© 2021 www.dunmoreeast.net. All rights reserved Last updated 26 December 2021
Dunmore East Bus Service
Dunmore East is a small fishing village on
the south-east coast of Ireland, 16kms from
the city of Waterford.
It sits on the western side of the Waterford
Harbour Estuary, 4.8kms from Hook Head in
Wexford.
Dunmore East, Co. Waterford,
Ireland
The service goes back before 1912 and originally started as a horse and carriage
service. It was taken over by The Murphy family and then sold to Richard Flynn
in the 1950's. Seamus Lynch then took over the business in the 1960's and
Jimmy (The Bus) Cullinane would have started driving around then.
I remember getting the bus to school in Waterford in the late sixties. Hanging
around by the Bay Cafe. Sitting in the bus in the morning, freezing cold, waiting
for Jimmy to arrive. He would appear in a big heavy coat and try to start the
engine, which must have been really cold. We would pray that the engine would
not start, because that meant a day off school, but Jimmy would open a hatch in
the floor and mess around with something in there, the engine I presume, which
would then groan into life.
The bus was quite exciting as we got to that age when we became interested in
girls, and could also be a place of entertainment. Now and then there would be a
guitar or two at the back of the bus (the back was always the place to be) and I
don't know how Jimmy kept his concentration with the racket that went on.
"Stop ye'er kafflin' ", he would say. "Ye have free travel and free transport and still
ye'er not satisfied"
The buses we got always seemed to be old crocks that were imported from
England, where they would not be allowed on the roads anymore. There was an
emergency door in the back and when the bus stopped at Newtown on the way
in, the cool thing to do was to open this door and jump out without Jimmy
catching you.
Sometimes the bus would get very full, I remember one time an inspector
following the bus in his car to count how many passengers got on.
On occasions such as this Jimmy would turn around and roar down the bus
"Double up, three in a seat!"
Tribute should be paid to Linda Doyle, who collected fares on the buses as long
as I can remember.
Louis.
Places
Services
Events