Over de plaats » Buttevant, County Cork, Munster, Ierland

Buttevant (Irish: Cill na Mullach or Ecclesia Tumulorum in the Latin) is a medieval market town, incorporated by charter of Edward III, situated in North County Cork, Ireland. While there may be reason to suggest that the town may occupy the site of an earlier settlement of the Donegans, Carrig Donegan, the origins of the present town are clearly and distinctly Norman, and closely connected with the settlement of the Barrys from the 13th century. Here they built their principal stronghold in North Cork. Buttevant is located on the N20 road between Limerick and Cork and the R522 regional road. The Dublin–Cork railway line passes by the town, but the station, from which at the outbreak of World War I in 1914, newly raised battalions of the Royal Munster Fusiliers and the Royal Dublin Fusiliers who had completed their training at the local military barracks, set out for the Western Front. The Buttevant Rail Disaster occurred on 1 August 1980. At 12:45 a CIE express train from Dublin to Cork entered Buttevant station at 115 km/h carrying some 230 Bank Holiday passengers. It careered into a siding and smashed into a stationary ballast train. The carriages immediately behind the engine and goods wagon jack-knifed and were thrown across four sets of rail-line. Two coaches and the dining car were totally demolished by the impact. It resulted in the deaths of 18 people and over 70 people being injured. 70% of Irish rail deaths over a 28 year period occurred as a result of this event (and the subsequent Cherryville junction accident which killed a further seven people)[1 1]. CIE and the Government came under severe public pressure to improve safety and to modernise the fleet. A major review of the national rail safety policy has held and resulted in the rapid elimination of the wooden-bodied coaches that had formed part of the train.