Kilkenny railway station (MacDonagh Station) serves the city of Kilkenny

Kilkenny

Kilkenny is a city and is the county town of the eponymous County Kilkenny in Ireland. It is situated on both banks of the River Nore in the province of Leinster, in the south-east of Ireland...

 in County Kilkenny

County Kilkenny

County Kilkenny is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. The territory of the county was the core part of the ancient Irish Kingdom of Osraige which in turn was the core of the Diocese of...

. It is on a short spur off the main railway line, requiring trains to exit the station in the same direction from which they entered. For most trains this meant moving the locomotive from one end to the other; however, nowadays trains with a control cabin at either end, or railcars, are more regularly used to stop the need of the turnaround.

The station opened on 12 May 1848. It was given the name MacDonagh on 10 April 1966 in commemoration of Thomas MacDonagh

Thomas MacDonagh

Thomas MacDonagh was an Irish nationalist, poet, playwright, and a leader of the 1916 Easter Rising.-Early life:MacDonagh was born in Cloughjordan, County Tipperary...

, one of the executed leaders of the Easter Rising of 1916

Easter Rising

The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic at a time when the British Empire was heavily engaged in the First World War...

.