 100 more years of flooding, but the frequency has increased very significantly in the last 20 or 30 years.
“It used to be something that would happen every couple of decades and now if you got two years without something happening it’s almost unusual at this point.”
It is not known when – or if – the project will commence
A report was compiled in 2020 by consultant engineers RPS, and stakeholder representatives from Clare County Council, the Office of Public Works, Geological Survey Ireland and the National Parks & Wildlife Services.
The study recommends a new drainage scheme that would prevent flooding of the railway and include flood mitigation measures downstream.
Irish Rail believes this is the most appropriate technically feasible drainage solution to address the flooding at Ballycar.
As of 2020, it was expected to cost €16.7m, including VAT. For the project to proceed, a funding source will need to be identified by the Exchequer and, as the works would take place away from railway property, a responsible agency nominated.
A funding source has not yet been identified and it is not known when – or if – the project will commence.