Bianconi Coach
Have you ever heard of Charles Bianconi? The Irish probably have: Bianconi revolutionized public transport in Ireland in the early 19th century. An immigrant in 1802 from Costa Masnaga, Italy, he founded a network of coaching routes that covered Ireland from Belfast to Cork from a terminus that began at the Hearn Hotel in County Tipperary on July 6th in 1815. The first Bianconi carriage was a two-wheel horse drawn cart that carried three or four passengers. The new venture, known as the Bianconi Coach Service for private passengers, made the 30-year-old immigrant the ” King” of the Irish roads.
Charles Bianconi
Bianconi quickly expanded his fleet to 900 horses and 67 coaches.
Travel on one of these “Bians” as they were to become known, cost one-penny farthing a mile. Such demand was there for his transport that over the next 30 years a huge network of communications were established, with Clonmel, Co Tipperary as its hub. Huge employment was also now created from this growing transport business. The year 1833 saw the “long car” go into production from his coach building premises in Clonmel which enabled him to carry up to twenty passengers, plus cargo and mail deliveries for both British and Irish Post Offices. Here in Thurles, his depot was situated in O`Shea`s Hotel which today trades as McLoughneys, a ladies clothing boutique. The stables where he fed and changed his horses between journeys still exists, relatively unchanged, to this very day and are situated at the rear of Ryan’s Jewellers shop, Liberty Square, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.The advent of railway in 1834 brought home to Bianconi the realisation that his coaching business had now only a limited future. He immediately began to buy shares in the different rail lines as they were being built. He began to sell his coaches and long carts to his employees who had worked for him. – Thurles Information
Bianconi Coaches in front of the Hearn Hotel
Hello! I absolutely love your blog, it’s amazing! Thanks so much for putting all that effort into it!
I have a question about the public transport in Ireland… were the horse drawn coaches the FIRST ever type of public transport in Ireland? What did people use before, especially middle class people?
And- my knowledge of public transport in the regency era is a tad hazy- didn’t Britain already have a sort of public transport with mail coaches long before Ireland did?
Also, do you know of any books that deal specifically with transport in regency england?
Thanks so much!
Maeri
Maeri,
I’m not an expert on Irish travel in those days, but this quote from one of the links I provide in the post is illuminating: “Travelling on foot around Ireland, carrying his heavy materials, and often walking twenty to thirty miles each day in the course of this work, quickly demonstrated to Bianconi the great need for a cheap and reliable integrated transport system.” I would read the five links I provided to learn more about the Irish transportation system and travel during the Regency era. P. M. Egan’s History of Waterford is an online book. You need to keep clicking “next page.”
I do know that the English had the most integrated public transport system in Europe at the time. Roads were in abysmal condition – rutted in dry weather and a quagmire during rainy weather – until they were macadamized with crushed stone, a process most major roads underwent in the early 19th century. As in England, comfortable travel would have been for those Irishmen who were rich enough to afford to own a carriage or rent one. Riding on horseback was an option, if one could afford such an animal. There were carts and wagons, or riding a mule or donkey, for those less well off, and walking to where one needed to go was not considered offensive. Also, the waterways were used as highways, which is why so many towns and cities were located along major rivers.
Click on History and Social Customs in the top pages of this blog and scroll to the sections marked travel or transportation. You will find many additional online sources on this topic, including travel in the regency era and online Google books.
One wonders at the wisdom of these open conveyances considering the inclement weather for which the British Isles are famous. Still, being public transportation and not a first class fare, it would be far better than traveling as a pedestrian, such as I’ve seen all over Europe.
WAM
hmm…they look like they would be a bumpy ride! You know, sans the natural ‘shocks’ system of a Sedan Chair
Yes, Lauren, and can you imagine how strange it was to sit sideways? When I saw these images I felt pity for the passengers. I would have demanded a dram of Irish whiskey before the coach set out!
Hi Vic
Thanks for the information! It helps, and I shall look at the links you’ve provided. It’s nice to meet people (virtually) who are as Jane Austen obssessed as I am!
Have a great day!
Maeri
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Bianconi is indeed one of the names you grow up with at the back of your mind here in Ireland. Followed by the railway system and the tram system in Dublin, Ireland in general and Dublin in particular had the most advanced public transport systems in the world at the beginning of the 20th century.
Unfortunately all that changed over the coming half century as the development of the country stalled and the population streamed out to other parts of the world.