Irish Rail Moquette Cushion

Ireland's railways were creaking, the Celtic Tiger was still waiting in the wings, and the country was on the brink of extraordinary change. In the early 1990s, ageing trains travelled across a railway network connecting an Ireland of familiar traditions with a future few could yet imagine.

These were the trains of everyday lives. Students leaving home for university, families heading west for holidays, young people travelling to Dublin in search of work, and emigrants returning to the people and places they had left behind. There were nervous first dates, tearful goodbyes, reunions on station platforms and the anticipation of arriving somewhere new.

For some, the journey was routine. For others, it marked the beginning of something entirely different.

Among the trains of this era were former British Rail Mark 2 carriages, acquired by Irish Rail in 1990 and given a second life on services linking Dublin with destinations including Galway, Waterford, Westport and Tralee. Repainted in distinctive Irish Rail InterCity colours, these coaches were practical, proven vehicles used at a time when Ireland was making the most of what it had.

This Irish Rail moquette cushion evokes the colours, textures and character of that era. The specific date and original carriage use of this fabric have not been independently confirmed.

Only one cushion available.