Thomas McCourt, with his son Albert and wife Frances on the beach during their reguar holiday in Bundoran, County Donegal. Bundoran was a popular tourist destination in the 1930’s and 40’s in Ireland. It is located along the Atlantic coast in south County DOnegal.
In the 1940’s it was still possible to get a train from Dundalk to Bundoran via Clone on the Enniskillen and Bundoran Railway (E&BR) – later subsumed into the Great Northern Railway. This Irish Gauge railwayw ran from Bundoran through Ballyshannon on the Atlantic coast of Donegal – connected with the Londonderry & Enniskillen Railway in Fermanagh and continued through Clones to Dundalk on the east coast where it connected with the Dublin-Belfast line. The line was opened in 1868 and closed in 1957.
The closure of this line had a negative impact on the border counties – and in particular on towns such as Clones and Enniskillen. The impact of the Troubles further negative impact on the economic and social life in along the border.