Irish Rail Was a Lot More Romantic Than Usual Today…

Ever spotted a stranger on a train and felt a frisson? It might just be the first sparks of "rail" love. 

Today, Geraldine McCauley was greeted on board by bubbly, flowers and a serenading tenor as she travelled into work for the last time before marrying her commuter sweetheart Ciarán O’Keeffe.

Back in 2013, Ciarán O’Keeffe a daily commuter on the Maynooth line started to notice a gorgeous girl at Coolmine Station, with her earphones on hiding behind the newspaper while travelling into town on the train.

It transpires that the girl, Geraldine McCauley, was also very aware of Ciarán on these journeys and that she even had begun calling him "train boy" to her pals in work.

Ciarán eventually plucked up the courage to talk to Geraldine leaving the station one evening.

The next morning he spotted Geraldine at the station again and before earphones could be put in and the paper open he went straight over and started talking. They got on the train, stood right beside each other chatting away "like they had known each other all their lives".

Just over two years later the pair are set to wed. Before next week's ceremony, Geraldine was surprised today by tenor Simon Morgan, bubbly and flowers, as she and Ciarán took the 07.06hrs commuter service from Coolmine to Docklands for the final time before their wedding.

An Iarnród Éireann spokesperson said “Commuting is so integral to the daily lives of our customers and their communities, and people get to know their fellow commuters who they see every day.  However, we’re all romantics at heart, so we were delighted to hear that the track to true love for Geraldine and Ciarán started at our station and wanted to wish them well as their romance approaches its destination – we hope Geraldine makes a punctual arrival at the wedding and doesn’t keep Ciarán waiting too long for her to move down the aisle and take her seat next to him one more time!”