The Classic Irish Buses website

by Shane Conway

Site set up February 2001, and last updated on April 16th 2009

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March 5th 1959 saw the entry into service of the first 23 of CIE's RA class Leyland PD3s, the largest diesel powered buses then to be seen anywhere in Ireland. Their size and increased capacity delayed their entry into service for a time due to union objections regarding additional work for conductors on the new buses. The first buses entered service from Donnybrook garage on route 8 to Dalkey, with later deliveries going to Ringsend and Summerhill. 1967 saw some buses reallocated to Conyngham Road as a result of new D class Atlanteans going on the road, and further transfers during the mid 1970s saw some of the early buses going to Clontarf garage. After just over 23 years continuous service, Clontarf operated the last two in service, in April 1982. Six of the fleet of 152 buses were acquired for preservation.

RA35 was the final example of the first batch of RA class buses. After withdrawal it was sold for preservation and restored to its original green livery, as seen here in 1984.

RA73 was photographed on Eden Quay on Summerhill's route 33 to Skerries, probably early in 1966. It was also sold in 1982 and restored to green livery.

RA119 was new in December 1960 to Summerhill garage as part of the batch RA118 to RA140. Most of these were transferred to Conyngham Road in the late 1960s, where the bus is seen parked up along with RA133. Both of these buses were scrapped during 1982, a fate that befell no less than 146 of the class.

What's new?

Welcome to my website, the online home of classic Irish buses and coaches. I'm Shane Conway and my original attempts at setting up 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 Titans 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.

This site is intended to be as definitive a history as possible of some of the various bus and coach fleets which have graced (or disgraced!) the roads of Ireland in the past. From the 1920s buses which started the replacement of Dublin's trams, up to the recent Volvo Olympians of Dublin Bus, and all the thousands of buses in between, including those of Ulsterbus and their predecessors, Lough Swilly, Belfast Corporation and the various versions of Leylands operated by CIE allover Ireland over many decades, all have their place on this site, in the form of detailed fleet histories. Complementing these pages are some "light reading" travelogue pages of some of the places I've visited since the 1980s, several photo collections, Isle of Man fleet histories, a list of all known Bristols and postwar Leylands in Ireland, features on London's Routemasters, Guide Friday and the 1960s Morris Oxford and Austin Cambridge cars. Finally come a couple of miscellaneous pages where some of our correspondent's pictures can be found.

So, welcome aboard, I hope you will find something of interest as we journey down memory lane and recall Irish and Manx buses of yesteryear. If you like the site, tell others, if there's a mistake, tell me!!! 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.

Quick links guide to this site

Republic of Ireland buses and coaches:

Northern Ireland buses and coaches:

Chassis list summaries of Irish owned buses and coaches:

Manx buses and coaches:

British and overseas buses and coaches:

Classic cars, trucks and vans:

Thanks to the following people for their contributions:

Dick Gilbert, without whose help this website would not exist.

The various photographers who's work is scattered around this site.

Richard Davis for additional notes on the fate of some Manx buses.

Patrizio Castelli for additional information on buses in Rome

Please note that ALL photos (especially those by other photographers) on this site are strictly copyright, and that the material is considered suitable for viewing by all ages. While every effort has been made to ensure the information listed on the various pages is as correct or accurate as possible, updates or corrections to any mistakes are welcome.

Other Irish (mainly) transport websites

General bus interest

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