I’ve only ever visited the tunnel at night time which can be quite spooky knowing that in its construction, one man fell to his death. The tunnel itself is completely pitch black at night and when you get to the half way point you can feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. The wind whistles through and the water drips from the ceiling creating the mood of a horror movie.
Construction of the Lissummon Tunnel began in 1861 as part of the Newry to Armagh railway. The tunnel was originally planned to be 1,604 yards long, but was extended to 1,759 yards, 1 yard short of a mile making it the longest tunnel in Ireland.
It was built using six shafts, two of which were 200 feet deep which created 14 working faces.
With construction complete the first train to pass through the tunnel was on August 25, 1864.
Passenger services on the route were discontinued after a strike in 1933, but goods trains continued to use the line until 1957.
After being operational for 110 years The rail link to Newry and Warrenpoint was closed in 1965 when a train left Edward Street Station for the final time.
