Member Diarmaid Cowhie

Occupation I am a financial analyst with CIÉ in Dublin, working on Irish Rail’s risk, claims & insurance (including Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann), and used to work for Network Rail in London and Manchester.

Do you have a role in the society?
I was an active member in the London Area, attending and helping organise talks, helping establish the website for the area and participating in the committee. I have since moved to Dublin but continue to help with the IRRS London Area website.

When did you first become a member of the Irish Railway Record Society in London and why?
I have been a member of the society since 2005, having read the Journal in the Boole Library at University College Cork. I joined the IRRS London Area in 2012, shortly after arriving in London from Dublin, around the time I started working with Network Rail.

What is your favourite Irish railway station or location and why? Glounthaune Station in Cork is my favourite station: the views across the estuary to Great Island, Passage West and Fota are wonderful. My favourite time at that station was at night, was when you got a glimpse of the train’s lights, through a bridge of the motorway, before it came into full view of the waiting passengers.

What area of railways interests you the most?
The infrastructure: the cutting, tunnels, bridges, ballast, rail, switches and crossings, and electrical and signalling systems. My roles with Network Rail were as close to a dream job as I think I may ever have.

If you could take a journey on any railway in the world, which would it be? Or describe it if you’ve already done it!
I would love to do a long-distance, luxury train journey through India. One of my favourite films is Wes Anderson’s ‘The Darjeeling Limited’ which is a whimsical tale about three brothers who travel through India on the film’s eponymous train, to find their mother who became a nun after the death of their father. That journey, the colours, the service on the train and the duration of the trip are really appealing.

Do you have any other hobbies or interests? 
Reading, shoes, and having ‘Marie Kondo’ levels of organisation.

One unknown fact or claim to fame
I supplied a compressed air system to the producers of Game of Thrones that squirts blood when people are stabbed!