The Classic British Isles Buses Website (by Shane Conway)

Site set up February 2001, and last updated on 16 December 2024

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Links to the Irish section of this site.

** STAR PICTURE **

During the 1949 - 1957 period C.I.E.'s double deck renewal comprised 246 Leyland OPD2s, like the one above. Numbered R441 - 540, R547 - 574, and R581 - 798, these buses were based in all garages with a double deck requirement. Most photos of them are the usual front and side views, but here we have a full on side profile of one, at Dublin's College Green sometime in 1969. The design was derived from the prewar Leyland body on TD series Titans, but stretched to a six window bay body and widened to eight feet. It looks like it has just been freshly repainted, and looks quite smart, even at 12 to 20 years old. Unfortunately it isn't possible to identify which bus it actually is (yet!), but seems to have the original style destinations (the new front ones protruded out slightly), and given its location, is most likely to be either a Donnybrook or Ringsend allocated bus. Definitely a classic Irish bus, just what this site is all about.

Welcome to my website, the online home of classic Irish buses and coaches. I'm Shane Conway and my original attempt at setting up the predecessor of this site was to initially record the passing of the last Dublin Bus Bombardier KD class deckers in January 2001. My interest in the topic of this website began with the wonderful (and much missed) CIE bodied Leyland Titan OPD2/10s allocated to Clontarf garage on the north side of Dublin Bay in the mid 1960s, mainly those working on routes 31 and 32, which passed within a quarter mile of my then front door. See Howth Road route history for more detail on that era.

The idea of this site is to be as definitive a history as possible of some of the various bus and coach fleets which have graced the roads of Ireland in the past. Starting with the late 1920s buses which started the replacement of Dublin's original trams, we proceed through the CIE era and go up to the Leyland and Volvo Olympians of Dublin Bus. Similarly the fleets of various operators in Ulster from 1929 up to the early 1990s are also covered. Complementing these pages are chassis lists of Bristols, AECs and postwar Leylands in Ireland and the 1960s Farina styled Morris Oxford and Austin Cambridge cars.

So, welcome aboard, I hope you will find something of interest as we journey down memory lane and recall Irish buses of yesteryear. Updates and corrections to the text, additional photo contributions and info on links to any other Irish transport websites are always welcome, even though it may take me a while to actually get round to using them.

Other Irish transport websites

General bus interest

• Irish Retro Transport - specialises in producing and selling Irish transport books, model buses and quality reproductions of Irish transport-inspired ephemera.
• Bus Lists on the Web - chassis and body lists for enthusiasts.
• Tony Murray's site covering Dublin buses
• Paul Kelly's Northern Ireland bus site has some information and mainly pictures of buses in Ulster.
• Gavin Ward's Photo bus Dublin site covers trams and buses in Ireland's capital.
• Craig Berry's Dublin Bus Stuff site

Photo gallery sites of transport pictures

• Darren Hall's Dublin Bus photos
• Linda's Transport Photos features present day Irish buses and trains
• Fred Dean's photo collection of Irish bus and rail scenes
• Colm Lydon's photo collection of Irish buses and coaches

Discussion forums for Irish transport

• The history of Ireland's bus operators on the Garaiste forum
• Present day large Irish operators on the Irish Road Passenger Transport forum
• The independent sector of Irish buses and coaches on the Irish Independent Coach and Bus Operators forum
• Views on past and present Irish railways on the Irish Railway News forum

Museum and preservation websites

• Irish Transport Heritage Ltd; organisers of the well-known bus and coach rally in Ulster since 1972.
• The Transport Museum Society has a collection of over 100 commercial vehicles from Ireland's past
• The Ards Bus Preservation Group collection of preserved Ulsterbuses.

Operator sites

• Barton's Transport is Ireland's premier coach hire company.
• C.I.E. is the parent company of Dublin Bus, Bus Eireann, Irish Rail and CIE Tours
• Citylink operates express coaches from Galway to Dublin and Shannon Airports.
• Dualway Coaches - Dublin city sightseeing, local bus services and private hire
• Halpenny Travel of Blackrock, Co.Louth, established 1920.
• JJ Kavanagh of Urlingford, Co. Kilkenny, commenced in 1919.
• Matthews Coaches of Inniskeen, Co. Monaghan operate the Dundalk to Dublin motorway express.
• Saint Kevin's Bus Service of Roundwood, Co. Wicklow, owned by the Doyle family since 1927.
• Translink is Northern Ireland's main bus and rail provider, including Citybus, Northern Ireland Railways and Ulsterbus
• Tony Doyle Coaches is a family run company offering a professional, friendly coach hire service in North County Wicklow.

Vehicle manufacturers and service companies

• Alexander Dennis Ltd. is Britain's leading manufacturer of single and double deck buses.
• Volvo Buses is the world's second largest bus manufacturer.
• Wrightbus is Northern Ireland's only manufacturer of double deck bus bodies

A few non-bus websites

• Ciaran Cooney's photographic record of Irish trains and stations plus a set of links to other Irish railway sites.
• The official website of Judith Durham, former lead singer with 60s Aussie folk group The Seekers.

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SB