Introducing Irish Rail MCP
The first MCP server on IrishMCP.ie is live — bringing real-time Irish Rail train data directly into your AI workflows.
Introducing Irish Rail MCP
We're excited to launch the first server on IrishMCP.ie — the Irish Rail Realtime MCP server, giving AI assistants direct access to live Irish Rail train data via the Model Context Protocol.
What is MCP?
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that lets AI models like Claude connect to external tools and data sources in a structured, reliable way. Instead of copy-pasting timetables or manually checking Iarnród Éireann's website, your AI assistant can query live train data directly — in real time, in context.
What the Irish Rail MCP Server Does
The Irish Rail MCP server exposes five tools, each wrapping a different endpoint from the Irish Rail Realtime API:
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
get_current_trains | All trains currently running on the network |
get_station_data | Live arrivals and departures for any station |
get_station_by_name | Look up a station by full or partial name |
get_train_movements | Full movement history for a specific train |
get_trains_for_station | Trains due at a station by type (Mainline, DART, Suburban) |
Example Use Cases
Once connected to an MCP-compatible client like Claude Desktop, you can ask things like:
- "Is the 08:15 from Heuston running on time?"
- "What DART services are due at Connolly in the next 20 minutes?"
- "Show me the movement history for train E123."
The AI handles the query — no app switching, no copy-paste.
How It's Built
The server runs as a Cloudflare Worker, keeping latency low and infrastructure lightweight. It uses regex-based XML parsing to handle the Irish Rail API's XML responses in a Workers-compatible environment (no DOM parser required).
The full source is available on GitHub, and the server is listed and documented here on IrishMCP.ie.
Try It
Head to the Irish Rail MCP server page to find the endpoint URL, tool documentation, and setup instructions for Claude Desktop and other MCP clients.
This is just the first of many Irish public data APIs we plan to bring to the platform. If you have a suggestion for the next one, get in touch.
IrishMCP.ie is an independent project and is not affiliated with Iarnród Éireann or Irish Rail.