The Classic Irish Buses website

by Shane Conway

Site set up February 2001, and last updated on April 17th 2008

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2008 marks the 40th anniversary of the final withdrawal of the last trolleybuses to run in Ireland in May 1968, (see our Belfast Corporation page ) and also the 50th anniversary of the demise of the Great Northern Railway in September 1958.

The above photo was taken on October 27th 1968, not in Belfast as might be thought, but in Reading, Berkshire. After Belfast had withdrawn its last trolleybuses in May of that year, a small number of them were secured for preservation. Number 168 above was obtained by the National Trolleybus Association, shipped across the Irish Sea, and used in several "last day" events in various towns. This was the only known time that a Harkness bodied bus of any type was to see service outside of Ireland.

What I don't know is precisely what the man sitting on the rear roof dome of the bus is supposed to be doing. More than likely he's undertaking some repair work on the overhead trolleypoles, albeit under conditions that today would be seen as a complete lack of personal safety. Britain's last trolleybus system, in Bradford, ran for the last time in May 1972, only a year or so before the infamous fuel crisis of 1973/74 began!!! Photo copyright Chris Stanley.

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 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:

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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