DORGAN FAMILY REGISTRY © 1998-2006

William Dargan, 1799 - 1867 Railway Contractor

This information researched and submitted by Lawrence Dargan 2002, (email address and website no longer functioning Jan 2006)

The National Art Gallery Of Ireland Merrion Square Dublin 2

      Extract from a Dictionary of Irish Biography by Henry Boylan 1988

        William Dargan, 1799 - 1867 Railway Contractor

      William Dargan was Born on the Feb 28 1799 in Carlow, and was educated in England

      William joined a surveyors office, and was employed under Telford, on the construction of the Holyhead Road in 1820

      William then returned to Ireland, to start his own contracting business, and in 1831 he constructed the first Railway in Ireland, the Line from Dublin to Kingstown

[ Dun Laoghaire ]

      The business prospered, by 1853 he had constructed over 600 miles of Railway, as well as the Ulster Canal, connecting Lougherne and Belfast

      In 1853 he organised and financed the Dublin Exhibition, losing 20000 pounds on the promotion

      The National Gallery was built to commemorate his services, and his Statue stands on the lawn

      William declined the offer of a Baronetcy from Queen Victoria, who visited him at his house " Mount Anville " now a Convent

      Subsequent business ventures, outside construction work did not prosper

      In 1866 he was injured in a fall from his horse, and his mobility to attend to his affairs brought acute financial difficulties

      William died on the 7 2 1867 at 2 FitzWilliam Square

      Extract from the National Gallery of Ireland 1994

                   William Dargan, 1799 - 1867

      William Dargan, was Irelands greatest industrial entrepreneur of the Nineteenth Century, apart from his responsibility for the construction of over 1600 kilometres of railway track, including the worlds first commuter line from Kingstown [ Dun Laoghaire ] to Dublin in 1834 he was also responsible for major road routes around Dublin, for canal navigation in the Midlands, for the construction of the Queens Island in Belfast Harbour, and for the building of the new resort town of Bray, some 15 kilometres south of Dublin

      In June 1852 William Dargan offered to assist the Royal Dublin Society, in the mounting of a major Exhibition, modelled on the lines of Londons Great Exhibition of 1851

      The event was to be held on Leinster Lawn, then the property of the Society in the heart of Dublin

      The Organising Committee held their first meeting on the July 5 1852 and determined that the Exhibition would open in May 1853

      Work on the site began in August 1852 and by the

May 12 1853 the magnificent structure, designed by the Cork Firm of John Benson, was host to an audience of over 10000 especially invited guests, who witnessed the glorious inauguration of the Exhibition

      By the close of the event, some 6 months later, over 1 million people had visited the display halls, and admired the best that modern industry had to offer

      Most importantly, with respect to the establishment of a National Gallery, they also had the opportunity to admire the works of fine art, of which there were over a thousand examples, which had to be included in the Exhibition at the insistence of William Dargan

      Such was the impact and success of the whole venture, that even whilst the Exhibition was still in progress, a Special Testimonial Committee was formed in July 1853 to provide a fitting Memorial to Dargans Public Munificence in underwriting the project

      The aim of the Testimonial Committee was to establish some form of permanent tribute to William Dargan, and not merely a statue or some such similar monument, but a form of commemoration which would prove permanently useful

      To this end they set about raising the necessary funds, and within a short period of time they had collected 5000 pounds

      After some discussion as how best to apply these funds, it was decided that the Testimonial Committee should link up with the Irish Institution, which had been formed following on the success of the Fine Arts Pavilion at the Industrial Exhibition

      The Irish Institution had been formed with the express objective of the promotion of art in Ireland by the formation of a permanent Exhibition in Dublin, and eventually of a Irish National Gallery

      The Testimonial Committee considered that the establishment of a permanent public art collection  would prove a fitting monument to Dargans Memory, and they joined forces with the Irish Institution to campaign for the founding of a Public Art Gallery

      Their aspirations were realised with amazing speed, and on the 10 8 1854 and Act of Parliament was passed establishing the National Gallery of Ireland

      As the location for the New Gallery, the Committee chose Leinster Lawn, which had been the site of the Industrial Exhibition

                   The National  Gallery of Ireland

      The Dargan Wing, 1859 - 1864 Architect Francis Fowke

      The Dargan Wing, is located on the ground floor,  and is dedicated to the Memory of Railway Magnate, William Dargan, whose promotion of the Industrial Exhibition of 1853 led to the establishment of the Gallery just 1 year later

      The following supplemental information has been down loaded from the internet

      William Dargan, was born on the Feb 28 1799 at Leix not far from Carlow Town in Ireland,

William is recognised as a Carlow man, though the exact location of his place of birth is unknown,

      After returning home from England, Dargan obtained several small contracts on his own account, and he formed his own company

      Some of his early works include, the construction of the North Circular Road and the building of many of the countries waterways, including the Ulster Canal, during which Dargan constructed the Queens Island on which Harland and Wolfe Shipyard was subsequently established

Dargan became the  contractor of the first railway in Ireland, this was the Kingstown to Dublin Line, and he then went on to build the majority of Irelands existing Lines

      First he built the Dublin and Drogheda Railway, then the Great Southern and Western, and Midland Great Western Lines, he built over 1000 miles of Lines

      Dargan was a philanthropist, he attempted to alleviate the effects of the famine by keeping 100000 men working on his great projects for national improvement,

      Dargan promoted Irish industry by building great exhibitions to coincide with the opening of his railways, for example

The Killarney Exhibition of 1937 and the Great Dublin Exhibition of 1853

      The Dargan Exhibition was housed in the steel and glass building in the Temple of Industry, built by Dargan, on the Leinster Lawn, it cost over 100000 pounds, which is about 20 million pounds in todays terms

      At the opening of the Exhibition, Dargan was complimented by the Queen and the Prince Consort, he declined an offer of a Baronetcy, because of his nationalist political convictions

      A Monument to Dargan was erected on Leinster Lawn, by the Irish National Gallery

      Dargan was also a major figure in several industrial projects, designed to relieve the poverty of the nation which included, charcoal and peat works in the destitute Midlands, sugar beet growing and processing around Monasterevin in the County of Kildare, also industrial production in the County of Dublin, and establishing shipping lanes from Newry and Belfast to Liverpool, the draining of sloblands to bring more land into agricultural production, the introduction of horticulture to Wicklow [known as the Garden of Ireland]

Sept 15, 1853 article about William Dargan is from Dennis Ahern's Website which contains the entire inauguration of the Cavan Branch Line of the Midland Great Western Railway, which William Dargan built.