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Provincial Past

Csalem

It is 2020 and time to start something new. Back in 2016 I started Throwback Thursday. Every week it looks back on the bus services of the past in and around Dublin. It covers the Dublin City Services of CIE, Dublin Bus and more recently Go-Ahead Ireland. Provincial Past is going to look instead at what were the Provincial Services of CIE, which later became Bus Eireann. This new feature won't be weekly like Throwback Thursday (at least initially) but I will aim for twice a month at least. It also won't contain as detailed descriptions as Throwback Thursday as my knowledge of the bus services around the country is not as good. But hopefully these old pictures from outside Dublin will be of as much interest as those from within Dublin.

We start with D 436 parked with Parnell Place bus station in Cork. This bus was delivered new to Cork in 1972 and was withdrawn in 1984. The bus is seen in its original livery of navy blue and cream. 04/01/1983

Provincial Past (1) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr

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Csalem

1980 finds C 6 outside the bus station in Waterford. This bus was new to CIE in 1965. It was withdrawn 1983 and during its career it was based in Limerick, Waterford, Conyngham Road (Dublin) and Waterford again.

A new bus station opened across the road from this one in 1987.

11/1980

https://flic.kr/p/2pebhVU

Csalem

1987 finds KR 137 at Bus Aras in Dublin. This GAC bus was new to CIE in 1985. It spent time around 1990 in a special livery for Super Crazy Prices, but was back to this Bus Eireann livery by 1992. By 1998 it was part of the Bus Eireann school fleet.

The bus is operating a service to Naas. Route 126 still connects Naas with Dublin, but since 2019 has been operated by Go-Ahead Ireland.

17/11/1987

https://flic.kr/p/2pfzcgu

Csalem

1987 finds C 181 at the bus station in Drogheda. This bus was new to CIE in 1966. In 1985 it became a school bus and was withdrawn by Bus Eireann in 1990. Throughout its career it was based in Galway, Dublin, Dundalk and Drogheda.

25/11/1987

https://flic.kr/p/2pgYEWw

91wx763

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121333745#Comment_121333745

The new bus station in Waterford didn't open until around 2000, there were years of negotiations before it got planning permission. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/approval-for-waterford-s-bus-depot-on-quay-is-upheld-1.136870

(Wikipedia is incorrect, can anyone fix it ?)

Csalem

2005 finds school bus ML 105 at Ballyvaughan, County Clare.This Mercedes minibus was new to Cork in 1997, initially used on the Christmas Park & Ride service. It spent some time in the early 2000s in Waterford, but by 2006 was based out of Limerick on school duties. By 2013 it was based out of Skibbereen on school duties and remained in service possibly until around 2016.

29/11/2005

https://flic.kr/p/2pihjqR

Csalem

1992 finds KR 19 at the bus station in Drogheda. This bus was new to CIE in July 1985. By 1996 it was still part of the regular fleet but at some point in the following five years it joined the school fleet. It was withdrawn around 2005.

16/12/1992

https://flic.kr/p/2pkZZx5

Csalem

1986 finds KR 94 at the bus station in Cork dressed for a service to Stuake. This GAC (Bombardier) bus was new to CIE in 1985. It was withdrawn by Bus Eireann around 2006, having spent its final years as a school bus. It was scrapped around 2007.

Bus Eireann still serve Stuake from Cork with route 235, which runs to Rylane. It is not a very frequent route with one return trip all year round, and an extra return trip during school term.

24/12/1986

https://flic.kr/p/2pneVTJ

Csalem

1982 finds C 40 at the bus station in Cork. This bus was new to CIE in 1965, initially at Dublin, before moving to Tralee. By 1967 it was based out of Cork. It moved back to Tralee in 1985 when it became a school bus, but it was withdrawn in 1986.

30/12/1982

https://flic.kr/p/2pozhK5

Csalem

1983 finds E 67 at Capwell Garage in Cork. This Leyland Leopard was new to CIE in 1962. It became a driver trainer bus in Cork in 1980, but it was withdrawn and scrapped before the end of that decade.

Capwell Garage opened as Capwell Station on the Cork and Bandon Railway in 1879. The station closed in 1925 and subsequently passed to the Irish Omnibus Company. On the 1st January 1934 the IOC became the bus division of the Great Southern Railway. The latter became CIE in 1945 and then in 1987 the garage passed to Bus Eireann, who still operate it today.

03/01/1983

https://flic.kr/p/2ppUwSx

Csalem

1998 finds TE 38 at the bus station in Drogheda. This Alexander bus on a Leyland Tiger chassis was new to Bus Eireann in 1989, and was initially allocated to the Expressway network. Around 2000 it joined the school fleet, and was finally withdrawn around 2010. It went for scrap in 2011.

17/01/1998

https://flic.kr/p/2pswpDM

Csalem

1986 finds school bus SS 541 at the bus yard in Longford. This bus was new to CIE in 1970. About 800 school buses were built between 1968 and 1979 for CIE, following the introduction of the free school bus scheme for post-primary students in 1967. This coincided with the introduction of free secondary school education. SS 541 remained in service until 1997 when it was withdrawn by Bus Eireann.

23/01/1986

https://flic.kr/p/2ptW9qy

Csalem

1998 finds PL 123 at the Bus Eireann depot in Skibbereen. This bus was new to Shearings in the United Kingdom in 1991, where it had fleet number 919. In 1995 it (and other similar buses owned by Shearings) was purchased by Bus Eireann and it became PL 123. Initially based in the Cork area, it was withdrawn in 2012 from Thurles depot. It spent its final years before withdrawal as a school bus.

The bus has a destination board for Drimoleague. Bus Eireann still serve this town with route 236 which primarily operates between Cork and Bantry.

10/02/1998

https://flic.kr/p/2pwz5rQ

Csalem

2008 finds VWL 155 at the bus station in Waterford with a service on route 3 to Brownes Road / WIT. This bus was new to Bus Eireann in 2007. Initially based in Waterford, it subsequently worked in Galway and Cork. It was withdrawn in 2019.

Brownes Road is currently the terminus for route W4, following the Waterford network reorganisation in December 2018. Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) has been renamed South East Technological University since this photograph was taken.

14/02/2008

https://flic.kr/p/2pxQexN

91wx763

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121759341#Comment_121759341

The old "3" Brownes Road is the clockwise loop service via the WIT and is now quite confusingly W2. The old "2" Lismore Park/Slievekeale to St Johns Park is what the W4 is at the Lismore Park end and ends up doing a dubious U turn in the entrance of the industrial estate but there is only one one bus stop in about 2 miles around Lismore Park !!!

Csalem

1997 finds VC 34 at the bus station in Limerick. This Bus Eireann coach is possibly operating a Eurolines service to London via Waterford. Eurolines started as a trans-European coach network in 1985, with national coach companies operating the service. Bus Eireann joined in the mid-1990s which also saw the end of the Supabus brand on their services to the United Kingdom. Other Irish operators ,such as Bernard Kavanagh, have also operated Eurolines services.

VC 34 was new to Bus Eireann in 1996. It was withdrawn in early-2016, spending its final few years as a school bus.

The bus station in Limerick moved to the other side of the railway station in early-2024.

Although Eurolines doesn't operate from Limerick anymore, it is still connected to Waterford by Expressway route 55.

20/02/1997

https://flic.kr/p/2pz7CcK

Csalem

1989 finds KD 192 at the bus station in Limerick. This Bombardier double-decker was new to CIE in 1982 and was withdrawn by Bus Eireann in the late-1990s.

The bus station in Limerick moved to the other side of the railway station in early-2024.

04/03/1989

https://flic.kr/p/2pBwyJX

Csalem

The year 2000 finds DPL 1 in Salthill, Galway.

The DPL class were a mix bunch of buses. They were all Dennis Dart chassis, but with a variety of bidyworks on top. DPL 1 had an East Lancs Spryte body. Bus Eireann had the DPL class, of which there were twenty-three members, on a short-term lease. DPL 1 arrived around December 1999, having spent the first two years of its life working in the United Kingdom. It was withdrawn by Bus Eireann by the end of November 2000. It then returned to the United Kingdom, and was withdrawn from public service there on the 31st December 2015, after having worked with a variety of operators there.

Salthill is still served by route 401 from Galway.

14/03/2000

https://flic.kr/p/2pCR5pC

Csalem

1998 finds C 202 at the bus depot in Skibbereen, County Cork. This bus was new to CIE in 1966, initially based in Dublin. In 1972 it moved to Cork and in 1986 it became a school bus. It was withdrawn by Bus Eireann in 1996, and languished in Skibbereen for a few more years before being scrapped.

31/03/1998

https://flic.kr/p/2pFrCeq

cml387

Here's something I found from an old diary.

The Interlink system was a godsend for us students as it was a cross country service that meant we didn't have to traipse through Dublin to get home.

It was a leisurely enough trip, depart Limerick at 11:15 to Roscrea, about a twenty minute wait there, then Roscrea to Athlone. There was an hour wait in Athlone for the bus to Dundalk which would mean getting into Mullingar some time after three o'clock

Csalem

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121949816#Comment_121949816

Back in 2022 I tried to do the surviving Interlink routes. On one day did the 271 from Belfast to Cavan, 65 Cavan to Athlone and 72 from Athlone to Limerick.

A few weeks later did the 73 from Waterford to Athlone and the 70 from Athlone to Mullingar. Was interesting trips.

Csalem

1983 finds C 47 and C 247 at Capwell Depot in Cork.
C 47 was new to CIE in 1965. It became a school bus in 1985 and was withdrawn by Bus Eireann in 1992.
C 247 was new to CIE in 1966 and was withdrawn at the end of 1985.
Capwell Depot opened as a railway terminus in 1879 by the Cork and Macroom Direct Railway. It closed in 1925 and was acquired by the Irish Omnibus Company in 1929. Bus Eireann still operate from it today.
01/04/1983

https://flic.kr/p/2pGwvfn

Csalem

1995 finds M 205 at the station in Galway with a service to Spiddal. This bus was new to CIE in 1972. It was withdrawn by Bus Eireann in 1997. It was subsequently preserved.
Spiddal is still connected to Galway today by Bus Eireann route 424.
08/04/1995

https://flic.kr/p/2pJ5kSC

Csalem

1984 finds SF 26 and SF 48 at the bus depot in Athlone. Both school buses were new to CIE in 1969. SF 26 was withdrawn in March 1984 and SF 48 was withdrawn in November 1983. Both were scrapped in 1985.

CIE received 145 Ford Transit minibuses between 1968 and 1985. Some were delivered for local rural services, but never fulfilled this role due to a dispute with the union. Instead they all stayed on school services, based throughout the country, with the final examples withdrawn in the 1990s.

15/04/1984

https://flic.kr/p/2pKk4aL

Csalem

2003 finds Bus Eireann DWR 15 in Galway on route 418.
DWR 15 was one of twenty Wright buses on DAF chassis delivered to Bus Eireann in 2001. In 2010 the final members of the class were withdrawn and some were sold on to other operators. DWR 15 ended up with McGill's in Scotland.

Route 418 ran between Galway and Athenry via Oranmore. It was cancelled in March 2013.

22/04/2003

https://flic.kr/p/2pLNXNx

Csalem

1987 finds M 26 in Limerick loading up with a service for Galway and Ballina.

This bus was new to CIE in 1971. It was re-engined in 1978 and became MG 26. Bus Eireann transferred it to the school fleet in 1992. It was scrapped in 2000.

Limerick and Galway is still connected today by Expressway route 51. Passengers for Ballina now need to change in Galway to Expressway route 52.

06/05/1987

https://flic.kr/p/2pPrF5A

cml387

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122103530#Comment_122103530

That area of Limerick is unrecognisable now.

Csalem

1989 finds KR 154 at the railway station in Dundalk. This bus was new to CIE in 1985. By 1998 Bus Eireann were using it as a school bus in Dundalk, and it was withdrawn in the early-2000s.

The bus has a sticker on the front to mark "Dundalk Heritage Year 1989". This was a festival to mark 1200 years of Dundalk in 1989.

13/05/1989

https://flic.kr/p/2pQZPCf

Csalem

2008 finds DWM 008 in Limerick with a service on route 308 to Univeristy of Limerick.
This bus was new to Bus Eireann in 2000, being one of fifteen members of the DWM class. By 2010 this bus was with an operator in the United Kingdom.

Bus Eireann ceased to operate route 308 in September 2012, when it was merged into route 304. Dublin Coach started its own route 308 to University of Limerick within a year of the Bus Eireann route ending, but it was replaced by TFI route 310 in 2022.

21/05/2008

https://flic.kr/p/2pSncZe

Csalem

The year 2000 finds DVH 18 parked at the railway station in Kilkenny. This VanHool bodied coach on a DAF chassis was new to Bus Eireann in 1993. Between 2004 and 2006 it joined the school fleet, and by 2013 it was withdrawn.

Bus Eireann routes 73 and 374 still serve Kilkenny Station, although neither go to Clonmel or St. Stephen's Green in Dublin, as displayed on the DVH. JJ Kavanagh route 717 does still connect Kilkenny with Clonmel.

27/05/2000

https://flic.kr/p/2pTKC6Z

Csalem

1988 finds KR 89 parked at the station in Sligo. This bus was new to CIE in 1985. By 2001 it had become a school bus with Bus Eireann. It was withdrawn by 2007, although was still in present at the back of Stranorlar Garage in 2014.

11/06/1988

https://flic.kr/p/2pWBnDt