Read Ireland Book Reviews
Issue 383 - 23 June 2007
Irish Transport
Dublin Bus: Changing with the City, 1987-2006 by Jonathan McDonnell, Darren Hall and Ian Molloy
Oblong Hardback; 22 Euro / 28 USD / 14 UK; Full Colour Photos Throughout
The year 2007 marks the twentieth anniversary of the enactment of the decision made by the Irish government to split the existing monolithic nationalised transportation company, Cora Lompair Eireann (CIE) into three separate operating companies. CIE remained in existence as a holding company, but it was felt that the transport needs of the country would be better served if management was focused on dealing with particular elements of the CIE empire. The three operating companies were designed to give their managements a much greater degree of indepenedence that they had under the old set up. In the case of the Dublin Bus, the new regime manifested itself in a much more adventurous approach to running the business. Some of these initiatives worked whilst others were less successful. New routes were introduced, procurement policy broadened and the fleet was gradually modernised over the years which followed. All this was done against the backdrop of an Irish economy which started to boom in the 1990s though this in turn led to some of the worst traffic congestion in western Europe which made the operation of a reliable service in the city of Dublin very difficult.
Bus Eireann: A Pictorial History 1987-2006 by Ian Molloy, Darren Hall and Jonathan McDonnell
Oblong Hardback; 22 Euro / 28 USD / 14 UK; Full Colour Photos Throughout [Add To Basket]
The restructuring of CIE came just before the Irish economy saw unprecedented levels of growth in the 1990s, becoming the by now legenday 'Celtic Tiger'. One side effect of this was a surge in the demand for public transport. As far as Bus Eireann was concerned, soaring house prices in Dublin led many people employed in the capital to live further and further away to find accommodation they could afford. This brought many new passengers onto Bus Eireann services. The new company was allowed to compete with Irish Railways on express services, a business which led to a rapid growth in the company's fleet of coaches. Since Bus Eireann was established in 1987 there has been a significant investment in vehciles and in infrastructure, with new bus stations and depots being constructed. This book traces these developments over the last 20 years looking at the company's fleet and the services provided and how these have evolved.
Iarnrod Eireann by Tom Ferris
Oblong Hardback; 22 Euro / 28 USD / 14 UK; Full Colour Photos Throughout
Iarnrod Eireannhad had perhaps the most difficult task of the three new companies. The railways had been losing money for decades and had lacked appropriate levels of investment for many years. The most recent locomotives were built in the late 1970s, the rest of the fleet dated from the 1950s and 60s. Passenger rolling stock consisted mainly of ex BR Mk 11s and 111s and whilst there was still quite a lot of freight traffic out of the age of steam with most of the track away from the main Dublin to Cork line consisting of unwelded rail with manual boxes and semaphore signalling. This was all a delight for visiting railway enthusiasts, but a nightmare for the operators. This pictorial album shows the remarkable changes made by the company in the last 20 years. Among topics covered will be the new rolling stock introduced, both locomotive and railcars, the major investment in infrastructure, the resignalling of a large part of the network, the investment in new stations and an indication of how much future investment is being planned.
Lost Railways of Co. Dublin and the South East by Stephen Johnson
Oblong Paperback; 12 Euro / 16 USD / 8 UK; 48 Pages, with black and white photos throughout [Add To Basket]
As a capital city, Dublin was an early target for railway development; in fact it was the world's second passenger railway, and the first to serve a capital city, that opened between Dublin and Kingstown in 1834. This quickly led to railway expansion throughout Ireland, and in the south east it was the Dublin & South Eastern and the Great Southern & Western Railways that came to predominate. By 1925 these had been amalgamated into Great Southern Railways, but there followed a period of fluctuating fortunes due to war and fuel shortages. By the 1950s competition from road transport led to drastic cost-cutting measures, but unlike Britain's railways, the region has enjoyed a reversal of fortunes since the 1980s, with line electrifications and development of a tramway within the capital. There is even an underground system under consideration for the city. The whole story is told in detail in this collection of 52 photographs. Locations featured include stations at Dun Laoghaire, Rosslare, Shankhill, Templeogue, the Guinness Brewery, Broadstone, Dublin Harcourt Street, Terenure, Embankment, Blessington, Poulaphouca, Sutton, Hill of Howth, Liffey Junction, Carbury, Edenderry, Tullow, Abbeyleix, Kilkenny, Mountmellick, Woodenbridge Junction, Shillelagh, Goresbridge, Borris, Ballywilliam, Palace East, Macmine Junction, Rathgarogue, Glenmore, Kilmeadan, Durrow, Dungarvan, Ballyduff, Waterford Manor, Waterford, Tramore, and Avoca.
Lost Railways of Dundalk and the North East by Stephen Johnson
Oblong Paperback; 12 Euro / 16 USD / 8 UK; 48 Pages, with black and white photos throughout
Facts, figures, dates of opening and closure and vital statistics of the lost railways of the counties in the north east of the Republic of Ireland (counties in Northern Ireland have been featured in previous volumes). Dundalk, railway centre and dubbed 'The Railway Town', is the natural focus for the book. Here the Great Northern Railway of Ireland had its workshops next to the main line railway from Dublin to Belfast, here the Irish North Western Railway snaked its way across the country to Londonderry. These lines, and many others, are included in this account of the region's railways before most of them closed in the 1950s and 60s. The book also contains over fifty period photographs and locations featured include: Dundalk, Navan, Castletown, Oldcastle, Cavan, Dunboyne, Batterstown, Drumree, Kilmessan Junction, Bective, Gibbstown, Wilkinstown, Nobber, Kilmainham Wood, Kingscourt, Athboy, Drogheda, Kells, Dromin Junction, Ardee, Greenore, Newbliss, Clones, Carrickmacross, Cootehill, Monaghan, Redhills, Ballyhaise, Loreto College, Belturbet, and Hill of Down.
Wheels Around Kerry by Cyril McIntyre
Oblong Paperback; 12 Euro / 16 USD / 8 UK; 48 Pages, with black and white photos throughout
This is a collection of photographs of road transport in County Kerry, Ireland with captions annotated by transport enthusiast Cyril McIntyre. The photos date from Victorian times onwards through tot the 1960s, with the majority being from the 1940s, 50s and 60s, with C. I.E. highly featured. Locations include Dingle, Ballybunion (railway), Killarney, Tralee, Tarbert, Dunquin and Ballyferriter
Wheels Around Connaught by Cyril McIntyre
Oblong Paperback; 12 Euro / 16 USD / 8 UK; 48 Pages, with black and white photos throughout [Add To Basket]
Ireland was traditionally divided into four provinces, of which Connaught, comprising the counties of Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim and Roscommon, was the most westerly. This selection of photographs illustrates the many types of transport that plied around Connaught between the mid-Victorian period and the 1970s. Buses feature prominently, but there are also pictures of cars, horse-drawn carts, trains, lorries and trams, with a few more unusual vehicles including a hearse, horse box, mobile crane, tractor and ambulance. One photograph shows a decommissioned Great Southern Railway bus enjoying an extended lease of life as a Red Cross canteen. Connaught's big transport operators are represented alongside many of the small concerns that once provided public transport in this sparsely populated area of Ireland. Locations featured include Clifden, Galway, Lough Corrib, Westport, Achill Island, Salthill, Leenane, Ballina, Knock, Mallaranny, Sligo, Carrigallen and Athlone.
Wheels Around Dublin by Cyril McIntyre
Oblong Paperback; 12 Euro / 16 USD / 8 UK; 48 Pages, with black and white photos throughout [Add To Basket]
This collection of 60 photographs illustrates the City of Dublin from the late nineteenth century to the 1970s, focusing on every form of wheeled transport imaginable, as well as providing snapshots of famous city landmarks in years gone by. The story begins with horse trams and an archaic (and short-lived) double decker bus service which made a brief appearance on Dublin's streets in 1908. It then moves on to the bustling inter-war years with numerous views of electric trams plying various routes in and around the city to destinations including Dalkey and Lucan. There are several pictures of buses operated by the growing number of independent companies that sprung up at that time, largely serving the growing suburbs. Horse-drawn transport was still important right up to the 1960s and is also illustrated, along with some of the city's rail services and the special buses that used to carry passengers to the airport (not to mention a plane or two!).
Wheels Around Cork by Cyril McIntyre
Oblong Paperback; 12 Euro / 16 USD / 8 UK; 48 Pages, with black and white photos throughout [Add To Basket]
Both the city and county of Cork are covered in this book, which as in our other 'wheels' titles features a wide range of transport types from trains to buses, bicycles, cars, trams and lorries. Blackwater Bridge at Youghal is shown on the cover - bus passengers had to disembark here and cross the bridge to join another vehicle on the other side following weight restrictions that were introduced in 1939 - a second view inside the book shows them re-embarking having crossed over on foot, by bicycle or by car! Naturally, there are plenty of photographs of Patrick Street, Grand Parade, and other familiar city centre locations in Cork itself, whilst further-flung places featured include: Cronin's Hotel at Gougane Barra, Crosshaven, Glengarriff, Macroom and Monkstown. Although all the photographs have a transport element in them, many will be of interest to general readers, showing as they do locations across the city and county as they used to be.
Old Irish Country Life by Hugh Oram
Oblong Paperback; 12 Euro / 16 USD / 8 UK; 48 Pages, with black and white photos throughout [Add To Basket]
This book presents informative pictorial history of Irish country life as it used to be 100 years ago and occasionally more recently. This is a small book but is packed with pictures and information and is great value for money with its wide coverage of country occupations, events and pursuits. The accompanying text gives the background to what is going on in each illustration. Many of the photos are unlocated but believed to be in the western counties. Amongst the subject matter featured are the Claddagh in Galway, fishwives, gorse-picking, donkeys of course, plucking fowl, carting, market day, pigs, dancing, killing the pig, peasants' cabins, eviction, the village pump, spinning wool and tweed industry, turf-cutting and turf harvest, washing day, curraghs, seaweed harvesting, turnip harvesting, digging potatoes, pig fairs, milking the cow, sheep, roadside butter market, thatching and Irish lace and all within 56 pages! This book is an affordable introduction to how rural life used to be in the poorer parts of Ireland.
Please note: Prices were correct at time of original posting but are subject to subsequent change without notice.
Gregory Carr, Independent Bookseller
Read Ireland
392 Clontarf Road
Dublin 3
Ireland
Tel + Fax: +353-1-853-2063
Customer Services Comments, Criticism and Questions
Subscribe to Read Ireland Book News - Our Free Weekly Email Newsletter