Corrections: Ireland didn't adopt 5'3" gauge - that would imply an Irish parliament was involved, and the Act of Union was in 1801. That gauge was adopted in th

Corrections: Ireland didn't adopt 5'3" gauge - that would imply an Irish parliament was involved, and the Act of Union was in 1801. That gauge was adopted in the Railway Regulation (Gauge) Act 1846 by the British government, and that act is also what introduced standard gauge is Great Britain. Admittedly, the recommendation that Ireland use 5'3" gauge was made by the Board of Trade in 1843, but it wasn't law until 1846.