Summer 1894, saw an influx of miners into the Blantyre area. Though this was just before a general mining strike, word had spread beforehand that the new Priory Colliery was about to be sunk and that further opportunities existed in other mines in the District. Some of these incoming miners were from England and Ireland, arriving into Blantyre with hope for the future.
In May 1894, according to one newspaper report, four Irishmen arrived together. They were friends, all single young men between 18 and 22 having moved to Scotland on the Friday of the previous week in search of employment. But fate was about to intervene in the most tragic manner.
On Monday 21st May 1894, the friends were walking along the Caledonian Railway between Newton and Blantyre, using the railway as a shortcut as was the custom for many people. They were heading to Blantyre in search of employment. Unknown to them however, was the locomotive approaching behind them from Glasgow at speed.
The driver of the mineral train observed the four men in front of his engine. He shut off the steam and whistled, but the men took no heed or had not heard and at almost full force, the engine dashed into them!
One of the men escaped through being only partially on the line jumping aside at the last second, but the other three men were killed, likely instantly. One of the young men dragged a distance of 200 feet before the locomotive eventually stopped. The surviving man a fellow named ‘Dean’ was met with a horrific sight, which I’m sure would have stayed with him for the rest of his life.
The deceased Irishmen who had only been Blantyre a matter of weeks were John Cassidy, Edward Conroy and Patrick Larkin and are remembered here in this story.
Ai imagines the scene (prior to the accident)
