William Barrington
William Barrington (1825-1895)
1895 Obituary [1]
WILLIAM BARRINGTON, who belonged to an old and well known Limerick family, was born on the 14th of March, 1825.
At the age of twenty he became a pupil of Sir John Macneill, under whom he was afforded an opportunity of taking a prominent part in the development of the railway system in Ireland. During the latter portion of his pupilage he acted as Resident Engineer on the Great Southern and Western Railway from Dundrum to Kilmallock, a section of 23 miles, and in 1850 was engaged in a similar capacity on the construction of Cork Tunnel, 0.75 of a mile in length, a work of considerable magnitude in Ireland in those days.
From February, 1851, to September, 1852, Mr. Barrington served as an Assistant Engineer on the Killarney Junction Railway, under the late W. R. Le Fanu having responsible charge of, first, 10 miles and then 20 miles from Mallow to Millstreet.
He acted in a similar capacity from 1854 to 1859, under Mr. Le Fanu, on the Limerick and Foynes Railway, 27 miles in length. Mr. Barrington was next Chief Engineer of the extension of the Waterford and Limerick line from Castle Connell to Killaloe, a length of 74 miles.
Among the1 railway works which he also constructed between 1860 and 1884 may be mentioned the Rathkeale and Newcastle Junction (10 miles); the Limerick and Kerry (43 miles); the Ilen Valley and the Bantry extension, both branches of the Cork and Bandon line; and the West Clare. During that period he was likewise largely connected with the arterial drainage system of Ireland, and designed and carried out, as Chief Engineer-in conjunction with the late Thomas Fosberry and the late Mr. W. S. Cox-the drainage of the Mulkear district, one of the most extensive and successful works in the country.
After 1884 Mr. Barrington was unfortunately not able to take much work....[more]