The Dreoilín Irish Transport Series
Look in any Irish motor enthusiast’s library and the chances are that you’ll find at least several of the Dreoilín Irish Transport Series titles. Indeed, we’re often pleased to hear from car enthusiasts who credit the series as the item that awakened their interest in Irish motoring history. But how did these much sought-after titles come about?
The idea behind the Dreoilín Irish Transport Series was to provide a book format that would allow aspects of Irish motoring and aviation history to get into print, that might otherwise not be an economic proposition for a publisher. Inspired by the UK Shire series of booklets, the format chosen was A5 in size with 32 black and white pages and a colour cover. The first four titles were introduced in 1999 and were:
Early Motoring in Ireland
Leslie Porter – Ireland’s Pioneer Racing Driver
The Irish International Grand Prix 1929-1931
The Phoenix Park Speed Trials 1903
These early titles also carried the words ‘In Association with the RIAC Archive’ on their front cover. Author Bob Montgomery had just taken on the additional task of curating the newly founded Archive of the Royal Irish Automobile Club and this was seen as a good way to spread the word about the Archive and its contents.
Right from the start it was recognised that selling the new titles through the book dealers who attended the many Classic Car Shows held throughout Ireland was a good way to reach the ordinary enthusiast, and so it proved to be. The ‘Early Motoring in Ireland’ title proved to be a big hit and put an account of the early days of Irish motoring into the hands of many enthusiasts for the first time. Soon, two more titles (Nos. 5 and 6) followed, ‘The Irish Gordon Bennett Race 1903’ and ‘The Dundrod TT Races 1950-1955’ by John S Moore, Keeper of the Department of Transport at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. The series was proving very popular and before long another two titles were added. The first of these was ‘The Cork Motor Races 1936-1938’ by Wilford J Fitzsimmons, and ‘Ford Manufacture & Assembly at Cork 1919-1984' by Bob Montgomery. This latter title proved to be a resounding success and was the first of the series titles to be re-printed. Today, it’s still one of our most popular titles.
Following on the success of the Ford title we were pleased to add John S Moore’s account of ‘Chambers Motors 1904-1929', but even though this was the first and only account of this enterprising Belfast motor manufacturer, surprisingly, it has always been one of our slowest sellers. Not so, title number ten, John Boyd Dunlop’ by the late Jim Cooke. This proved a popular seller, particlarly in the UK, and is now out-of-print.
We were keen to cover all the Irish motor racing venues and next published ‘The Curragh Motor Races 1947-1954 and ‘The Wicklow Motor Races 1950-1957’ by Joan Carvill and titles number 11 and 13 respectively. each featuring specially comissioned cover artwork by renowned motoring artist, Roy Putt. You may be wondering about title number 12? Well, this was ‘RJ Mecredy – The Father of Irish Motoring’ by Bob Montgomery. We were particularly pleased to be able to publish ‘Arjay’s’ life story and to explain his key role in the development of motoring on this island. A truly remarkable man and one of our most important titles.
There now followed a number of albums telling the story of Irish motor racing circuits. These were: ‘The International Ulster Trophy Races 1934-55’ by John S Moore, and three titles by Robin McCullagh, ‘The Bray Motor Races 1934-1935’(No. 15), The Tallaght Motor Races 1935-1948’ (No. 17) and The Dunboyne Motor Races 1958-1967’ (No. 18). This latter title was particularly noteworthy as it ran to 96 pages, highlighting the flexibility of the format we had chosen for the Irish Transport Series. Also published at this time was our first aviation title, ‘Early Aviation in Ireland’ (No. 19), bringing our books to a new market of aviation enthusiasts. At this time title number 16 also appeared, The Royal Irish Automobile Club’, telling the story of this club that has been so influential in Irish motoring history.
A project we had long had in mind was a short series of two or three books telling the story of Irish Motor Racing Circuits. Volume 1 of this series appeared covering the Ards to Dunboyne circuits. Alas, it proved to be our least popular title with the result that the follow-up title has yet to appear, but there will be a second book in this mini-series at some stage in the future.
With several of the early titles now out-of-print, we next began to examine which ones deserved a reprint. At the same time we were keen to expand the titles with more pages and we decided that any future titles would have a minimum of 48 pages. With this in mind we reprinted our first title, ‘Early Motoring in Ireland’. This was a heavily re-written and expanded version of the original album and now appeared as title number 21.
As we’ve said, the format is highly adaptable, and this proved especially so with title number 22, ‘Motor Assembly in Ireland’, that was published in association with C.A.R., the organisation for retired Irish Motor Industry people. At 240 pages this is by far the biggest title in the Irish Transport Series so far. Not only is it the biggest but it is also the most successful title so far, having been reprinted four times and to date having sold just over 5,000 copies, setting new records for an Irish motoring publication. Today, it remains our best-seller and copies have been ordered from eighteen countries as distant as Argentina and Ukraine.
With the larger format of the albums now established, we then turned our attention to their design. The next album had the long title of ‘The Ballyjamesduff, Dundalk & Dun Laoghaire Motor Races’ (No. 23) written by Robin McCullagh. The cover design proved to be somewhat of a ‘design in transit’ as our new cover design became properly established with the next title. ‘Irish Garages’ (No. 24) followed up on the success of ‘Motor Assembly in Ireland’ and has proven to be very popular.
By now we were keen to fill the gaps of the few motor racing venues we had yet to cover, and we addressed this with ‘The Limerick Motor Races’ (No. 25) and ‘The Ards Tourist Trophy Races’ (No.27) . Both of these titles have proven popular not just in Ireland but also in the UK Market. Another reprint at this time was of ‘The Cork Motor Races’ (No. 26), the classic account by the late Wilford J Fitzsimmons, who was of course present at the races pre-WW2.
This brings the Dreoilín Irish Transport Series story up-to-date. New titles and expanded re-prints are in the pipe-line, with the ‘The Irish Gordon Bennett Race and Automobile Fortnight in Ireland’ the newest title to appear. This replaces the earlier Gordon Bennett Race and Phoenix Park Speed Trials albums and also, for the first time, recounts the other events that took place during the weeks surrounding the ‘Great Race’ of 1903.
The full list of Dreoilín Albums available today is:
No. 28 THE IRISH GORDON BENNETT RACE and Automobile Fortnight in Ireland
No. 27 THE ARDS TOURIST TROPHY RACES- 1928-1936
No. 26 THE CORK MOTOR RACES – 1936-1938
No. 25 THE LIMERICK MOTOR RACES - 1935, 1936 and 1938
No. 24 IRISH GARAGES
No. 23 THE BALLYJAMESDUFF, DUNDALK & DUN LAOGHAIRE MOTOR RACES
No. 22 MOTOR ASSEMBLY IN IRELAND
No. 21 EARLY MOTORING IN IRELAND
NO. 20 IRISH MOTOR RACING CIRCUITS – Volume 1 – Ards to Dunboyne
No. 19 EARLY AVIATION IN IRELAND
No. 18 THE DUNBOYNE MOTOR RACES 1958-1967
No. 17 THE TALLAGHT MOTOR RACES 1935-1948
No. 16 THE ROYAL IRISH AUTOMOBILE CLUB
No. 15 THE BRAY MOTOR RACES 1934-1935
No. 14 THE INTERNATIONAL ULSTER TROPHY RACES 1934-1955
No. 13 THE WCKLOW MOTOR RACES 1950-1957
No. 12 RJ MECREDY – The Father of Irish Motoring
No. 11 THE CURRAGH MOTOR RACES 1947-1954
No. 9 CHAMBERS’ MOTORS 1904-1929
No. 8 FORD MANUFACTURE & ASSEMBLY AT CORK 1919-1984
No. 6 THE DUNDROD TT RACES 1950-1955
No. 4 THE PHOENIX PARK SPEED TRIALS 1903
No. 3 THE IRISH INTERNATIONAL GRAND PRIX 1929-31
No. 2 LESLIE PORTER – Ireland’s Pioneer Racing Driver
All of these titles and our other motoring and aviation titles are available from:
When Transfers were King.
A mostly
forgotten form of garage advertising.
Motor enthusiasts are magpies! I’ll bet there’s not one of us who hasn’t got a collection of favoured items hoarded away. For some people – myself included - its books. For others its programmes or photographs. I know one enthusiast who collects postcards of cars. And there are many who like to collect manufacturer’e brochures. But there is one item that –because of its fragility, few have managed to collect.
The items I’m refering to are the transfers that once adorned the dashboards of most cars with the details of the local dealer who had supplied the car. I guess the hey-day of these transfers ranged from the 1920s right up to the end of the 1950s. Every dealer had his own personalised transfer carrying his business details and usually they would be affixed to the often metal dash of a new car.
They were cheap to produce, often very attractive and simple to use. A soak in a saucer of water and the transfer would slide easily into position. A gentle dabbing with a soft cloth to absorb any excess mositure and, hey presto, the job was done. Simplicity itself!
But over the years any unused transfers are likely to have become dried out and cracked so their chances of surviving – and don’t forget they could now be as many as one hundred years old – are pretty small. That’s why I’m delighted to have a small collection of transfers ranging from a cycle stores in Killarney to a wonderful transfer for the Walden Motor Company that is nothing short of pure art of it’s time. Interesting to note, the Cycle Stores – William Hearne of Killarney features a St. Christopher design. This was a popular and familiar symbol at the time that seems to have now all but disappeared.
Three of the transfers I have are for Ford dealers – the aforementioned Walden Motor Company from Parnell Street in Dublin, Dermot Kelly Ltd., in Kilcock and John O’Gorman & Sons of Crookstown, Ballytore, County Kildare. These Ford transfers may just have been produced by the dealer themselves but its also probable that Henry Ford & Son would have made available designs for their dealers if they wished to use them. Sadly, my Dermot Kelly example has dried up and cracked over the years and is now pretty delicate. The other example I have is a very simple transfer for John O’Hara, who was a supplier of ‘David Brown Tractors and Implements’ based in Freshford, County Kilkenny.
Of my small collection the Walden Motor Company transfer is by far the outstanding design. The Walden Motor Company was next door to my parents hardware business in Parnell Street and I would love to know the origins of this design that features winged wheels – are they spoked? – and a lovely banner to carry their name.
If you have any examples of motor dealer transfers then I’d love to hear from you, ideally with a photograph. It would be very interesting to see what transfers have survived the passage of time. If there are enough examples we could return to the subject at a future time.