town of Dundalk in the early 1850s, but was not averse to the occasional overseas commission. In 1855, he helped survey part of a route for a railway line linking Europe to India, participating in an expedition to the valley of the River Euphrates. Closer to home, however, as chief engineer of the Belfast and County Down Railway (founded in 1846), he was responsible for crossing the marshy estuary of the River Quoile (the first bridge was constructed of timber piles driven into the riverbed) to bring the line to Downpatrick in March 1859 (part of the line is still operational from the town's railway museum). Soon after, in April 1860, Macneill was appointed engineer of the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway, intended to link Lough Foyle and Lough Swilly across the Inishowen peninsula in north Donegal. It was around this period that the Victorians' enthusiasm for railways began to wane, and the Lough Swilly company was one of many that rarely made a profit. This was disastrous for Macneill as many of his commissions were to be rewarded through share dividends on any profits. He had also unwisely made himself financially liable for calls on shares for unprofitable railway companies. With his income dwindling, Macneill became utterly impoverished. A fire in 1857 destroyed the principal industrial enterprise on his estate, the linen-mill and factory employing over 300 men, and this had been uninsured. He was then forced in 1868 to sell Mountpleasant House, his home in north Louth, which he had designed and built, and he moved to Surbiton and then London. He later became blind, abandoned by his friends and pupils, reportedly surviving on a pittance earned from making matchboxes in the single room where he lodged. He died at his son Torquil's house in Cromwell Road, south-west London on 2 March 1880. Another son, Telford Macneill, later bought back Mountpleasant House in 1894 and lived there until 1934. Legacy A commemorative plaque was unveiled on 20 July 2001 at his (previously) unmarked grave in Brompton Cemetery in London. It lies towards the north-east corner of the cemetery. References Sources Diarmaid Fleming (2001) "Macneill: remembering engineering's forgotten hero” New Civil Engineer magazine (London, UK), pp. 24–25, 19 July. 1793 births 1880 deaths Irish civil engineers Irish people in rail transport Academics of Trinity College Dublin People from Dundalk Burials at Brompton Cemetery Fellows of the Royal Society