The Killaloe Railway, as it was called, although it was located in Ballina, opened in April 1862. This was a 5km line from Birdhill to Ballina and was an extension of the Limerick and Castleconnell Railway. A number of years later the track was extended to a wharf below The Lakeside Hotel to serve trade boats and steamers.
There were two, and sometimes three, trains every weekday from Ballina to Limerick, and the journey took about fifty minutes. Regular passenger services on the Killaloe line stopped in 1931, but occasional excursion and goods trains ran until the line was finally closed in 1944 by Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ).
According to locals, these excursion trains brought thousands of people from Limerick and beyond for the famous Killaloe Regattas.
Killaloe-Ballina