Routes 5, 6, 6A, 7, 7A, 7B, 7D, 7E, 7N, 7X and 8


Donnybrook's Wright Gemini 3 bodied Volvo B5TL, SG116, is seen operating Route 7 on Churchview Road on the 21st October 2016. SG116 was delivered to Donnybrook in August 2015 and is still in operation there today.

This article outlines the history of Routes 5, 6, 6A, 7, 7A, 7B, 7D, 7E, 7N, 7X and 8. These routes skirt the south-east coast of Dublin serving famous Dublin suburbs such as Ballsbridge (named after the bridge over the River Dodder in lands formerly owned by the Balls family), Booterstown (literally named "town of the road", with booter an Anglicisation of bóthar), Blackrock (named after the dark rocks at its coastline, an abbreviation of its former name, Newtown at the Black Rock), Monkstown (named after the Cistercian Abbey built in the 13th Century), Dún Laoghaire (formerly Dunleary, then Kingstown) and Dalkey (named after Dalkey Island just off its shores, Dalkey coming from Deilg (Irish for thorn) and ey (norse for Island)).

Dún Laoghaire needs special mention due its name changes. It is named after a former High King of Ireland, Lóegaire MacNeill, who chose this site as a sea base in the 5th Century. The name became anglicised and the town was known as Dunleary. Shipwrecks were a major issue in Dublin Bay and in the early 19th century, Dunleary was chosen as the sight for a major harbour to be built to protect ships during storms. King George IV visited Dunleary when the harbour was being constructed, and the name Dunleary was dropped in favour of Kingstown in honour of the visit. The town returned to the correct Irish version of its name, Dún Laoghaire, in 1920 just before the formation of the Irish Free State. The reader should be conscious of the varied use of these names through this article.


GAC Citybus, KC87, is seen operating Route 8 on Burgh Quay in August 2000, towards the end of KC operation in Dublin Bus. KC87 was delivered in early 1984 to Donnybrook garage, but was slow to enter service, not entering service till June 1984. It was destined to become a DART feeder bus, but problems with the introduction of these services meant it floated onto other services. KC87 was loaned to Conyngham Road in the summer of 1985 to help with buses off service there for driver safety modifications. During this time, it was also periodically loaned to Broadstone to operate some short distance country routes. By the autumn of 1985, KC87 was back in store at Donnybrook awaiting introduction of the DART Feeder services. It re-entered service in Donnybrook in February 1986 with the introduction of the DART feeder services. It was one of the last KC types in operation in Donnybrook, being withdrawn about a month or two after this photo.

The feature begins with a brief description of early transport along this corridor, both train and omnibus, proceeding to horse-tram operation, into the amalgamation of the tramway companies and electrification, motor-bus competition, the Emergency and end of tramway operation, early bus operation, finishing with the more modern days of bus operation.

Early Transport:

The south Dublin coastal corridor is quite famous in transport terms, being the location of Ireland's first railway, and principally the world's first commuter railway transferring passengers from the suburbs into the city. The Dublin and Kingstown Railway (DKR) was built between Westland Row (now Pearse Station) and Kingstown (West Pier - the current station location completed a few years later). The first train departed on the 17th December 1834, with an intermediate station at Blackrock. By 1835, further stations at Sandymount, Sydney Parade, Merrion, and Booterstown had been added to the line. Further stations were added to the line at Salthill (1837), Seapoint (1862), and Landsdowne Road (1870).


Donnybrook's AX648 is seen on Temple Road operating Route 7 to Cherrywood on the 9th June 2012. AX648 is the very last ALX400 numerically in Dublin Bus's fleet. It was delivered around Christmas 2006 to the Dublin Bus technical department in Broadstone and some testing was performed on it. It finally entered service in Harristown in February 2008 upon the launch of Route 140. It transferred to Donnybrook in August 2008 and has remained in service there ever since.

Railway services were extended from Kingstown (Station) to Dalkey (Atmospheric Road / Barnhill Lawn) in 1844 with the opening of the Dalkey Atmospheric Railway (the first commercial atmospheric railway) on the 29th March 1844, though it had been running experimentally for a number of months. Its first trial run was on the 19th August 1843, though at this point the line had not been completed to Kingstown station, the train starting from Glasthule Bridge. The services ran with more regularity over the months ahead though not to a regular timetable. It should be clear from the name that this was no ordinary railway. Unlike the steam engines that ran between Dublin and Kingstown, the method of propulsion was a vacuum, with a piston attached to the train being sucked up towards Dalkey at speeds of up to 40mph. The vacuum was created with a steam engine at Dalkey, and the atmospheric pressure behind the piston would push the train in the direction of Dalkey. The return journey to Dún Laoghaire relied on gravity and was slower. The atmospheric trains ran until the 12th April 1854, ceasing to allow the conversion of the line to standard gauge track to form part of the Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway (DWWR) line, with further stations at Sandycove (1855) and Glenageary (1867) being added to the line.

Horse drawn omnibuses were also a feature of 19th century Dublin. When the DKR analysed the business credentials of their line to Kingstown, they noted 70,000 journeys a month were made along the corridor in 1830. Of this, 34% travelled by "public cars". These were principally taxis, more private hire, potentially for a number of patrons, not omnibuses running to a schedule. This was because the jarveys (slang term for a coachman) operating these cars, argued in the courts that omnibuses were illegal according to Dublin's stage carriage laws. This continued until the mid-19th century when omnibuses started taking to the streets.


Former Donnybrook Alexander ALX400 bodied Volvo B7TL, AV397, is seen on O'Connell Bridge operating Route 7A to Mackintosh Park on the 19th May 2011. AV397 entered service in May 2004 at Donnybrook. It was delivered with luggage racks for use on the 746 service from Dún Laoghaire to Dublin Airport. It was strictly allocated to this route until its cancellation in 2010 as part of Network Direct, when AV397 went into the general allocation in Donnybrook. In the summer of 2011 it obtained an overall advertisement for HB, the last bus (as of 2018) to have received a full all over advert. It is seen in this advert above. It moved to Summerhill in November 2012 to work Airport routes 16 and 41 due to its luggage racks. It operated in Summerhill until the 9th February 2018, and is currently in store in Harristown (21st March 2018).

It is impossible to record a complete history of horse-drawn omnibus services at this time, however two operations are important in the context of this district. The first came about in 1854 with the withdrawal of the atmospheric railway. In order to continue the connection between Kingstown and Dalkey, the Dublin and Kingstown railway brought in omnibuses owned by Anthony O'Neill (a coachbuilder of 7 North Strand) and J&J Wilson (68 Upper Sackville Street). The omnibuses began on the 10th May 1854 and ran from Kingstown Station via Sandycove, Glasthule and Bullock to Dalkey. Two omnibuses operated this service, and the service operated till the end of November 1854.

The next service of note is the Kingstown and Dublin Omnibus Company (also known as the Dublin and Kingstown Omnibus Company), which began operation from College Street (No. 3) to Kingstown (49 Upper George's Street - their HQ) on the 2nd September 1861, operating a number of coaches made by Anthony O'Neill in his North Strand Coach Builders. The premise of the operation was that though there was significant competition from the train, passengers were inconvenienced by the walk to the infrequently spaced stations, and hence omnibus operation was more convenient (a fact revisited in this piece). The timetable in 1861 was:

  • From Kingstown: 0815, 0845, 0945, 1045, 1115, 1215, 1315, 1345, 1445, 1545, 1645 and 1745.
  • From College Street: 0930, 1000, 1100, 1200, 1230, 1330, 1430, 1500, 1600, 1700, 1800 and 1900.

  • One notable director of the company was a P.W. Bryan, a local Kingstown merchant, and it was he who set up a service from Kingstown Railway Station to Dalkey (Castle Street) on the 9th October 1862, which supplemented the city service. Buses ran hourly from 8am to 7pm from Kingstown, on the half-hour from Dalkey. It is noted in contemporary accounts that upon the launch of the service, that "two good looking girls... clad as soldiers, their sex not seemingly known to their companions" were part of the inaugural service, completely out of the norm from mid-19th century etiquette.


    Donnybrook's Wright Gemini bodied Volvo B9TL, GT10, operating Route 7D from Dalkey is seen alongside former Conyngham Road AV290, operating Route 79, on Westmoreland Street on the 18th April 2014. GT10 entered service in September 2012 in Donnybrook Garage operating Route 7 primarily, being Donnybrook's first GT route. It is in more of a general allocation in Donnybrook these days (March 2018).

    My Bryan took over the operation of the Kingstown and Dublin Omnibus Company as a leasee on the 1st January 1863, both operations now under the same guise. It is interesting to note that even in these early times, long before magnetic readers or leap cards, that this company offered annual tickets. The cost, £15 from Dalkey to Dublin, £10 8s from Kingstown to Dublin and £7 16s from Blackrock to Dublin. By 1865, the company was issuing 159,000 tickets (single tickets not annual) per year on their operation, showing just how much growth there can be on a well run commuter route, even in competition with a railway.

    Competition on this route across the various forms of transport is a constant throughout this article, between train, tram and bus. Protectionism from the various companies, trying to ensure their profits on the commuter route, form a key part of the story.

    Horse Tram Operation:

    The Dublin Southern District Tramways Company (DSDT) built the first tram lines along this route. The DSDT was primarily owned by The Imperial Tramways Company, who ran tramways in Middlesborough, Gloucester, Reading and London. Because tramways were a major infrastructural project, built by private companies on public roads, new tramways required an act of parliament (at this time from the House of Commons in London). The Dublin Southern District Tramways Act was awarded in 1878, allowing work to begin on two unconnected tramways. It was the protectionist legal objections by the DWWR that was key in these two lines being incompatible, due to different track gauges.


    Donnybrook's SG22 is seen operating Route 8 on Nassau Street on the 31st August 2015. It entered service in Donnybrook in September 2014.

    The first DSDT line, and thus the first section of what became the Dublin-Dalkey tram line, opened on the 19th March 1879, operating from the bottom of Royal Marine Road in Kingstown (just up from the then station entrance) to Castle Street in Dalkey (terminus at the corner of Castle Street and Convent Road) via George's Street, Summerhill Road and Ulverton Road. Due to the narrowness of Castle Street in Dalkey, but also George’s Street in Dun Laoghaire, and objections from interested parties, this tramway was built to a 4ft gauge, differing from the standard 5ft 3in tramway gauge (or more correctly 5ft 2 3/16 in) employed in Dublin. A depot was built at Castle Street in Dalkey, just prior to the terminus.

    The second DSDT line was built between Blackrock (Main Street in front of the Stone Cross) and Haddington Road (where it joined the Sandymount tramway – see Route 4 article) via Rock Road, Merrion Road and Northumberland Road, opening on the 16th July 1879. The line was built to the standard 5ft 3in gauge. Its depot was at Shelbourne Road. The Dublin Tramways Company who operated the Sandymount line would not allow running rights of DSDT trams on their rails, an agreement eventually being reached where the DSDT trams would be brought into the city by DTC horses, the horses and drivers being swapped at Haddington Road. This section of line was operated by steam engines for a number of months beginning Sunday 7th August 1881. Two stream trams provided a 30min service from Blackrock to Haddington Road. Opposition to these engines was severe, and calls to limit the speed to 4mph was sufficient to kill off the project.


    DF768, a DAF re-engined Van Hool bodied Leyland Atlantean AN68, is seen operating Route 7 on Butt Bridge on the 2nd November 1993. D768 was new to Donnybrook in January 1976. It moved to Ringsend in the autumn on 1987 due to maintenance problems within Ringsend depot, a straight swap for some other Ringsend Atlanteans. It then moved to Phibsborough in the summer of 1991 operating there for just over 2 years. This photo was taken a short time after its transfer back to Donnybrook in the autumn of 1993. It was one of the last few Atlanteans to operate into 1995 in Donnybrook garage, being withdrawn in January of that year exactly 19 years after it had entered service. Notable in this photo is the bar across the upstairs windows. The Van Hools were originally delivered without this feature. However D768 was involved in an accident in 1976. While travelling down the Rock Road the bus had to break suddenly, the consequence of which was that the conductor partially went through the front windows. After this, the bar across the front windows was added to Van Hool Atlanteans.

    The DSDT also obtained permission to build a third line from Pembroke Road (meeting the Blackrock line at Northumberland Road) to Rathmines via the route that eventually became the "cross tram" (Route 18), which was built by the Dublin United Tramways Company (DUTC) following acquisition of the DSDT. A small section of the line along Pembroke Road was built, to the corner of Waterloo Road and Baggot Street, but the DCT refused permission for DSDT trams to travel along their lines, and hence it was never used.

    The final section of line, joining the two sections, was built and operated by a different company, the Blackrock and Kingstown Tramways Company (BKT). This line operated from Blackrock Main Street (where it connected with the DSDT line at "a point 28 years westward of the stone cross in that street") to Marine Road (junction of Crofton Road), Kingstown, via Newtown Avenue, Temple Hill, Monkstown Road, Dunleary Hill and George's Street. Its depot was built on Newtown Avenue. At each end it shared a terminus with one of the DSDT lines, though integrated timetabling was not introduced in order to entice through running of passengers. The different gauges complicated the construction on Marine Road, especially where the lines crossed. The line opened in August 1885, its introduction/construction being severely contested by the DWWR, who saw this as the final chain in a competitive tram service. Initially, they needed not worry. No through running of DSDT vehicles between the city and Kingstown happened over BKT lines. With horse swaps at Haddington Road, tram swaps at Blackrock and Kingstown, the Dalkey bound passenger faced a journey approximately four times longer by tram than train. However that was soon to change.


    Map showing the different sections of the horse tram route from Dublin to Dalkey (click on it for a larger version).

    Amalgamation of the Tramway Companies and Electrification:

    The DSDT were early proponents of mechanical power and though their trials with steam engines had been scuppered, they still saw the mechanisation of their tramways as a high priority. In February 1887 they held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to advise their intention to purchase the DKT and to mechanise the full line from Haddington Road to Dalkey. Electrification was deemed the most sensible form of mechanisation, as it had been successful in Blackpool (1885) and Leeds (1891). The electrification of the line required another act of parliament, and this act was again heavily opposed by the DWWR. There was much local favour among residents for the new electric line, and by the summer of 1893, the act was in the final stages of deliberation (the Dublin Southern District Tramways Act 1893 passed in August 1893 allowing electricification and track modifications). Hence, in June 1893 the DSDT acquired the BKT, with through ticketing and timetabling introduced.

    In order to convert the line to electric operation, the permanent way needed to be reconstructed which meant the line was closed for the works. The first section to close was the Haddington Road to Blackrock section, closing on the 11th March 1895, the Blackrock and Kingstown section on the 30th June 1895 and then finally the Kingstown to Dalkey line in August 1895. The pace of work was high, it being noted that the Haddington Road to Ballbridge section of the line was finished sufficiently to allow the Dublin United Tramways Company (the new name of the DCT following amalgamations with other tramways) to run their horse drawn trams over these lines to the RDS for the famous Horse Show Week at the end of August 1895. The first trail run (engineering testing) of an electric tram from Haddington Road to Kingstown took place in December 1895.


    Donnybrook's Enviro400 bodied Volvo B9TL, EV35, is seen operating Route 7 on Crofton Road Dún Laoghaire on the 3rd June 2016. It entered service in Donnybrook in October 2007, as part of the EV23-36 batch of buses. For quite a significant time, this bus was a Route 145 regular. At the time of this photo, EVs were common on the 7, it having lost SGs to other cross-city services in Donnybrook. This didn't last long, with SGs soon restored to the service upon delivery of new buses.

    The electrified line opened between Haddington Road and Dalkey on the 16th May 1896, under the operating name of "Dublin Electric Tramways". The Lord Mayor of Dublin inaugurated the service, travelling on the first car departing Kingstown for Dalkey at 7am. The first car from Haddington Road to Dalkey departed at 8am. The journey time was 70mins from Haddington Road to Dalkey, the trams limited to a maximum of 8mph, with no electric tram allowed to exceed this speed. The opening of this first electric tramway was a significant event in Dublin, a modern marvel that people wanted to try. On the first day alone, 25,000 people travelled on the trams, with 50,000 passengers travelling on the following day (Sunday 17th May). There were 14 trams in service on the first day (each composed of an electric car and trailer, both double decked, making 28 cars), yet queues at Haddington Road for the tram were as high as 1 hour. The DUTC reduced their fares for their horse drawn trams between Sackville Street and Haddington Road to 1d (1 penny) on the inaugural day, with DSDT charging 1d from Haddington Road to Merrion, 2d to Blackrock, 3d to Kingstown, and 4d to Dalkey. Integrated ticketing was not available.

    It should be noted that the conversion to standard gauge lead to a section of single track at the Dalkey terminus on Castle Street, with double track running just beyond the depot before becoming a single track to the junction with Convent Road. Marine Road, the terminus of the Dalkey-Kingstown, Kingstown-Blackrock services was also electrified, however through trams continued along George’s Street to Dalkey, with Dun Laoghaire bound services only using Marine Road.

    The DSDT was a minor part of their Imperial Tramway's empire and was limited in its growth due to the DUTC having a monopoly on inner city tramway services along all principle routes. The DSDT had been offered to the DUTC on a number of occassions but they had not taken up the offer. The DUTC were set to gain from the increased traffic brought by the electric tram service to Dalkey. For this reason, the DSDT decided to propose their own city centre routing in November 1895, as well as a number of competing routes that would see lines run on roads parallel to existing DUTC line, for which they sought an act of parliament. As shown in the map below, under the proposals Dublin was basically to get a doubling of its tramway lines, and it is doubted that there was an economic justification for the lines.


    Map showing the proposed extensions of the DSDT which would have been a significant increase in Dublin Tramway mileage and significant competition for the DUTC. Note that some lines are shown as entering housing estates, or across private property. This was the intention, and in all cases every effort has been made to be as accurate as possible (click on it for a larger version).

    For the Dalkey service the proposed routing to avoid the DUTC lines was to turn up Shelbourne Road continuing past the depot onto Grand Canal Street, Sandwidth Street Upper and Lower, Townsend Street, Tara Street, terminating at corner of Burgh Quay and O’Connell Bridge. There was also a proposed extension to the Dalkey line to Sorrento Road. The competing lines were never built, though the DSDTs concept of a Ballybough line would be introduced in the early 1900s.

    However, the proposals got the attention of the DUTC, who were unhappy at the proposed competition from a "partner" tramway, and the act may have had the exact outcome the Imperial Tramways had hoped for. For soon after, the DUTC acquired the DSDT from the British Thomson-Houston Company Ltd. The Thomson-Houston Company had funded the construction of the Dalkey Line and in return had received preference capital in the DSDT. They ran into financial difficulty due to the costs of building the Dalkey Line, reforming as the British Thomson-Houston Company in 1896. These financial woes, and issues with the proposed act of parliament, lead the British Thomson-Houston company to force a buyout of the Imperial Tramways and execute a sale to the DUTC in July 1896, the new company Dublin United Tramways (1896) being incorporated on the 28th September 1896. However, these three companies, DUTC, DSDT and DUTC (1896) existed as seperate entities, at least on paper, for a further 11 years until an act of parliament allowing the merger and formation into a single entity was passed.


    ALX400 bodied bodied Volvo B7TL, AV389, is seen operating Route 7 on Georges Street Dún Laoghaire on the 18th May 2011. It entered service in Donnybrook in May 2004, its delivery delayed due to Transbus going into administration prior to delivery. AV389 was an early AV to be fitted with an LED display, receiving one in April/May 2007, following AV70, AV77 and RV577 in receiving same. At the time of the photo AV389 was an oddity, with it and AV70 the only ALX400s that had an LED. It operated in Donnybrook until the 28th November 2017, its last day being a rare allocation to Route 14 which was a fully SG route then. It returned to service in Harristown on the 24th January 2018, operating there till the 19th February. It is currently in storage at Harristown depot.

    The speed of the trams were a continued bone of contention between the tram company, their passengers, and the board of trade. Eventually the board of trade would allow 12mph which was the speed permitted for other early motorised vehicles. In order to improve journey times, the DUTC placed notices on certain lamp posts to request passengers to wait at these locations in order to speed up journey times. The Dalkey Line was therefore the first tramline to have designated stops, up to this time trams were a hail and ride service (trams going slow enough to hop on and off in most cases). It is not known exactly what signage was used, though in later times, such stopping places were labelled with a white line around the lamp post.

    Such had been the success of the Dalkey Electric Tramway that by the summer of 1897, the DUTC reached an agreement with Dublin Corporation to allow electric tramways within the city boundary and began the process of electrifying their entire network. This allowed the Dalkey Line to be extended to Nelson's Pillar, however, even though the Dalkey line had the first electric trams in Dublin, it was the Clontarf line that brought electric trams to Sackville Street (Nelson’s Pillar/O'Connell Street) four months before the Dalkey line electrics reached the city centre on the 12th July 1898, initially limited to just O'Connell Bridge due to works. At this stage, trams ran via Westland Row, Pearse Street and D’olier Street to Sackville Street (O’Connell Street). It was noted at the time that free transfers were available for passengers at Merrion Square, who could transfer to Donnybrook line trams to access Nassau Street. This continued until the 7th September, when the Donnybrook cars were also routed via Westland Row to allow reconstruction of the line in Nassau Street. Such was the pace of work at the time, it was only just over month, on the 12th October 1898, that trams were rerouted via Clare Street, Leinster Street South, Nassau Street, Grafton Street, College Green and Westmoreland Street to Sackville Street. Imagine Luas work being completed at this pace nowadays!


    Wright Gemini bodied Volvo B9TL is seen operating Route 7 on the 29th October 2013 on Parnell Square East. It entered service in Donnybrook in August 2013 and is still in service there today.

    The Tram Route and Operation:

    The General Secretary of the DUTC, R.S. Tresilian, went about detailing each of the lines after the electrification of the network had been completed. This was published in 1902 entitled "A Guide to Dublin and Suburbs". Interestingly this guide listed the Dalkey route as “Route No. 1”. These route numbers never appeared on the trams, and whether this was an official numbering system or just a noting system for use solely in this guide is unknown. It was reprinted in 1907, from which I quote:
    "Nelson's Pillar to Dalkey: Distance: 9 miles, cars run every 5 minutes:
    The cars start from Nelson’s Pillar (close to the General Post Office), at the junction of Upper and Lower Sackville-street, and passing through Lower Sackville-street, in which are the statues erected in memory of Sir John Gray, the originator of the Vartry water supply to Dublin, and of Daniel O’Connell, “The Liberator”, this latter being the work of the great Irish sculptor, Foley; they then cross O’Connell, formerly Carlisle, Bridge, where, at the junction of D’olier and Westmoreland-streets, is the Statue of Smith O’Brien; passing through Westmoreland-street, and, at the junction with College-street, by the Statue of Thomas Moore, the great Irish poet, they come to College-green, with the statue of Grattan, the Bank of Ireland, Dame-street, on the right, and Trinity College on the left; with statues of Burke and Goldsmith in front; through the lower part of the fashionable Grafton-street (the Bond-street of Dublin), they turn off along the Trinity College grounds to the left, through Nassau-street, with Kildare-street Club and Kildare-street on the right, in which is situated the National Library and the Science and Art Museum; Leinster-street, with the Leinster Club on the right, and Clare-street; then along Merrion-square, with what was formerly the lawn of the Duke of Leinster’s house on the right, through Lower Mount-street to the Canal-bridge, and at Haddington-road cross the city boundary, where they enter the Pembroke Township; thence they pass along Northumberland Road and Pembroke-road, with the Trinity College Botanical Gardens on the left (immediately at the junction of Lansdowne and Pembroke-roads), passing Herbert Park, the site of the Irish International Exhibition, thence over Ball’s-bridge, crossing the River Dodder, from where can be had a very pretty view of the Dublin Mountains, but the show-yards of the Royal Dublin Society, where the celebrated Irish Horse Show is held each year, along the Rock-road, close to the sea, through the villages of Merrion and Booterstown and the town of Blackrock, along Monkstoen-road and past Monkstown Church, through Kingstown main street, close to the landing-stages of the Cross-Channel Mail Boats; Sandycove, Bullock, and into Dalkey, where the line ends.
    In close proximity to Dalkey is the celebrated Victoria Park, Killiney, thrown open to the public in commemoration of her late Majesty Queen Victoria’s first jubilee, and from which the most magnificent views of Dublin Bay and the surrounding country can be had.
    Generally the route follows, after leaving the city, the south shore of the Bay of Dublin, and along almost its whole length charming views not only of the bay but of the Dublin Mountains are had.
    The time occupied in going to Dalkey from Nelson’s Pillar and return is about 2 hours.


    Bombardier KD30 is seen operating Route 7A on Burgh Quay on the 9th July 1994. KD30 was delivered to Donnybrook in 1981 for use on the 7 and 8 routes. It was a consistent performer on these services for its entire service in Dublin Bus, as shown by the photo above. It was withdrawn about a year after this photo was taken in the summer of 1995. The "7A - Sallynoggin" display is interesting as this was the display for this route for quite some time, but by the time of this photo, the 7A outer terminus had been Mackintosh Park for some years.

    Though it was 1918 before numbers were given to the routes, for ease of explanation, the four principle variants during Electric Tram Operation are explained through their route numbers:

    Route 8: Nelson’s Pillar to Dalkey (Castle Street). The terminus was principally at the corner of Convent Road, however towards the end of the line the depot (or just after the gates on Castle Street) was used as the terminus with the rest of the Castle Street section abandoned.

    Route 7: Nelson’s Pillar to Dún Laoghaire (Marine Road). Contemporary DUTC maps (1924, 1928, 1932, 1935, 1941) show the terminus on George’s Street at the junction of Marine Road, however the tram tracks extended the whole way down to the Town Hall near the station. The Town Hall is known to have been the terminus for quite a lot of Route’s existence, for the early period of tramway operation and also in the late 1930s when the timetable explicitly listed the Town Hall as the terminus instead of the otherwise generic Dún Laoghaire/Kingstown that was used in other periods.

    Route 6: Nelson’s Pillar to Blackrock. In the early days of the electric trams, there were services from Nelson’s Pillar to Blackrock Main Street. There was a siding at the junction of Main Street and Newtown Avenue where trams could wait their time at an old stone cross which has since been removed from the location. If you visit this page you will see a photograph of this junction, note the siding behind the lamppost in the foreground, with the main line tracks bending from Main Street to Newtown Avenue. This number was also utilised for services to/from Newtown Avenue Tram Depot and the city, i.e. first cars departing the depot and last cars returning.

    Nelson’s Pillar to Shelbourne Road Tram Depot: This service was unnumbered and existed in the timetable solely for late night cars returning to Shelbourne Road from the city, and for early morning positioning trips from the depot to the city.


    Map showing the electric tram route showing the termini of the various services (click on it for a larger version).

    A frequent service of every 4-5mins along the majority of the route was typical. For example in 1910, during daytime every 2nd tram went to Dalkey at 8min intervals, with a 4min frequency provided between Kingstown and the City. In the morning (0740-0840), trams operated every 10mins from Dalkey, with a 5min service provided from Blackrock. The night time service was all trams to Dalkey operating every 8mins. On Sundays all trams operated to Dalkey on a 5min headway. At other times (20s/30s/40s), there were few actual timetabled services to/from Blackrock, the number being used solely by late night finishing duties which actually ran from Nelson’s Pillar to Newtown Avenue Tram Depot, and for early morning positioning trips from the depot to the city. This interlacing of Route 8 and Route 7 departures was principally how the trams operated for the majority of their existence except for a period in the late 20s/early 30s when all trams went to Dalkey (more on this later).

    The Dalkey line also had a number of early morning services, the first being the 0445 from Dalkey. Such early services from Dalkey have survived to this very day and are spoken about throughout this piece. The first service from Nelson’s Pillar was 0530. This was one of three early departures on each route, the first regular service from Dalkey being 0740; 0800 from Nelson’s Pillar. It is interesting to note how late this is by modern standards, the 7’s regular 15-min headway beginning at 6am in the morning these days. There was also another early morning service of note in tram days, the 0645 from Dalkey, which ran Monday-Saturday, was extended on Thursdays only north of Nelson’s Pillar, following Route 9 trams to the Cattle Market on North Circular Road, Thursday’s being Cattle Market days. This ran from the 1900s up until the 1930s.


    Donnybrook's Wright Gemini bodied Volvo B5TL SG114 is seen operating Route 7 on the Glenageary Road Lower on the 11th November 2016. SG114 was delivered to Donnybrook in August 2015. It went into service on the 7 service. It has migrated into the more general SG pool in Donnybrook these days.

    The three depots that existed in horse tram operation, namely Ballsbridge (Shelbourne Road), Blackrock (Newtown Avenue) and Dalkey (Castle Street) were used throughout the electric tram era. Michael Corcoran in "Through Streets Broad and Narrow" notes a capacity of 88 trams in these depots around 1910, 40 in Ballsbridge, 36 in Blackrock and 12 in Dalkey.

    The Tramway Years (1900-1925):

    As noted previously, route numbers were not applied to trams until 1918. In the early days of tramway operation, destination boards were carried on the side of the trams to indicate the route they were operating. In 1903 the DUTC introduced a series of symbols (as opposed to numbers) that were carried on the front and back of the trams to indicate the service operated to counteract illiteracy among its passenger base. These were placed above a scroll which advised the destination. The Dalkey Tram was assigned a Green Shamrock, with the Dún Laoghaire shorts having the same symbol with a large ‘K’ on it (‘K’ for Kingstown the former name of Dún Laoghaire).



    Donnybrook's Wright Gemini bodied Volvo B9TL GT82 is seen at the Dalkey Terminus of Route 8 on the 7th October 2014. GT82 entered service in July 2013, principally operating Route 7 and 8 at the time, as well as the 54A and 114. GT82 has continued to operate in Donnybrook since then.

    In 1907, the R.D.S. hosted The Irish International Exhibition, a world's fair showcasing Ireland. The exhibition ran from the 4th May to 9th November 1907. It featured an amusements section, long before the days of Funderland, which had a water chute, a helter skelter and a crystal maze among others. To facilitate the traffic from this exhibition, a new spur was added to the Dalkey line down Anglesea Road at Ballsbridge to serve the R.D.S. The line from Haddington Road to Ballsbridge was also relaid with "heavier rails", the original rails from the DSDT's conversion in 1896 requiring an upgrade to cope with the increased traffic. The terminus was outside house No. 3 Anglesea Road, at the gate to the R.D.S Jumping Ground just prior to the left-kink in the road when heading towards Donnybrook. This spur continued to be used for events in the R.D.S. following the exhbition in 1907. The symbols for these extra trams that ran on exhibition days was the Green Shamrock but with a large red ‘S’.

    One would consider that express city services are a relatively modern concept, being introduced to the bus network in the late 1980s. However, the first express city service was in fact considerably before this. The first express service of trams began on the Dalkey Line on the 8th February 1909. Services departed Dalkey at 0836 and 0904, returning from the city at 1735 and 1805, except Saturdays were most people worked half days, cars departed Dalkey at the same time in the morning but returning at 1345 and 1409 instead. The services were quickly a success, and just over a month later on the 18th March 1909, a 3rd "special non-stopping car" was added, departing Dalkey at 0932, and returing at 1708.


    Alexander ALX400 bodied Volvo B7TL, AX531, is seen operating Route 7 on Merrion Road on the 14th May 2011. AX531 was first used on the Ryder Cup Shuttle in September 2006 at the K-Club. It then entered regular service in Donnybrook following the tournament. In October 2013, AX531 along with AX529 and AX530 transferred to Ringsend. About a year later it was repainted in Wedding Bus livery, replacing AX494 as Ringsend's Wedding Bus. It remained in this livery, principally operating Routes 1 and 150, until early March 2017 when it was repainted into core livery. It is still in service in Ringsend.

    The express services required a minimum fare of 3d upon introduction which was the fare from Blackrock to Nelson’s Pillar. These trams departed Dalkey picking up passengers at all stops to Marine Road, then stopped only to pick up passengers at York Road, Monkstown Church, Alma Road and Bath Place (Blackrock). They would then alight passengers only at corner of Merrion Street, Dawson Street and then all stopping places to The Pillar. Returning from the pillar the opposite applied. Trams picked up passengers at all stopping places to the corner of Grafton Street, then stopped only at the corner of Merrion Street to pick up passengers, and then alighted passengers at the stops noted before. With the introduction of route numbers these express services were denoted by a red 8 on a white background, differing from the white number on a black background of standard services.

    There were a few turmultuous events over the next few years. The 1913 Lock Out was a significant event for the tramway, and though some semblance of a service at times would be maintained on the Dalkey, the special express cars could not be operated, not returning till the... The 1916 Rising was also a difficult time for the tramway, with their lines and some of their trams being caught in the turmoil. The rising began on Easter Monday, 24th April 1916, just before midday. Tram services would be withdrawn soon after. Tram services returned to the Dalkey trams on the Wednesday (26th April), though only operating between Ballsbridge and Alma Road. They were extended further into the city to O'Connell Bridge on the Thursday. It should be noted that Dublin at this time was under martial law, and a curfew was in force. By May 6th, trams to Dalkey were operating till 1915, a last service to Blackrock at 1945 in order to obey with curfew. It was a futher few weeks before a full service returned.


    Wright Gemini bodied Volvo B5TL, SG28, is seen operating Route 7B on Nassau Street on the 3rd July 2015. SG28 arrived in Donnybrook in September 2014. It operated in Donnybrook for its entire time with Dublin Bus, last operating on the 27th June 2018. It has since been transferred to Go Ahead who will take up services in the Dublin region in September 2018.

    Ireland also experienced a severe coal shortage in the years 1918 to 1920. The Director of Cross Channel Transport dictated that supplies were conserved. This included the tramway company and a number of services were curtailed in this period. The Dalkey Trams were affected on the 2nd October 1919 when the express "special cars" were withdrawn. They would never return to the timetable. At this time, services across the entire network were curtailed after 830pm, such was the shortage of coal.

    The other tram line of note is Route 5, Phoenix Park to Pembroke (Corner of Sandymount Avenue) via North Circular Road, Berkeley Road, Blessington Street, O'Connell Street, Nassau Street, Dawson Street, St. Stemphen's Green and Baggot Street. This service is more related to the 60s version of Route 4 than the Dalkey Trams, itself a variant of Route 10, and this route’s history is outlined along with Route 10. But it is still worth a mention on this page given it operated along a section of the Dalkey line. The 5 began operation on the 16th June 1919. It was a Monday-Saturday service only. It ceased operation on the 31st October 1928. The terminus at the corner of Sandymount Avenue was vacated at times when exhibitions ran at the R.D.S., with services instead terminating at the R.D.S. showgrounds on the Anglesea Road.


    Wright Gemini bodied Volvo B9TL, GT3, is seen operating Route 7 to Cherrywood on College Street on the 30th March 2013. GT3 entered service on the first day of GT operation in Dublin Bus on the 3rd September 2012. The 7 was the first route that GTs went into service on. GT3 has remained in Donnybrook since then.

    Of note in the context of this story is the renaming of Kingstown to Dún Laoghaire in 1920. This change was key to an often told tram story. It's easy to think that the formation of the Free State was universally welcomed in Ireland, but this wasn't entirely true, especially in the more affluent areas of south Dublin through which the Dalkey trams operated. The story goes that a well-to-do woman who used the Dalkey tram on a daily basis was unhappy with the name change. After boarding a tram she would sit, and when the conductor approached and asked for her destination, she would advise proudly and loudly, "Kingstown please". When the conductor responded with "Not on this tram, mam", she would duly get up and leave the tram, utilising a tramway rule that those who had boarded the wrong tram and travelled only a short distance should not be charged. The woman would then proceed to do this the entire way home to Dún Laoghaire (or was it Kingstown!) without paying a fare.

    Bus Competition (1925-1940):

    As noted earlier, the late 20s and the early 30s were a period of intense competition from private bus companies. This was especially the case for the Dalkey line, the DUTC’s busiest service. The competition from buses on the Dalkey route significantly rose throughout late 1927 and into 1928 which sparked two separate issues. The first was concern from both the DUTC and the Great Southern Railway. Though the GSR had been the main opposition to any tramway development along its coastal route, by the late 1920s, both had found a decent market, something private bus companies were taking by undercutting the fare structures of both companies.


    Bombardier KD363 is seen operating Route 5 to Sandyford Industrial Estate on the 18th November 1993 in a AOA for Moss Technology. This was not KD363's first AOA, having appeared in a livery for Century Radio in 1989, and was repainted in the the Moss Technology livery in the autumn of 1991. KD363 was delivered to Donnybrook in the summer of 1983 as part of the KD353-KD366 batch, entering service on Routes 7, 7A and 8. As part of the Moss Technology advert run, it was temporarily loaned to Clontarf in the autumn of 1992, spending a month or so there. This Moss Technology livery lasted until late 1994/early 1995. KD363 was one of the last KDs in Donnybrook being withdrawn upon the delivery of AV-class buses in the autumn of 2000.

    For this reason in March 1928, the DUTC and the GSR signed an agreement that would see traffic receipt pooling on both its Dalkey services. Under Irish Law this agreement had to be ratified by the Irish Railway Tribunal, which ultimately vetoed the agreement as being too favourable for the tramway company. But what this process showed is how significant the bus competition was, and how threatened the existing players felt, such that they would suspend years of animosity between them. In response to the competition, the DUTC increased the service on the 8 tram by extending all previous Route 7 departures to Dalkey. Thus Dalkey now had a service of every 4mins in the peak periods, and Route 7 was only used on extras and shorts and was not officially timetabled.

    The second issue was with regards to the bus route that the private operators were plying. Bus operation had no centralised control in the late 20s. The DUTC were permitted under law to operate buses in 1925, but required the Minister of Local Government to license them to operate a route. By 1927, the Railways (Road Motor) Act permitted railways to operate bus services, though they needed approval for their routes from the Minister of Industry and Commerce. For all other operators, these acts did not apply and they required solely the Commissionor of the Garda Siochana to ratify their routes for operation, i.e. from a purely safety perspective. The original routing in the Dalkey area was considered dangerous by the local council. Buses approached Dalkey from Dún Laoghaire along the Breffni Road. They then had a one way routing around Dalkey, turning left onto Harbour Road proceeding via Convent Road to the Dalkey tram terminus at the junction of Castle Street. Buses continued along Castle Street returning to the Ulverton Road.


    Wright Gemini bodied Volvo B9TL, GT19, is seen operating Route 7 on Crofton Road on the 2nd August 2013. GT19 arrived in Donnybrook in September 2013 and is still operating there in 2018.

    The council were opposed to this routing, especially via Convent Road, which they considered too narrow and which still to this day has no footpath heading southbound. They complained to the Garda Commissioner. It would seem that a compromise was reached with buses continuing instead along Ulverton Road towards the village, turning left onto Carysfort Road and right onto St. Patrick’s Road to terminate, returning via Castle Street and Ulverton Road. It is not known exactly when this was introduced, though it was highly likely it was soon after the council meeting in March 1928.

    At the time of the council’s meeting, it was noted that there were twelve operators running on the Dalkey route, an incredible number. Some of the operators that operated the route in this “Pirate” era of Dublin Buses (not all operating at the time of the council meeting in 1928) were Angela, Bluebird, Blueline, Bluebelle, Capitol, Contempible, Falcon, Grafton, Grand Central, Jupiter, Irish Omnibus Company (who acquired the Contemptible Omnibus Company in 1929), Redcar, The Gem and Thistle. The Falcon Bus Company was the first "pirate" bus operator to compete with the trams on the Dalkey route. Though the concept of so many operators on one route sounds perfect for the passenger, the reality was somewhat different. Buses would often ply the route solely during peak periods, with limited services in the off-peak periods. With high competition, competition with each other for passengers meant being first to the busy stops, often by using excessive speeds. The excessive speeds lead to countless accidents across Dublin.

    To counteract this problem, the Irish Free State introduced the Road Transport Act 1932, which was put into force from 25th July 1932. With the introduction of this law, all bus operators in the state were obliged to obtain a license from the Minister of Industry and Commerce. The act had provision to allow the minster to prevent wasteful competition, if it was felt an adequate and identical service was already being provided. It also required operators to publish timetables of their services and obey them rigidly. The routing was also dictated in the license and could only be adjusted if a stipulated road was impassable. The act also called for a high level of administration, with each operator required to provide the minister with passenger statistics and account ledgers on a regular basis.


    Donnybrook's Alexander ALX400 bodied AX524 is seen operating Route 7B on Nassau Street on the 31st May 2017. AX524 was delivered to Dublin Bus in August 2006, and was retained in new condition to be used for the Ryder Cup Shuttles on the 19th-24th September 2006. It was then assigned to Conyngham Road and was one of the vehicles assigned to the Route 151 upon its introduction in March 2007. It transferred to Donnybrook in November 2013, swapped for another AX (AX532/AX533) which went the other way to Donnybrook. It has remained operating there since.

    The requirements of this bill lead many operators to pool resources and apply for a single license to operate the route. In the case of Dalkey, there were two principle amalgamations of the private companies, namely the Coastal Omnibus Company, and Dublin and Dalkey Buses. The Coastal Omnibus Company, formed in the summer of 1932 by the amalgamation of a number of the original operators on the route, being composed of 9 buses from the following sources: Bluebird (2 buses), Bluebelle (2 buses), Redcar (3 buses) and Grafton (2 buses). Dublin and Dalkey Buses was formed after the amalgamation of Angela, Capitol, Grand Central and The Gem.

    The existence of these companies would be exceptionally short. Following The Road Transport Act 1933, the DUTC and the railway companies were given the right to compulsorily purchase transport operators within their operational area, again to avoid wasteful competition. On the 28th November 1933, Dublin and Dalkey Buses were acquired, with the DUTC introducing Route 56 using two of their own buses, though soon after it was increased to 8 buses to provide a decent headway. At this stage it was noted that Blueline, the Coastal Omnibus Company and Falcon were still operating.

    The 56 operated from Burgh Quay to Dalkey as shown in the following map. It principally overlapped the 8 tram service, however had a few notable differences. Firstly its city centre routing, which served Westland Row and Pearse Street which the tram route had served briefly after its extension into the city. The other was in Dún Laoghaire, where buses diverted away from the tram service, serving Monkstown Road, past Monkstown Church onto Monkstown Crescent, taking the next left on an unnamed road (named Link Road on Google), then onto the N31, Old Dunleary, Dunleary Road, Crofton Road and Marine Road, skipping George’s Street Lower in its entirety. Finally, the buses had a one-way system in Dalkey, leaving the Ulverton Road onto Carysfort Road, terminating on St. Patrick’s Road, and returning to Ulverton Road via Castle Street.


    Map showing the Routing of Route 56 (click on it for a larger version).

    The Blue Line and Carmel Bus Company owned by Mr. and Mrs Clerkin respectively, were both purchased in June of 1934, however though the Carmel was taken directly over from this date, the Blue Line was left operational for a few further months. In the end, all three remaining companies on the Dalkey route, Blue Line, The Coastal Omnibus Company and Falcon were taken over on the 15th October 1934, the Falcon, owned by Mr. George Knox, having the distinction therefore of being the first and last private bus competitor for the tramway on the Dalkey service.

    With competition on the route now settled, the high service on Routes 8 and 56 continued for another year, before, around October 1935, tram Route 7 was reintroduced at the expense of the frequency of Route 8 services to Dalkey. The reason was noted as the increased service on Route 56. The tram timetable reverted to roughly its previous form before bus competition, with every second tram operating to Dalkey, with the other half operating as Route 7 to Dún Laoaghaire only. A 4min frequency was maintained between Dún Laoaghaire and the city.


    Dusk has well and truely settled in Dublin when EV28 is seen operating the late evening peak 7D service to Dalkey on D'olier Street on the 13th September 2013. The GTs were taking over the route, so this EV allocation was a nice catch. EV28 was delivered to Donnybrook in September 2007, and has operated there since.

    Though the Dalkey services went into a period of stability in the late 30s, the years 1937 and 1938 brought in an ominous period of change in the DUTC. Though there was a short-lived experiment with double-deck buses in Dublin in 1908 by the Mercury Motor ‘Bus Company and in 1928 by the Irish General Omnibus Company Limited, with the IoC also introducing double-deckers successfully to Cork in 1931, the DUTC and GNR operating Dublin services in the mid-30s had single-decker only vehicles. All this was to change in 1937 with the arrival of double-deck buses. The GNR were first into service with its double-deckers on 18th October 1937, with the DUTC a further two months behind putting R1 and R2 into service on the 20th December 1937. It wasn’t long before these new double-deckers were seen as the replacement of the entire tram system. The DUTC board met soon after their introduction on the 1st March 1938 and announced that their future policy was the replacement of the entire tram system by bus service. And so began a period of tram service withdrawals across Dublin up until war shortages hit in 1941.

    The Emergency and End of the Trams (1940-1954):

    The Second World War began on the 1st September 1939. Though Ireland remained neutral there were a few instances of the Luftwaffe dropping bombs over Ireland. One such instance occurred in Sandycove on the night of the 20th December 1940. Two bombs fell between the People's Park and Sandycove Station, principally affecting the main road which was impassable. There were no fatalities in the incident, though three people were injured. Until the line was restored (only took a few days), the Dalkey trams ran only from the city to the People's Park, with buses taking passengers the rest of the way. The buses ran via the sea front at Seapoint returning to the main road after the affected area.


    The first of the batch, Wright Gemini bodied Volvo B9TL GT1, is seen operating Route 7 on Marine Road on the 18th April 2014. GT1 was delivered to Donnybrook garage in September 2012 entering service on Route 7 services. It is still operating in Donnybrook but its allocation is quite flexible between routes.

    Though Ireland was not active in the war, except for a few presumably accidental air raids upon it, it was still affected by war time shortages. The first specific issue was to obtain buses. The DUTC built Leyland bus chassis in Inchicore, which arrived into Ireland completely knocked down and ready for assembly. The last batch was received in 1940, with a large quantity on order remaining outstanding, as Leyland paused all bus production to instead build vehicles/tanks for the military. It would be after the war before they restarted bus production, by which time there was quite large amount of orders from everywhere in the British Isles. It was into 1946 before the next Leyland buses arrived for production. For this principle reason, the tram services on Routes 7 and 8 survived the war.

    What did not survive was Route 56, which paralleled Route 8 for much of its routing. It was withdrawn on the 26th April 1942. This round of service reductions was on the order of the government who were concerned at the stocks of tyres available in Ireland due to the impossibility of importing rubber. As well as route withdrawals such as Route 56, the cutbacks also saw the last city departures of all bus routes brought forward to 10pm. The following year it was brought forward to 930pm. It was a great bonus to live on the Dalkey tram route because tram route departures were not curtailed. In fact the tram services were increased slightly upon the rewithdrawal of Route 56, with trams operating every 7mins to Dalkey and 3.5mins to Dún Laoghaire.


    Alexander R-bodied Leyland Olympian, RH46, is seen operating Route 7 on Burgh Quay on the 15th June 1996 in an all over advertisement for Heineken, designated "The Heineken Rhythm Bus". RH46 was delivered to Donnybrook depot in November 1990 as part of an 11 bus batch, RH40-50. It carried a few AOAs, the first being for Weight Watchers in 1995, replaced by the Heinken livery above towards the end of 1995. It survived in this form till early 1997 before returning to fleet livery. Having spent all its time in Donnybrook it was withdrawn after less than 12 years of service in the summer of 2002, being sold to Ensignbus, before returning to Dublin to work with Malahide Coaches for a number of years.

    During 1944 coal was also in severe shortage, and the E.S.B. announced drastic cuts to the usage of electricity. Curtailments began on the 3rd April with the frequencies of 10mins for Route 7 and Route 8, interlaced to provide a 5min combined service to Dún Laoghaire. Futhermore, the last tram departure was brought forward to 930pm to match the last bus departures. The situation worsened by the summer requiring the tram services to be withdrawn on the 11th June 1944. For many this was seen as the end of the trams in Dublin, with a small crowd seeing off the trams at Nelson’s Pillar that evening. During the summer of 1944 it was double-deck buses which replaced the trams, specifically double-deck buses off Routes 23, 48A and 72, as well as some from further afield such as Cork, plus then newly converted R243-R246. These were former single deck TS buses withdrawn by the Great Southern Railway during the war which had double-deck bodies placed on them. The buses were based in Donnybrook depot. However, the trams did return on the 1st October 1944 when the stricter restrictions on energy consumption were lifted, with the last trams curfew also being removed (last Rt 6 to Blackrock 1215am from the Pillar).

    The Second World War ended in 1945, however war time supply issues lasted for a number of years after the war. Other than turf, Ireland was reliant on the import of fuel, and even as late as March 1947, fuel shortages were leading to electricity supply issues. The trams were curtailed from the 13th March 1947 with a 25% reduction in frequencies and the last tram to Dalkey brought forward to 11pm. The curtailment lasted only a few days, with services restored from the 15th, but it is an example of how shortages were still present many years after the war. Shortages also affected the supply of buses, which held up the replacement of the trams.


    Alexander ALX400-bodied Volvo B7TL, AV392, is seen operating Route 7A on Parnell Square East on the 16th June 2017. It was delivered to Donnybrook in May 2004. It was one of a number of buses held up in a completed state following Transbus (holding company for Alexander and Dennis) falling into administration. This batch, AV387-AV398, delivered to Donnybrook were the last buses built at the Alexander Belfast (Mallusk) plant. It operated in Donnybrook for almost all of its time in Dublin Bus before spending a brief period in Harristown. It last operated in Donnybrook on the 30th November 2017, entering service in Harristown on the 24th January 2018, operating mostly on peak hour "Euro" duties. It was withdrawn on the 16th June 2018, initially for the summer, though the arrival of new SGs in Harristown before the end of the summer, meant it never operated again.

    The newly created CIE, formed on the 1st Janaury 1945 with the amalgamation of the DUTC and GSR, sturggled to get new buses following the end of the war, with the major UK constructors needed to tool up again to create buses after the war effort, and with a long waiting list prioritising local UK operators. They were able to acquire a limited number of buses in 1946/7, but there were pressing needs for buses to reinstate wartime service cutbacks. However, CIE was able to acquire a large batch of fully built buses in 1948. Donnybrook 2 Garage was created with the intention of housing the buses that would replace the remaining tram services. The Terenure and Dartry lines ceased on the 31st October 1948, leaving the Dalkey trams as the last survivor in CIE operation and serving Dublin City Centre (the Hill of Howth Tramway did continue for another 10 years, but were at this stage operated by the GNR). At this stage the Dalkey terminus for the tram was at the Castle Street depot, the section of tramway towards Convent Road junction being abandoned circa 1945 (however it is not known if the section was actually served by Route 8 for some years previous).

    CIE managed to acquire 50 buses in 1949. These buses were complete, i.e. not constructed in Spa Road, and were built to Capetown specification. R391-R440 were delivered over a number of months in the summer of 1949, being stockpiled in Donnybrook until all had been received. Once the batch was received in its entirety, an announcement was made that trams would cease operation on the 2nd July 1949. However, due to issues with new employment conditions for former tram workers, the trams received a week’s reprieve, the last trams running on Saturday 9th July 1949. The last tram from the city was scheduled after midnight, thus this date is often quoted as the 10th July 1949, but buses had taken over for the Sunday operation. The last night of tramway operation was marred by terrible scenes of houliganism. A substantial crowd had turned out to see the last of the city trams, more than could be cartered for. Trams were rushed, and souvenier hunters saw no bounds in trashing trams. Such was the trouble, the last trams did not depart from the Pillar much to the sadness of those wishing to pay a respectful farewell. The last tram was No. 252 operating the last 1215am service to Blackrock depot from the city.


    The last of the type, Donnybrook's Enviro400 bodied Volvo B9TL EV100, is seen operating a 7 service to Cherrywood on O'Connell Bridge on the 25th July 2014. Dual door GT buses started out on the 7, however at this stage they were prioritised for cross city services with Route 7 losing out. These days (2018) the allocation is principally dual door, though any type can appear. EV100 was delivered as part of an 11 bus batch, EV90-100, to Donnybrook garage, being delivered in late December 2008. It has operated there every since, spending quite some years principally based in the Bray outstation of Donnybrook (though the allocation there is always somewhat fluid), before being one of a general pool these days.

    The routing of the new bus routes were almost identical to the trams they had replaced. Buses terminated at Nelson’s Pillar. Unlike today there was no central meridian in O’Connell Street, and buses could do a u-turn in the middle of O’Connell Street, buses actually halting in the middle of the road for time in front of the pillar as the trams had done. Route 6 was extended in Blackrock turning right off Main Street along Carysfort Avenue in Blackrock, terminating at Proby Square. Route 7’s terminus was noted in publicity material as “the top of Marine Road”. It is understood that buses set-down on George’s Street Lower, turning right onto Patrick Street, left onto Cross Avenue and left onto Mulgrave Street, returning to George’s Street for the first in-bound stop (this was definitely the routing later into the 50s, and into the 60s, when Route 7 ran as an extra-service only). Route 8 terminated on St. Patrick’s Road, performing a one-way loop as follows: Ulverton Road, Carysfort Road, St. Patrick’s Road (terminus), returning via Castle Street to Ulverton Road as Route 56 had done.

    The service was still 50/50 between Route 7 and 8, with a frequency of every 6-8mins on Route 8 to Dalkey, with Route 7 departures filling the gaps to make a 3-4min frequency throughout the day. Route 6 was every 12mins throughout the day, incredible frequencies when compared to modern standards.


    Donnybrook's AX614 is seen operating Route 5 on Merrion Square North on the 30th December 2010. AX614 was delivered to Dublin Bus in November 2006. It was purchased for fleet expansion and remained in store in Broadstone for six months until May 2007, when it went into service in Broadstone operating Euro duties on Ringsend depot corridors initially. It transferred to Donnybrook in July 2008 and has operated there since. It is one of Donnybrook's oldest vehicles presently (Jan 2019).

    The 7A was introduced in the autumn of 1950 operating to Sallynoggin. It operated as per Route 8 to Upper George’s Street, before turning right onto Glenageary Road Lower, Sallynoggin Road, turning left into Pearse Street and terminating at Sallynoggin Church (where the shops are). About March 1951, the 7A had fully replaced Route 7, the 7 being used only on extra services during peak hour, summer Sundays etc… Frequency of Route 7A was approximately every 11-12mins daytime, compared to the 4-6mins service on Route 8.

    1951 was also a year of major traffic diversions in Dublin city centre in order to remove the tram tracks. Diversions for Routes 6, 7A and 8 began on April 20th 1951, with buses being diverted away from Nassau Street and Grafton Street in both directions, running via Lower Merrion Street, Westland Row, Pearse Street and D’olier Street to terminate at the Nelson’s Pillar terminus. This caused traffic congestion, and outbound buses were diverted the following day to use Townsend Street and Lombard Street East to Westland Row. On the 19th June 1951, the terminus was cut back to D’olier Street. On the 5th July 1951, the route reverted to its former routing via Clare Street, Nassau Street, Grafton Street, College Green, then via College Street to terminate at D’olier Street, returning via Westmoreland Street.

    On the 12th July 1951, the terminus was moved to the college wall on College Street, a one-way city routing introduced with inbound buses via Westland Row and Pearse Street, southbound buses proceeding via College Green, Grafton Street and Nassau Street. On the 5th August 1951, these routes returned to their Nelson’s Pillar terminus, and their routing via Nassau Street, however the southbound routing was permanently modified, buses running via D’olier Street and College Street to College Green instead of the former Westmoreland Street. On the 7th August 1951, the inbound routing was also permanently modified with buses proceeding from Nassau Street into Suffolk Street and Church Lane to College Green, instead of former routing via Grafton Street.


    Donnybrook's Wright Gemini bodied Volvo B5TL, SG27, is seen operating Route 7 on O'Connell Street on the 3rd July 2015. This bus entered service in September 2014 and has remained operating in Donnybrook since.

    On the 6th October 1952, Route 5 was introduced operating from Nelson’s Pillar to Mount Merrion (Tree’s Road) via Mount Merrion Avenue, most likely sharing a terminus with Route 43. The 5 was low frequency, approximately 14 buses per day. On the same date, Route 6 was cut back in frequency.

    Soon after, on the 1st December 1952, Route 6 was extended from its terminus at Proby Square, proceeding via Carysfort Avenue and Newtown Park, to a new terminus on Newtownpark Avenue at Yankee Terrace. Yankee Terrace was a road lined on one side by small cottage dwellings. It was situated between Annaville Park and Castlebyrne Park, exactly where the new link road exists between Stillorgan Park and the TK Roundabout. Buses were reversed into Yankee Terrace, turning right to their terminus stop, a location where the junction now exists between this new link road and Newtownpark Avenue.

    On the 23rd November 1953, Route 5 was extended to Kilmacud, along Trees Road Lower and Upper, and Redesdale Road, to a terminus at the corner of Lower Kilmacud Road and Dale Drive. At this stage, this area of Kilmacud was being newly developed, and it joined routes 64/A which also terminated in this area.

    The Late 50s and Swinging 60s (1955-1969):


    Map showing the bus services from 1949 to 1969. The flexibility of bus operation is seen with the number of services deviating off the main Rock Road corridor (Routes 5,6 and 7A). The trams with the street infrastructure required could not have kept pace with the development of new estates in the 1950s, nor would there always have been a justification from a cost perspective to install tramway. Click on map for a larger version.

    The 50s and 60s saw a significant increase in car ownership in Dublin. At the start of the emergency (1939), vehicle registrations in Dublin were 24,480. By 1953 this number had risen to 55,658. Only 3 years later in 1956, this number was 65,556 showing the high growth rate as vehicles became more affordable, and by 1961 the number had risen to 93,542. By 1971, the number of private cars alone exceeded the total number of vehicles in 1961, with 104,000 private cars registered in Dublin on the roads. Set against this background was a significant expansion of the footprint of Dublin as new suburbs were created. This didn't effect the principal former tram route (Route 8), as this traversed widely developed localities, but areas such as Blackrock and Sallynoggin grew significantly. More cars meant more traffic, exacerbated by a culture of "lucky" car owners parking as they liked, with the bus vying for ever reducing road space. The congestion significantly affected bus operations, reducing reliability and service levels as the same number (or sometimes more) buses provided an ever reducing frequency of service. Reduced reliablility meant more turned to cars, causing even worse congestion and lower income from the city bus services.

    The expansion of Sallynoggin in the 50s resulted in a significant increase in frequency of the 7A (every 6-10mins), with the 8 also being maintained on a 4-6 min frequency on weekdays. The early morning Dalkey services had survived into bus days, the earliest being the 0450 ex Dalkey, followed by 0600 departure. In 1958 this 0600 departure was advanced to 0545, and was diverted to serve Sallynoggin Post Office, departing there at 0555 and operating then as a 7A into the city. This was the first precursor to the workman 7D service which operates today. In those days Sallynoggin Post Office was located in Longford House, across the road from where Chadwicks stands today. Thus this departure did not proceed to Pearse Housing Estate.


    Donnybrook's former Alexander ALX400 bodied Volvo B7TL, AV150, is seen operating a Route 7A departure to O'Connell Street on Hillview Drive, Mackintosh Park, on the 22nd April 2011. AV150 was delivered to Braodstone entering service in February 2001 as part of extra capacity on the North Clondalkin QBC. It moved to Donnybrook at the end of 2001. In early 2004, it gained an AOA for the European Union to celebrate Ireland's presidency of the EU in 2004. It was sent to Shannon that summer for US President George Bush's visit to Ireland, where it was used on shuttle work. After a long period of service in Donnybrook, it transferred to Ringsend in September 2014, spending its final year with Dublin Bus there, being withdrawn in July 2015. AV150 was then sold on for further use ending up with McColls of Dumbarton.

    In July 1960, the Nelson’s Pillar terminus of Routes 5, 6, 7A and 8 was moved from in front of Nelson’s Pillar (opposite the GPO) to Upper O’Connell Street. This was to allow more car parking in the central area of O’Connell Street (the central meridian still many years away), backward thinking of the highest order. The 7A and 8 shared now shared a stop outside the Tourist Office near the Savoy Cinema, while the 5 and 6 were closer up towards Nelson’s Pillar. Buses could still u-turn in O’Connell Street to access this terminus.

    On the 16th December 1962, new reduced services were introduced on Routes 7A and 8, principally due to congestion and falling passenger numbers. The 8 was now on a 4-10 minute headway, whereas the 7A was only slightly lower in frequency. By this time the 7A had been extended into Pearse Villas, a location it would terminate at for over 20 years. Unfortunately the exact terminus arrangements during the 60s are not precisely clear. The OS map from 1962 shows the 7A terminating on Pearse Street at the t-junction with southern side of Pearse Villas. A reversing manoeuvre would have been performed to return. It should be noted however that OS maps are not always 100% reliable. At this stage the 0545 ex Dalkey was extended to serve Sallynoggin Church. This would indicate that the buses used the former terminus at the shops to turn about. Departure time was still listed as 0555 from Sallynoggin Church.

    By 1964 (if not originally), the terminus was on the southern side of Pearse Villas at its junction with Rochestown Park, buses waiting for time facing north-west. It is not known if buses proceeded in a loop to this location, or if a reversing manoeuvre was performed at the junction with Rochestown Park. By the mid-60s, the terminus was definitely a loop that buses use to this day, using the square created by Pearse Street, Pearse Villas and Rochestown Park to turn about. By the late 60s at least (if not earlier), the direction of this loop was anti-clockwise (opposite to the current routing of 7A buses in this location), buses terminating at the triangle of houses on the southern section of Pearse Villas where a pull in for buses is still located albeit unused.


    Donnybrook's Enviro500 bodied Volvo B9TL is seen operating Route 7 on O'Connell Street on the 10th March 2012. VTs on the 7 were always rare, this being an extra due to an Ireland international rugby match taking place that day. VT25 was delivered in December 2007 to Phibsboro depot, entering service there just prior to Christmas. VT25 stayed there for just under three years, principally operating Euro (peak-hour) duties from the Broadstone section of Phibsboro depot. It then transferred to Donnybrook in late September 2010, when VT21-35 were acquired from Broadstone to allow VT use on the 145s. With VT1-20 being withdrawn last year (2018), VT21-VT35 are the last remaining VTs in Donnybrook, and principally operate the 145 with the 46A now a dual door route.

    In March 1964, Route 8’s Dalkey Terminus was changed from St. Patrick’s Road. The principle reason was due to traffic congestion on Castle Street, it again noted that the decision was to ensure that car parking on Castle Street would be preserved. The terminus was moved to Ulverton Road, where the terminus stands today. This square formed by Ulverton Road, Castle Street and Hyde Road was Route 8’s terminus from this date to its ultimate withdrawal in 2016, though it should be noted that for a reasonable period, Route 8’s terminus was noted as Hyde Road. This was at least the first pick up stop, and was such around the late 60s and into the 70s. A shelter was first added at the Hyde Road stop in 1973 to accommodate waiting passengers.

    On the 18th November 1964, the inbound city centre routing of Routes 5, 6, 7A and 8 were changed due to a new one-way system introduced to the city. One way systems and circuses (one way squares of roads) had become the great saviour of Dublin’s growing traffic problems, with early 1964 being a particular notable period in terms of city centre routing changes. The 5-8 routes had survived those changes unscathed. These November changes affected Leinster Street and Nassau Street, which became one-way as per their current arrangement. A one-way traffic circus was also created formed by Merrion Street Lower, Clare Street and Lincoln Place.

    Inbound buses operated to Clare Street as normal, before turning right into Lincoln Place, left into Westland Row, then Pearse Street, College Street, Westmoreland Street to O’Connell Street. Outbound buses were also affected with Clare Street now one way. From O’Connell Street buses operated normally to Leinster Street South before continuing into Lincoln Place, Merrion Street Lower, returning to their former routing at Merrion Square North.


    Donnybrook's former Alexander R-bodied Olympian, RA182, is seen operating Route 8 in its Wedding Livery on D'olier Street on the 24th May 1997. This bus was delivered as RH182 in Wedding Livery in May 1994 to Donnybrook depot. In early 1996, RH182 became RA182 in a fleet numbering reclassification that distinguished Volvo Olympians from the Leyland Olympians. In the summer of 1997, it lost its Wedding Livery, being painted into core livery (two tone green at the time). It was withdrawn from Donnybrook in late 2006 upon delivery of a large batch of AX class buses.

    On the 8th June 1965 Route 6A was introduced operating to Granville Park. It mirrored Route 6 for basically its full routing all the way to Newtown Park. Then instead of turning left onto Newtownpark Avenue and operating a few hundred yards to Yankee Terrace, it turned right and operated a few hundred yards down Newtownpark Avenue to the corner of Granville Park. The majority of services were still Route 6 departures, the 6A having about 15 departures a day.

    In 1966 (between February and July), Route 6 was extended from its terminus at Yankee Terrace to Castlebyrne Park. The timetable was not changed from that which introduced Route 6A, the extension being a very short one.

    1966 was also a momentous year for the Republic of Ireland, being the 50 year anniversary of the Proclamation of Independence. On the 8th March 1966, the top of Nelson’s Pillar, including the statue was blown up, leaving a stump in a perilously dangerous state. For this reason O’Connell Street was closed to traffic. Routes 5/6/6A/7A/8 terminated on College Street. The army blew up the remaining stump of the pillar on the 14th March, buses returning to O’Connell Street when the rubble was cleared. Of more significance than the short-lived terminus at College Street was the fact that Nelson’s Pillar was the terminus designation of these routes, even after their extension into Upper O’Connell Street. Scrolls were modified to show O’Connell Street, and the timetable was also suitably updated to refer to O’Connell Street.


    Donnybrook's former Wright Gemini bodied Volvo B5TL, SG120, is seen operating Route 7A on Marine Road on the 14th November 2016, the day after Route 7A's return. SG120 was delivered to Donnybrook in August 2015. It was transferred to Go-Ahead Ireland in July 2018, becoming fleet number 11519 there.

    The summer of 1967 brought a few evening peak services departing from Nassau Street on Routes 7A and 8, providing extra capacity further along the route due to capacity issues.

    On November 2nd 1967, O’Connell Street was officially declared a clearway, which meant that parking at the kerbside was prohibited during peak periods. All routes with termini in O’Connell Street were moved, the 5/6/6A/7A/8 being moved to Parnell Square East (Corner of Cavendish Row) from the 29th October. Buses traversed Parnell Street, Parnell Square West and Parnell Square North to access the terminus. The next stop southbound for these routes wasn’t until O’Connell Street between Abbey Street and Eden Quay. With the routes lengthened, new timetables were necessary. At this point the evening services from Nassau Street were pushed back to operate from Grafton Street, thus taking in this very busy stop.

    One way systems had been successful in relieving city centre congestion and their progression into the suburbs was inevitable. Dún Laoghaire had some roads made one-way in 1964, but it didn't affect Routes 7A and 8. On March 18th 1969, Blackrock was given a new one way system. The Main Street was left two-way, there being no alternative, but Newtown Avenue was made one way out of the town, and Temple Road was made one-way into the town. Buses on Routes 7A and 8 were amended to follow the new one-way system.


    Donnybrook's former Alexander ALX400 bodied Volvo B7TL, AV391, is seen operating Route 7 on Merrion Square North in a tri-sided wrap for Heinz on the 31st August 2015. It's history much parallels that of AV392 which featured earlier, being also one of the last buses built in the Mallusk plant before Transbus went into administration. It operated in Donnybrook from delivery. It last operated in Donnybrook on the 30th November 2017, entering service in Harristown on the 29th January 2018, operating mostly on peak hour "Euro" duties. It was withdrawn on the 15th June 2018, initially for the summer, though the arrival of new SGs in Harristown before the end of the summer, meant it never operated again.

    City Growth and Route Extensions (1970-1984):

    The terminus of Routes 5/6/6A/7A/8 moved again on the 17th August 1970, this time to a more permanent location of Eden Quay. Stops were provided for between Marlborough Street and O’Connell Street, buses terminating facing westbound. It should be noted that at this stage the Malahide Road routes still terminated on Eden Quay, and the flow of traffic on Eden Quay was westbound, no contra flow necessary. A contra-flow on Eden Quay was provided in 1982 when the flow of traffic reversed along the quays, ensuring that neither the routing of these routes nor the terminal location changed.

    Buses turned right off Pearse Street onto Tara Street, crossing Butt Bridge, before turning left to terminate on Eden Quay. Buses then turned left onto O’Connell Bridge rejoining their former route. The inconvenience to passengers was limited as the former stop on O’Connell Street had been close to O’Connell Bridge in any case. However, it was noted in the press that this reduced the number of bus services in O’Connell Street by 300 per day, an aim of CIE’s following the publishing of Professor Schachterle Report (the Dublin Corporation traffic expert who had reviewed the data from a substantial survey undertaken by CIE in the 1960), which called for reduced movements of buses in O’Connell Street. No doubt this new terminus reduced delays, but the remedy proposed is just another example of the inconvenience of bus passengers to make way for supposed “progress”. The pattern repeats itself to modern times, possibly to the greatest extent by the new Luas cross-city service, benefiting the few at the expense of the many.


    Donnybrook's Wright Gemini bodied Volvo B9TL, GT15, is seen operating Route 7 on Rochestown Park on the 18th April 2014. GT15 entered service in Donnybrook depot in September 2012 allocated to the 7 group of routes. It is still operating from Donnybrook depot though now on a more general allocation.

    The first section of Frascati Road, or Blackrock’s By-Pass opened on the 26th April 1972, running from Carysfort Avenue to the Rock Road, the rest of the by-pass to Temple Road not being completed for a further 15 years. Blackrock’s one-way system was thus extended, Blackrock Main Street being one-way out of the city, while Frascati Road was one-way into the city. Carysfort Avenue between the Main Street and the new Frascati Road was also made one-way southbound. For the 6, 6A, 7A and 8, nothing changed outbound. Inbound buses on Routes 7A and 8 turned left off Temple Road onto Carysfort Avenue then right onto Frascati Road before rejoining the former route on the Rock Road. The 6 and 6A turned left off Carysfort Road onto Frascati Road then onto Rock Road to the city.

    On the 23rd July 1973, Route 5 was extended a short distance from its Dale Drive Kilmacud Terminus to a terminus designated “Kilmacud (Beaufield)”. Beaufield estate is located at the long-lived, though now unserved, Kilmacud terminus, though only Route 5 ever had this designation for the terminus. The 62 and 64/A had been extended towards Stillorgan Shopping Centre after it opened in 1966, however the 5 had remained at Dale Drive. Following this extension, it shared with the 64s once more, though this terminus for Route 5 was short lived.

    In the later half of 1974, Route 7A obtained a new early morning departure at 0457. This bus was the 0450 from Dalkey, but the 8 timetable did not label it as via Sallynoggin Church as it did with the later 0545 departure. Given the lack of designation, it can be interpreted that the bus served Pearse Villas. It was also at this stage that buses returning to the depot from their suburban termini after some evening departures operated in service to Donnybrook Garage via Nutley Lane. The last departures at night had always operated the full way to Ballsbridge, turning left onto Anglesea Road to get to the depot. Departure times were so similar to other timetabled departures, in some cases exactly the same, that this would seem like a scheduling requirement than a need to fill gaps in the timetable.


    Donnybrook's former Alexander ALX400 bodied Volvo B7TL is seen operating former Route 5 on Merrion Square North on the 16th May 2011. AV395 entered service in Donnybrook in May 2004. Like AV393 the delivery of this bus was held up due to folding of Transbus International. It didn't originally have a luggage rack but when AV398 became a tour bus it obtained one, and then was principally used on Route 746 to Dublin Airport. When this ceased operation as part of Network Direct, it went into a general allocation in Donnybrook. It transferred to Summerhill at the end of October 2012 along with AV396/7 which also had luggage racks for use on Routes 16 and 41. It operated for a number of years in Summerhill, being the only AV3xx left at one point, before finally being withdrawn on the 25th November 2018, one of few buses these days that reached over 14 years of service.

    In July 1975, the 5 was extended to a new terminus at Lakelands Avenue (Upper Kilmacud Road). Buses towards Lakelands Avenue turned right off Kilmacud Road Lower onto Kilmacud Road Upper. Buses followed Kilmacud Road Upper around to the right as per the current 75 routing, Kilmacud Road extension towards Sandyford Industrial Estate then only being a modern road addition. Buses used the corner of Lakelands Avenue to do a reverse manoeuver to turn about on the Upper Kilmacud Road.

    On the 15th December 1975, Route 6 was extended beyond its Castlebyrne Park terminus to a terminus designated “New Link Road (Opp. Abbey Park)”. Buses continued along Newtownpark Avenue past the former Castlebyrne Park terminus, turning right onto Stradbrook Road, then left onto the then New Link Road. Buses terminated on this road using the T.K. Roundabout at the corner of Abbey Road to turnabout. Unlike when Route 4A terminated on this road, there was no terminus stop on the T.K. roundabout itself. Strangely this road is still known as Link Road, noted in the names of current stops 6085 and 6086.

    Up to this point, the 7A had always being increasing in frequency compared to Route 8. It was at this time that they became all but exactly the same frequency. The DART urban train system was still a number of years away and the frequencies were still high. Between the routes there were about 16 departures an hour, or one approximately every 3.75minutes. Quite a bit different to the current 7/A service. The 8 also got an usual outbound departure via Donnybrook at 0700 ex City, no doubt to get drivers to work in the morning.


    Donnybrook's Alexander Enviro400 bodied Volvo B9TL, EV91, is seen operating Route 7 on Glenageary Road Upper on the 20th October 2012. The 7 was on a long term diversion at this time due to roadworks on the Glenageary Road Lower. It was delivered to Donnybrook in December 2008 and has operated there since.

    An interesting development in 1978 saw one peak hour Route 7A departure extended to Killiney Shopping Centre from the 21st August 1978, sharing a terminus with the 46 and 86. The morning departure was 0810 from Killeny Shopping Centre, with a return departure at 1735 from Eden Quay. It was noted at the time that these departures was operating on a experimental basis for a period of 3 months. It's not known how these departures did and whether they continued longer than the 3 months stipulated. The context at the time was widespread development in the Ballybrack area, with many calls for the 7A to be extended to those areas beyond Killiney Shopping Centre.

    There were multiple protests at the bus service in the Ballybrack area. CIE responded to these protests by saying no new services would be provided until more money was made available to CIE. On the 5th March 1979, CIE eventually backed down after 18-months of protests, and a new Route 7 was introduced to serve the "Ballybrack and Wyattville" areas. This new route was an extension to Route 7A, extending beyond the Pearse Villas terminus, turning right onto Rochestown Park, then onto Rochestown Avenue and onto Church Road. The exact terminus location however is unclear. The 12th edition of the OS Map of Dublin (May 1979) showed the terminus at Ballybrack Cross Roads (corner of Shanganagh Road and Military Road). The 13th edition (1984) shows buses continuing from Church Road to Wyatville Road terminating where Wyatville Road turns left towards Kiliney. In the timetable, the terminus was listed as "Ballybrack (Wyattville Road)", which doesn't answer the location. My understanding is that the 12th edition of the OS map is incorrect, and that Route 7 buses from inception continued from Church Road to Wyattville Road, terminating at the wide junction where Wyattville Road diverts towards Killiney, but I have no conclusive proof of this. Otherwise, the Ballybrack Cross Road terminus was short lived. There were initally 22 services daily, which tipped the balance with more buses now serving Sallynoggin (Routes 7 and 7A) than Dalkey (Route 8). With this new timetable introduction, the services to Donnybrook garage via Nutley Lane were redesignated as operating to Ballsbridge, same as the last night services.


    Donnybrook's Alexander ALX400 bodied Volvo B7TL, AX537, is seen operating Route 8 on Temple Road on the 3rd September 2012. AX537 was delivered to Donnybrook in September 2006. It initally operated Ryder Cup Shuttles at the K-club in Kildare before entering regular service at the end of September. It was withdrawn from service in Donnybrook in February 2019, last operating on the 18th.

    On the 4th June 1980, Clare Street reverted to being two-way as per the current arrangements to facilitate road-works on Lincoln Place. Thus outbound buses proceeded from Leinster Street South to Merrion Square North via Clare Street, it no longer being necessary to go via Lincoln Place and Merrion Street South.

    On the 28th July 1980, the 6A was extended to Sandyford Industrial Estate from its Granville Park terminus. Sandyford Industrial Estate was a development undertaken by Sisk building contractors in the mid-1970s, the estate being officially opened in mid-1977. The 6A was the first bus service to serve Sandyford Industrial Estate. This extension was Monday-Saturday only, with Granville Park continuing as the terminus for Sunday services. Buses continued past Granville Park along Newtownpark Avenue crossing the Stillorgan Road onto Leopardstown Road, Burton Hall Road, then left onto Blackthorn Road and right to terminate on Corrig Road after the junction with Three Rock Road. Buses departed Sandyford proceeding via Corrig Road, Carmanhall Road, right onto Blackthorn Road, then left onto Burton Hall Road and returning via the outbound routing.


    Donnybrook's former CIE Metsec Bodied Leyland Atlantean, DF416, is seen operating Route 6A on O'Connell Bridge in the 1980s. This bus entered service in Donnybrook in August 1972 as D416. The Leyland engines proved unreliable in this class of buses, and D416 became DF416 in 1980 when a new DAF power unit was fitted. It operated its full career in Donnybrook before becoming a driver trainer in December 1988, technically still on loan from Donnybrook to the Driving School. At this time there had been mass conversions of routes to one person operation and the Dublin Bus Driving School needed extra vehicles to train the conductors in bus driving, having been displaced from their duties. DF416 was withdrawn in December 1989.

    An unfortunate trend throughout the 80s and 90s was attacks on operating staff and vandalism to buses. This trend was Dublin wide, but is interesting that one of the first curtailments of service with regard to this was to Route 8 at Dalkey. Dalkey, today, is the height of affluence in Dublin terms, with many celebrities and wealthy individuals living in the locality. Yet in December 1981, Dalkey was a hot point of bus problems. Reports of the time speak of "drug crazed" teenagers who frequented McDonagh's Bar in the town. The issue eventually reached a head on the 11th December when unions instructed staff not to operate late night services from Dalkey. A number of assualts had occured on bus crews over the previous few weeks, and buses were being vandalised. The unions dictated that the last bus would be 930pm from city, 1013pm from Dalkey. The issue continued along for a number of months, a bizarre occurance being a bus pulled over by An Garda Siochana for not picking up passengers in the locality. The crew was advised they were breaking the law by not picking up passengers. Though technically true under the 1932 Road Transport Act, it is strange given the Guards awareness of a wider issue in the area. Buses would eventually return to late night services in Dalkey, but this incident, being an early event, was a precursor to an increasing trend of assaults on staff that would last over two decades.

    The 7 increased in frequency quite rapidly. By 1983 there were 42 departures each way Monday-Friday, though Saturday and Sunday service remained as per previous levels. This was at the expense of Route 7A which reduced in service levels correspondingly by about 20 departures a day Monday-Friday. By this stage the first 8 Monday-Friday was brought back by 20mins to 0510 ex Dalkey, 0517 ex Sallynoggin. The Saturday 0450 service remained the same. The 0545 ex Dalkey via Sallynoggin also lost its via Sallynoggin note in the timetable (something the 0510 also didn’t have). The 7A had a 0600 departure from Sallynoggin in its timetable, but its not believed these were the same. The 0545 ex Dalkey on Saturday retained its via Sallynoggin Church designation.


    Map showing the bus services from 1970 to 2000, with Route 7X omitted. Click on map for a larger version.

    DART Feeders and Consolidation (1984-2000):

    The Dublin Area Rapid Transit (or DART) electrified rail corridor started on the 23rd July 1984. Trains ran at frequent intervals, typically every 15mins all day, with journey time from Dún Laoghaire to Tara Street station approximately 20mins. The train line paralleled a lot of the Rock Road catchment areas, with stations from Tara Street to Dalkey no more than a stone’s throw away from the bus routes. It was clear that the bus routes would be affected by the competition. CIEs solution was feeder buses, a series of routes that would feed suburban areas with the local train station. This was a way to increase the catchment area of the rail system.

    In 1984, Routes 7/A and 8 had a PVR of 25 buses. Under the DART feeder proposal this would be cut to 15 buses. Of these 15 buses, 7 would be utilised to provide a feeder service to Dún Laoghaire while 8 would be used for the direct service. The DART feeder services would get new KC type buses, and would be OPO (one-person-operated). These buses were bigger than the existing buses (C-class) used on OPO services, especially with regards to the number of standing passengers allowed. For this reason, the DART feeder services were placed in a wider, and much more complicated negotiation, with regards to one-person operation of large buses (principally double-deckers). This meant the DART feeders were significantly delayed, affecting the success of the concept of the feeder network. In the end the DART feeder concept got held up in the One-Person Operation debate.

    Before the introduction of DART feeder services, a sensible change took place on the 25th November 1985 when Route 7 was rerouted via Churchview Road, as per the current routing. It thus got much closer to Ballybrack Shopping Centre, and to the wider housing estates built in Ballybrack. Given this road had existed prior to the launch of Route 7 in 1979, it was interesting it didn't serve this road to begin with.


    Donnybrook's Coastal Tour liveried Alexander ALX400 bodied Volvo B7TL, AX542, is seen operating Route 7A on Pearse Street on the 10th April 2019. AX542 entered service in Donnybrook in September 2006, having also been used on Ryder Cup Shuttles initially. AX542 was painted into Coastal Tour livery for the 2009 summer season. Since then AX542 has been used on city bus services only between its Coastal Tour and Hotel Shuttle duties. In recent years it would primarily be on early duties on Routes 17 and 18, but since these routes have moved to Go Ahead, AX542 has found a home on the 1st 7 bus, which pulls back into the depot at about 8am.

    Soon after, on the 2nd February 1986, the DART feeders were finally introduced. For the Ballybrack and Sallynoggin areas, the 111 was introduced operating from Route 7’s terminus on the Wyattville Road via Churchview Road, Pearse Villas Sallynoggin and Glenageary Road to Dún Laoghaire Station (for a complete history of Route 111, see here). In typical Dublin fashion, CIE didn't really implement any coherent form of operation in the Ballybrack area. CIE wanted high frequency feeder buses feeding the DART system. The issue was the DART wasn't that frequent, pretty much every 15mins. No joined up thinking existed whereby buses could be guaranteed to meet trains, so for passengers, especially outside the peaks, the concept of transferring modes and waiting up the 15mins again didn't really work. Marked-in crews did not want to lose their routes, residents did not want to lose their direct bus service to the city. So what resulted was a hybrid approach that didn't suit any one group, an unfortunate outcome from a state operator which had to please everyone.

    Overall the service level on the Rock Road was much reduced. The 7 was the only one to increase from 41 outbound journeys M-F to 51. The 7A however went from 57 to 34, so overall a drop in service on Routes 7/A. The 8 went from 85 outbound departures M-F to 62, a drop of 25%. The 5 went from 10 to 8 outbound departures, the 6 from 28 to 17, a drop of over 33%, while the 6A remained relatively unscathed going from 18 to 16, Sandyford Industrial Estate no doubt a factor in this. Sunday service on the 6A was cut back significantly however. Overall total outbound departures on these routes went from 239 departures to 188, a reduction of 22%, something which would have been swallowed up by the extra buses required for the feeder services. Thus CIE’s great savings plan for a near 50% reduction in buses on city bound services on these routes never materialised. Likewise the very high-frequency feeder buses didn't materialise either, with the 111 being approximately every 15mins on weekdays. The 7 and 111 were not interlaced to provide a joined up service, and buses often ran in tandem reducing the service quality further.


    Donnybrook's former ALX400 bodied Volvo B7TL, AV324, is seen operating Route 7B on College Green on the 5th July 2011. AV324 was delivered to Donnybrook in July 2003. It was originally in CitySwift livery allocated to Route 46A. It transferred to Harristown in October 2016, and operated there for a year, last operating on the 18th October 2017.

    The completed Blackrock by-pass, as we know it today, from Temple Road all the way to the Rock Road was opened on the 16th October 1987. At the same time Blackrock village’s traffic scheme was modified to its current form, with Main Street, Carysfort Avenue (between the bypass and Main Street) and Temple Road (from the bypass to Main Street) becoming two way once more. The flow of traffic on Newtown Avenue was reversed to its current form. Thus outbound buses operated as normal to Main Street Blackrock, before continuing along Temple Road to rejoin the by-pass. Inbound buses turned right off Temple Hill to serve Newtown Avenue, then proceeding to Carysfort Avenue to rejoin its former routing via Frascati Road to Rock Road.

    On Sunday December 13th 1987, Route 6A was cancelled while Routes 5 and 6 were converted to One-Person Operated (OPO). Route 6A had been in competition with Route 114’s DART feeder service to Blackrock Station, introduced earlier that year, which mirrored its routing from Sandyford Industrial Estate. Route 5 was extended to Sandyford Industrial Estate as of Monday December 14th, as its Sunday service was cancelled with the introduction of this timetable. It followed its former routing to Kilmacud Road Upper, but instead of following Kilmacud Road Upper as per current Route 75, it went straight ahead serving Kilmacud Road Extension, turning left onto Blackthorn Avenue, then right onto Blackthorn Road, right onto Corrig Road, terminating at the former 6A terminus. Buses then left Corrig Road via Carmanhall Road to Blackthorn Road, Blackthorn Avenue and Kilmacud Road Extension to Kilmacud Road Upper.

    The 5 slightly increased in frequency with this new timetable, going from 8 weekday departures to 9, however the 6 was decimated. There were now only 11 weekday services as opposed to 33 weekday services in the former timetable between Routes 6/A, a drop of 67%, the 114 then being the principle service in these parts.


    Donnybrook's former Alexander R-bodied Volvo Olympian, RH180, is seen operating Route 7X when brand new on Eden Quay on the 1st June 1994. It was delivered to Donnybrook in May 1994. All RH Buses above RH175 were renumbered RA in 1996, hence RH180 became RA180. RA180 was withdrawn circa October 2006 upon the delivery of AX-class buses to Donnybrook. RH180 became a driver trainer, painted in the Red/White livery, working in this guise until withdrawn in summer 2010.

    On the 9th May 1988, a new timetable was introduced on Routes 7/7A, 8. There were two principle changes, with Route 7 extended to its current Loughlinstown Park terminus. Certain 7A departures were extended beyond the Pearse Villas terminus to Mackintosh Park. This was due to the withdrawal of Route 58 two months earlier which had left Mackintosh Park and Pottery Road without a service, Eamonn Gilmore T.D. successfully campaigning on behalf of residents for a bus service to be reinstated. The 7, 7A and 8 were converted to OPO on the 4th September 1988.

    The formation of Dublin Bus in 1987, and the wider split of CIE into three seperate entities under one holding company, was to allow for "efficient and profitable enterprises". Route withdrawals and cross-city service reductions were the order of the day. Dublin Bus needed to cut costs, the late 80s being an economically difficult time. As part of this process Route 6 was withdrawn on the 18th March 1989 cutting a link from much of Blackrock to the city centre.


    Map showing the unique route of the CitySpeed 7X avioding both Blackrock and Dún Laoghaire towns. The rest of the route was the same as Route 7 to Eden/Burgh Quay except for a brief period after its introduction when it served O'Connell Street and Parnell Square on the inbound direction only.

    The 7X began on the 24th July 1989 operating from Loughlinstown Park to Parnell Square inbound, and from Eden Quay to Loughlistown Park in return. One departure was provided each way. A formal ceremony was undertaken at the Victor Hotel on Rochestown Avenue when one of the first passengers cut a tape for a publicity shot. The routing from Loughlinstown Park followed Route 7 to Rochestown Avenue, then operated non stop from the Victor Hotel (now the Rochestown Lodge Hotel) to the RDS. The routing taken followed Rochestown Avenue, Abbey Road, Stradbrook Road, Temple Hill, Blackrock By-Pass (Frascati Road), Rock Road and as per normal Route 7. Such was the success, the service was soon extended to two departures in each direction on the 8th October 1989. At the same time a further stop at the Frascati Centre was added. Then on Monday 19th March 1990, the inbound service was curtailed to Eden Quay only, not heading up O'Connell Street to Parnell Square.


    Donnybrook's Alexander ALX400 bodied Volvo B7TL, AX468, is seen operating Route 7 to Cherrywood on Blackrock Main Street on the 31st December 2010. AX468 was delivered to Donnybrook in May 2006. It was initially allocated to Route 7 group to convert these services to low-floor operation. It is still in service in Donnybrook, though is one of the oldest buses still in service there in May 2019.

    The 1990s brought a period of relative stability. In early 1990 the 7 was the dominant service as it had been by the late 1980s. The 7 had 76 services to Loughlinstown Park, the 8 had exactly half the number of services to Dalkey. The 7A was principally a service to Mackintosh Park with only the first early morning service (prior to 0730) to/from Pearse Villas only, with 9 outbound services. The 5 had 12 services to Sandyford Industrial Estate, and finally the 7X had two departures each way.

    Friday 6th December 1991 brought the introduction of a late night service on 12 routes, departing at 12am, 1am, 2am and 3am. The 7 was chosen as a service to obtain a night service, buses operating from College Street/Pearse Street to Sallynoggin along the 7’s routing. Buses only picked up at the city terminus, but passengers could alite at all stops along the route. Buses received letters desingating the routes instead of numbers, the Sallynoggin service being L, alphabetically the last (further routes up to P were added in time which did not follow the sequence). The reason it was last was because of an anti-clockwise numbering scheme starting with the A service to Howth. This was opposite to the clockwise route numbering schemes introduced by the DUTC.

    The Tallaght Sector 4 changes caused the 5, 7/7A and 8 to change terminus, Tallaght routes moving from Aston Quay to Eden Quay on the 29th May 1994, sharing the contra-flow terminus with Routes 5, 7/A and 8. This resulted in signficant congestion on Eden Quay, with Tallaght routes moving due to an increased number of departures. Combined with the Rock Road services, there were too many buses. Thus, on the 19th June 1994, the 5, 7/A and 8 moved from the Eden Quay terminus to terminate on Burgh Quay, which were vacated by Routes 14/A. As traffic deteriorated in the mid-90s the morning 7X services were brought forward by 15mins each at the end of 1995. At the same time new stops for the 7X were added at Baker’s Corner and St. Vincent’s Hospital.


    Alexander ALX400 bodied Volvo B7TL, AX529, is seen operating Route 7 on Georges Street Upper on the 7th October 2011. It entered service on Ryder Cup duties in September 2006, then entering regular service in Donnybrook. It transferred to Ringsend in November 2013 and is still in service there.

    On the 29th October 1996 the 7A was issued with a new timetable. From this timetable the first morning service, formely noted as 6am from Pearse Villas was then designated from Shankhill Church at 0545. This was in fact the 0525 Route 8 service from Dalkey via Donnybrook Garage to the city. The routing was unusual, leaving Ulverton Road at 0525 using the then otherwise unserved Barnhill Road onto Avondale Road, then Church Road and Shanganagh Road to Shankill Church, having a 0545 departure from there. It then followed the Dublin Road to the N11 and then onto the Wyattville Road following Route 7 via Pearse Villas from which it had previously been listed as 0600 to St. Vincent’s Hospital, operating via Nutley Lane, Stillorgan Road and Ailesbury Road back to the Merrion Road and then as per Route 7 to the city. Though it was this date before the 7A timetable was updated, this 0525 departure had been introduced in June 1992, and given limited timetable updates must have always operated this way. The 0635 service from Dalkey got the same description in the 8 timetable, “via Donnybrook Garage”, but this service was just a Route 8 via the same loop of Donnybrook Garage but not via Shankhill or Route 7.

    From the 29th September 1997 this 0635 inbound departure became a Route 7 departure from Loughlinstown and not a Route 8. On the same date, Route 7 acquired some interesting departures between Loughlinstown and Dún Laoghaire only, two journeys each way on a Sunday afternoon. The routing was as per Route 111, but they were listed in Route 7 timetable, the 111 being a Irish Rail funded Dart Feeder service. I would imagine local practice was to display 111, but I never saw the services. From this date, the 7X was reduced to a solitary inbound and outbound departure.

    The Summer of 1997 (between April and September) saw the L nitelink service extended to Ballybrack (Wyattville Road). Christmas 1998 saw the last service (at this stage 330am) extended to Shankhill Church. The route of this service was as per the existing L service (which was as per Route 7) to Churchview Road, then left onto Wyattville Road, right onto Church Road, then Shanganagh Road to Shankhill Church. With the launch of the Xpresso brand in 1999, the 7X lost its CitySpeed branding in favour of the new branding. The L NiteLink service became Route 7N on the 30th November 2000, as part of a large expansion of NiteLink services. All services operated to Shankill, operating further south than before to Woodbrook Golf Club, just prior to the Bray North M11 interchange. Buses ran 6 nights a week, Monday-Wednesday at 0030 and 0200 (hourly over the Christmas periods), and then every 20mins between 0030 and 0430 on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.


    Donnybrook's former ALX400 bodied ALX400 bodied Volvo B7TL, AV70, is seen operating Route 7 on Mount Street on the 23rd February 2013. AV70 entered service in Donnybrook in November 2000. It was initially allocated to Route 11, being one of a sizeable batch with replaced the last of the KD and KC class buses there. It obtained an experimental LED display in the autumn of 2002, the first to receive same. It kept this LED all the way to the replacement of all dot matrix displays in the city fleet. It had been due to withdrawal in the summer of 2013 with the delivery of further GT class vehicles to Donnybrook, but it got a reprieve and lasted a further year, finally being withdrawn from service in October 2014.

    The New Millenium (2000-2015):

    Dublin was a changing city at the start of the new millenium. The major project at the time was the construction of the Luas, Dublin's tram system. The development of the Red Line on Middle Abbey Street caused the Blanchardstown corridor routes to be moved. The 39 moved to Burgh Quay displacing Routes 5, 7/A and 8 to Eden Quay once more on the 6th May 2001, their former terminus. At this time, however, they shared with the Tallaght services as well, which was an unsuitable terminus given the amount of buses already using it.


    Former Donnybrook ALX400 bodied Volvo B7TL, AX534 is seen operating Route 7 on the Glenageary Road Lower on the 9th June 2012. It entered service on Ryder Cup duties in September 2006, then entering regular service in Donnybrook. It operated out of Donnybrook until its withdrawal from service on the 4th April 2019.

    The 15th July 2001 brought the shock withdrawal of Route 8. As was common at the time only a day’s notice was offered by Dublin Bus, the website announcement coming in the afternoon of the 13th. Where most route withdrawals have come at a time of recession within the country, this was different and quite unexpected. This stallworth of Dublin services, little changed from the 19th century was being removed in the 21st century without any fanfare, last operating on the night of the 14th July 2001. The last journey was a little less of an event than the tramway closure, with a few enthusiasts making it for the last journey to Dalkey on RV524. (For a photo of this last operation see Mick Hughes’ excellent photo here: here.)

    As part of these changes, the new city terminus for these routes became Upper O’Connell Street, a stop they still serve. Inbound there was, and still is, a large gap in stops, with no stops between Pearse Street and The Spire in O’Connell Street. Because of this, the services can operate in one of two routings, eithering continuing along Pearse Street to College Street and Westmoreland Street to O’Connell Bridge, or via Tara Street and Burgh Quay.


    Donnybrook's Enviro500 bodied Volvo B9TL, VT32, is seen on a rare allocation to Route 7 at Loughlistown Park on the 4th November 2011. VT32 was delivered to Phibsborough in December 2007, entering service there in early 2008. It spent much of its time on Euro services operating out of Broadstone. It transferred to Donnybrook in October 2010 to help with capacity on Route 145. It is still in service in Donnybrook.

    Route 7 was increased slighly in frequency at this time, however Routes 5 and 7A were reduced significantly, with Route 7A now being a Monday-Friday only service. It operated solely in the midday/afternoon, losing its peak services to services via the Stillorgan QBC instead. Route 7X was cancelled in favour of two new services, Route 7B and 7D. These were not express services, however they used the Stillorgan QBC, which had been a huge success since its launch in 1999, and therefore would have been quicker than the 7X in a time before the Rock Road QBC. In many ways these were related to the 58/58C/58X which were introduced with the Stillorgan QBC. These collectively served the Stillorgan QBC with the Sallnoggin and Churchview areas and continued to operate alongside the new 7B/7D services.

    The 7B operated from O’Connell Street as per Route 7 to Nassau Street. It then followed Route 46A to Baker’s Corner, turning right onto Rochestown Avenue, Church Road, Churchview Road, turning right onto Wyattville Road, then left onto the other section of Wyattville Road to Ballybrack Cross Roads, turning right onto Shanganagh Road, left onto Corbawn Lane, and left again onto Beechfield Manor to terminate, sharing the terminus with Routes 46 and 86 at that time. There were a number of variants though. One departure each way operated via Mackintosh Park, the inbound morning service departing Dún Laoaghaire Station, Marine Road and then as per Route 7A to Mackintosh Park, continuing along Pottery Road to Baker’s Corner to rejoin the standard 7B route. One service in the morning departed from Loughlinstown Park, while one in the evening operated to Cherrywood.


    Former Donnybrook Alexander ALX400 bodied Volvo B7TLs, AX464 and AX534, are seen operating Routes 7B and 7D respectively on the Stillorgan Road on the 29th August 2012. AX464 entered service in Donnybrook in May 2006. It operated out of Donnybrook until the 29th May 2019, before entering service briefly in Conyngham Road on the 5th June 2019, before its ultimate withdrawal from service on the 15th July 2019.

    As the 7B was integrated into the “Dalkey” running boards (the routes were still referred to as Dalkey services in the garage), the 7 obtained some services to and from Shankill. These departures operated as per Route 7B from Churchview Road to Shankill. Monday to Friday they were positioning duties, early morning services to Shankill to return as Route 7B, and an evening service returning having operated Route 7B. There was also a number of 7 services to Shankill in the morning and evening peak periods on Saturdays, while there were even a few departures on Sunday.

    The 7D shared the same routing as Route 7B to Baker’s Corner, continuing straight onto Kill Avenue, turning right onto Glenageary Road Upper, left onto Glenageary Road Lower, then serving Summerhill Road, Sandycove Road, Breffni Road to the Ulverton Road terminus as per the former Route 8 service. It had one return journey per day, however its timetable also included the early morning Dalkey workman which had been formerly in Route 8’s timetable, basically because it departed Dalkey. Its routing didn’t change from that noted above, other than the city terminus which meant it operated to O’Connell Street.


    Map showing the bus services from 2001 to 2015. Note that some 7B variants from its first timetable are omitted from this map.

    George’s Street is the main shopping thoroughfare in Dún Laoghaire. However, at the start of the millenium it was heavily congested with two-way traffic for its entire length. On the 13th October 2000, the first works began on George’s Street Lower, with buses diverted via Clarence Street, Crofton Road and Marine Road in both directions. At the time, there were murmerings that George’s Street might be permanently pedestrianised. In the end, the solution was that only buses could travel the full length of George’s Street Lower, and in one direction only. So in late 2002/2003, the 7/A were operating the current routing in Dún Laoghaire, with buses towards Loughlinstown/Mackintosh Park operating via Clarence Street, Crofton Road and Marine Road to George’s Street Upper, whereas buses towards the city used George’s Street Lower.

    The 7B got a new timetable on the 23rd December 2002. In this timetable, all buses departed from Shankill, with one departure each way via Mackintosh Park, and an inbound departure via Sallynoggin. As part of these ammendments, Route 58 was cancelled, it being noted that it was integrated into the 7B timetable and would now display Route 7B. The 58 and the 7B had been almost identical so the change was sensible. The 58 was a peak hour only service, with one departure in each direction. It was introduced on the 16th August 1999 operating from Churchview Road to Fleet Street. From Churchview Road it operated the same as Route 7B, but terminating in Fleet Street instead of O'Connell Street.


    Former Donnybrook GAC Citybus, KC88, is seen at the Burgh Quay terminus of Route 5 in June 1997 in an AOA for the Irish Kidney Association. KC88 entered service in the Summer of 1984 in Donnybrook. It was transferred briefly to Conyngham Road in the Summer of 1985, moving onto operating shorter country services from Broadstone in the Autumn of 1985 (what were to become Bus Eireann services). By the end of 1985, it was back in store at Donnybrook, awaiting the introduction of Dart Feeder services in February 1986. In the Spring of 1997, it was fitted with an AOA for the Irish Kidney Association. It was withdrawn in the Summer of 1999.

    On the 29th June 2003, the routing taken by the 7/A was changed around Pearse Villas was reversed. Before the route had taken was:
    Outbound: Pearse Street (continue past the school to junction with Pearse Park), left onto Pearse Villas, right onto Rochestown Park, left onto Rochestown Avenue.
    Inbound: Rochestown Avenue, right onto Rochestown Park (continuing to junction with Glenageary Court/Park Road), left onto Pearse Villas, right onto Pearse Street.
    The new routings were the opposite to the above:
    Outbound: Pearse Street, left (just after School) onto Pearse Villas, right onto Rochestown Park, left onto Rochestown Avenue.
    Inbound: Rochestown Avenue, right onto Rochestown Park, left onto Pearse Villas, right (at junction of Pearse Park) onto Pearse Street.


    Donnybrook's Wright Gemini 3 bodied Volvo B5TL, SG15, is seen operating the first Route 7 departure from Bride's Glen on the 13th November 2016. SG15 was delivered to Donnybrook in September 2014, and has remained in service there since.

    On the 20th June 2004 roughly half of the 7 services were extended to Cherrywood, without a significant timetable change. Buses continued along Wyattville Road past Loughlinstown Drive and across the N11 into Cherrywood, terminating prior to the roundabout, sharing the terminus with peak hour service Route 46C at that time. There were two notable inclusions outbound in the morning, a 0625 departure from the Trinity College stop only, and a 0735 service from O’Connell Street to Cherrywood via the Stillorgan QBC. This was more of a 46C service than a 7, however as it was in the 7 running boards, it was in the 7 timetable.

    On the 4th July 2004, the flow of traffic around St. Stephen's Green was amended to accommodate the LUAS Green line services, which had officially begun a few days earlier. The one-way clockwise system around St. Stephen’s Green was discontinued. Outbound buses on the 7B and 7D were unchanged, due to a new contra-flow bus lane on St. Stephen’s Green West, necessitated by the change of direction of traffic flow on this side of the Green. In bound buses on Routes 7B and 7D now turned right from Leeson Street to St. Stephen’s Green West, following the new counterclockwise flow onto St. Stephen’s Green North, before returning to their former routing at Dawson Street


    Donnybrook's Wright Gemini bodied Volvo B9TL, GT21, is seen at the Mountjoy Square terminus of Route 7 on the 6th April 2013. GT12 entered service in Donnybrook in October 2012 on Routes 7/8. It has been in service there since.

    The 8’s withdrawal in 2001 had come as a shock, the lack of notice being a big gripe among locals. A local Fine Gael councillor, Eugene Regan, had taken the case of Route 8’s withdrawal to the European Comission in 2003 on the basis of a breach in competition rules. Dublin Bus operated a monopoly of services in the Dublin region and thus, it was argued, should be required to operate a service in the Dalkey area to the city. Thus Route 8 was reintroduced on the 12th December 2005, but not on its original alignment. Instead buses operated from the city as per Route 7 to Monkstown Church, turning right onto the Carrickbrennan Road, then left into Mounttown Road Upper, right onto Mounttown Lower, left onto Glenageary Road, then Barnhill Road, Castle Park Road and Ulverton Road to terminate at the 7D terminus outside the Post Office on Ulverton Road. The service was Monday-Friday only, operating up to the evening peak. At the same time the terminus for Routes 5, 7/A and 8 was changed to Parnell Square.

    The Rock Road QBC was officially launched on the 30th July 2007. With its introduction, Route 7E was launched operating from O’Connell Street to Blackrock. Outbound the terminus was on Main Street Blackrock at the Post Office, inbound buses waited their time outside the Frascati Centre. It was quite a frequent route, with 33 services each way Monday-Friday and 22 on Saturdays. However, it was from inception a difficult timetable to operate, the success of the QBC in terms of speeding up bus speeds overestimated. Roadworks still present when the QBC launched also didn’t help. The length of time the 7E actually operated is open to contention, it did operate in its first week, but by early September at least it had gone like the 22B, 65C, 93 and a few others in being officially in the timetable, but not actually operating. By November 2007, the 4A had launched which doubled the frequency of the 4, and the Rock Road obtained the extra capacity that the 7E had promised. The 7E was never officially cancelled.


    Former Donnybrook AX542 is seen operating the short-lived Route 7E on O'Connell Bridge on the 11th August 2008.

    From the 2nd February 2009, Dublin Bus cancelled the Monday-Thursday Nitelink services due to low patronage. This included Route 7Ns departures on these nights. An economic downturn which reduced the numbers heading out early in the week, and also created extra unemployed which in turn created a surge in the numbers driving Taxis in the city, lead to low numbers on these services. The 7N still ran every 30mins on Friday and Saturday nights.

    On the 25th May 2009, the 7B was given a new timetable. The principle routing was the same but the services via Mackintosh Park and those via Pearse Villas were withdrawn. This meant that Mackintosh Park now had no city bound service during peak periods.

    On the 3rd June 2011, some departures on the 7N was rerouted via Dalkey due to the reorganisation of the 46N which brought it away from then Dún Laoghaire/Dalkey area to serve Ballinteer and Dundrum. The routing was the same to Dun Laoghaire then Summerhill Road, Glasthule Road, Sandycove Road, Breffni Road, Ulverton Road, Barnhill Road, Gleangeary Road Upper, Sallynoggin Road and back onto its normal route to Shankill.


    Donnybrook's Alexander ALX400 bodied Volvo B7TL, AX537, is seen having operated the very last Route 7A to Mackintosh Park on the 24th June 2011.

    The weekend of Sunday 26th June 2011 saw a large reorganisation of the Rock Road services. On Friday the 24th June 2011, the 7A to Mackintosh Park was withdrawn. On the Saturday, the 5 to Sandyford Industrial Estate was also cancelled. The Sunday saw the 7 extended from its O’Connell Street terminus to a new terminus at Mountjoy Square, the 8 also being extended but its first departure following the changes being the Monday, the 27th June 2011. These changes were made as part of Network Direct, a cost saving network reorganisation which saw the withdrawal of a number of interesting odd routes.

    From Monday the 27th June 2011, the 7B and 7D were also extended to a new terminus at Mountjoy Square, while the 7B was rerouted to serve the newly completed Monkstown Link Road. Buses from the city now turned left at Stillorgan onto Stillorgan Park, restoring an outbound service on this route following the Stillorgan Road network direct reorganisation which had left with only inbound 46E departures. It then followed the new Monkstown Link Road to Abbey Road, restoring a city service along this section since the 46A reorganisation. Buses continued straight through at Baker’s Corner rejoining their former routing.


    Donnybrook's Alexander ALX400 bodied Volvo B7TL, AX644, is seen operating the very last Route 5 departure on Trees Road on the 25th June 2011. AX644 was delivered in December 2006, but reamined in storage at Broadstone pending fleet expansion. It remained in store for almost 12 months, before entering service in late 2007 in Donnybrook to cover buses as part of a refurbishment programme. It has remained allocated to Donnybrook for its entire career in Dublin Bus, and is still there today.

    The 46A had been the original Donnybrook route terminating at Mountjoy Square. It had limits on the hours it would serve Mountjoy Square, with 1900 being the last departure. However, when the 7 was extended, this did not have a time limit on when it served its terminus. This was to change on the 23rd February 2012, when after 2000, buses did not serve the Mountjoy Square terminus on Mountjoy Square North. The reason was the same anti-social behaviour which had plauged the 46A after dark at this terminus. However, a compromise was found, and the terminus after 2000 being Mountjoy Square West at the same stop as the 41s serve. Buses are often found parked on Parnell Square East, before heading around via Parnell Street and Gardiner Street as it comes close to departure time.

    On the 21st January 2013, Nitelink services were cut back again. Route 7N now operated every hour on Friday and Saturdays only, with the same departures serving Dalkey every 2 hours.

    From Sunday 18th January 2015 Suffolk Street was closed for Luas Cross City Works on Nassau Street and Grafton Street. This required Routes 7B/D to be rerouted from Dawson Street to Nassau Street (heading East), Leinster Street South, Lincoln Place, Westland Row, Pearse Street (which got a two-lane bus lane), College Street, Westmoreland Street from Monday the 19th January 2015.


    Donnybrook's Wright Gemini 3 bodied Volvo B5TL, SG30, is seen alongside preserved former Donnybrook Leyland PD3 Titan, RA30, new in 1959 at Dalkey on the 11th November 2016. SG30 had just completed the final Route 8 departure ex Mountjoy Square to Dalkey. SG30 entered service in Donnybrook in September 2014 and is still in service there today.

    The Present Day (2016 - ):

    The Rock Road services were again ammended by the NTA on Sunday 13th November 2016. On this day the 7 was split into two services, Route 7 and Route 7A. The plan for this reorganisation was to speed up and make the 7 a more reliable service. Proposals included removing buses from Pearse Villas and Blackrock Village (inbound). However, in the end what was delivered was a new direct Route 7, extended to Bride’s Glen and serving the Sallyglen Road (avoiding Pearse Villas) and not serving Blackrock Village (Newtown Avenue) inbound, and a 7A which exactly mirrored the former 7 routing from Loughlinstown Park to Mountjoy Square, which not only took in Pearse Villas but also Blackrock Village inbound. This has especially created problems with bus spacing on the inbound legs of these services.

    As part of this reorganisation, the 8 was withdrawn for a second time on Friday 11th November 2016, replaced by a new Route 111 service from Bride’s Glen to Dalkey, which provides a service between Dalkey and Dún Laoghaire supplimenting the 59. However, roads uniquely served by Route 8 such as Castlepark Road, sections of Glenageary Road Upper (which only have 7N services now), Mounttown Road Upper and Castlebrennan Road were left without a service. It was however the uniqueness of Route 8’s routing around Dún Laoghaire that was no doubt its downfall, the reason of keeping it away from Dún Laoghaire never being clear.


    Map detailing Routes 7, 7A, 7B, 7D post 2016.

    Also from this date, the 7D was rerouted joining the 7B on Monkstown Link Road. Buses from Dalkey continued as normal to Kill Avenue, then turned right at Baker’s Corner to Abbey Road, then left onto Monkstown Link Road to Sillorgan Park and rejoining the Stillorgan Road and its former routing.

    From Sunday 1st October 2017 the right turn from Dawson Street to Nassau Street was removed, requiring the 7B/D to be rerouted from Monday 2nd October 2017. Buses instead turn right from Dawson Street onto Molesworth Street and then onto a contra-flow bus lane on Kildare Street, turning right to rejoin their former routing at Leinster Street South. This diversion had also been in place for a few days here and there in late 2016 and early 2017 as Luas works were ongoing.


    Donnybrook's Wright Gemini 3 bodied Volvo B5TL, SG111, is seen operating the first Route 7A from Loughlistown Park on the 13th November 2016. SG116 was delivered to Donnybrook in August 2015 and is still in operation there today.

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    N.B. This website is not affiliated with Dublin Bus. The information contained herein is intended for enthusiast reference. For all current timetable and route information please refer to the official Dublin Bus Website.