Rail Review: Irish Rail from Dublin to Kerry in first and standard class

Iarnród Éireann or Irish Rail operate the train services throughout the Republic of Ireland with modern rolling stock. I took the train from Dublin to Farranfore in County Kerry, so I could check out the walk between the station and the airport.

At the moment there is no catering due to the pandemic, meaning no excellent food like on my journey from Dublin to Limerick. That meant wiling away the hours checking out the view, which is no hardship, let me tell you!

Irish Rail Heuston to Farranfore

My train was scheduled for 7am which meant a 5:15am alarm so I had time to get ready. I left the house at 6am for the leisurely 4km walk from my place to Heuston Station on the River Liffey.

Boarding was already underway when I arrived, so a friendly ticket guy checked my tickets and off I walked to the CityGold first class carrage. I had secured my upgrade for €12.50 using the “secret upgrade trick”.

First Class Carriage

A bunch of people boarded right before me and were settling in when the carriage attendant asked if they were first class. They were not, so he shooed them all out and I was able to take a seat. The carriages are comfortable enough.

We departed on time for the two hour and fifteen minute journey to Mallow, where I was to change. The only passengers in CityGold were me and a mother shepherding about five children. All of them slept for the journey so it was peaceful. With the light load in my carriage, it’s not surprising the toilet stayed spotless. The walls feature country scenes and otherwise everything you’d expect to be in there is.

All Change For The Train To Tralee

On arrival in Mallow, everyone heading for Tralee gets off the train and waits for the connection to arrive. After waiting for about 10 minutes the single class train arrives to whisk you away on the rest of the journey.

The people behind me discovered they had left a bag on the previous train (!!) and after much stressful telephone calling to Irish Rail, they spoke to the staff member in the carriage. He rang Cork station, they had the bag, and they arranged for it to be put on the next series of trains back to Killarney where they lived. Simple, efficient and very good service. I’m sure it happens all the time!

Overall Thoughts

Taking the train from Dublin to anywhere in Ireland is always a very straightforward experience. Services usually run on time, carriages are clean and the staff are pleasant.

My journey took 3 hours and 45 minutes all in, and it passed quite quickly. There is plenty of beautiful Irish countryside to see along the way and of course in usual times you can eat on board too. There is one direct train each way between Dublin and Kerry, negating the need to change in Mallow, but that seems to be in the evening.

Have you taken a train in Ireland before? What did you think of it? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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