👋 Hey followers! In this video, we are featuring the big business that was involved in supplying police bicycles in Ireland from the 1870s to the 1960s.
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From the 1870s numerous companies and manufacturers from across Ireland and Britain competed to sell all shapes and sizes of bicycle to the various constabularies of Ireland. The bicycles which were best suited for the poor Irish roads of the time were initially the long-distance Penny Farthing, followed by specially designed and highly robust ‘police specials’ such as the all steel Raleigh X-frame.
IRELAND’S POLICE FORCES
The Irish Constabulary later known as the Royal Irish Constabulary (R.I.C.) was Ireland’s police force from 1836 to 1922. Derry (Londonderry) and Belfast had their own special R.I.C. divisions and a second force, the Dublin Metropolitan Police (D.M.P.) patrolled Dublin and parts of County Wicklow.
As a result of the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the partition of Ireland, the R.I.C. was disbanded in 1922. It was replaced by An Garda Síochána “the Guardian(s) of the Peace” in the Irish Free State and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (R.U.C.) in Northern Ireland.
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BIG BUSINESS
With the 1890s boom in cycling, numerous bicycle manufacturers sprang up across Ireland and agents for brands were appointed. These companies offered all kinds of specially designed police bicycles, related clothing and equipment. In these early days of cycling, selling to the police forces of Ireland developed into a big business as by 1900, the R.I.C. alone had over 11,000 officers stationed in 1,600 barracks. As a long-standing rule, individual R.I.C. officers bought their own bicycles for official duties and post-independence An Garda Síochána continued to uphold this regulation.
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Our list of bicycles supplied to the police forces of Ireland is by no means complete – if you can add to our list of manufacturers, assemblers and agents, please ldo et us know.
Our thanks to Diarmuid Considine, Group Expert on the excellent ‘Vintage Bicycles of the World’ Facebook page
Information sources and photo credits:
About Aran
Cian Molloy
Galway Memories Facebook page – photo of Garda Mick Lernihan (1956) by Mick Lernihan Jnr
Garda Review
Garda.ie
Irish Geanology Toolkit
Joe McKeown
Mark O’Brien
Mary Evans Picture Library
Mickey O’Sullivan
National Library of Ireland – Waterford and County Museum – Richard Edward Brenan on His Penny-Farthing Bicycle
Online Bicycle Museum
Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Museum
Rosemary Gifford
Royal Irish Constabulary 1816 – 1922 – A forgotten Irish Police Force Facebook page: John McDonald, Phil Harding
Royal Irish Constabulary Forum
The British Newspaper Archive
The Royal Irish Constabulary Forum – Peter Mc
The Royal Irish Constabulary: a short history and genealogical guide (2016) – Jim Herlihy
University of Limerick, Glucksman Library the Garda Review digitised archive
#ireland #ad #rudgewhitworth #penrosebsa #royalenfield #raleighcyclecompany #truimphcyclecompany #gardareview #constabularygazette #sparkbrook #universityoflimerick #glucksmanlibrary #thegardareview #vintagebicyclesoftheworld #onlinebicyclemuseum
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Do you have an Irish transport story you would like us to feature? Email Kevin on info@irelandmade.ie
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