From the archives of Bob Montgomery, motoring historian
Motoring in Ireland is 107 years old and, as it gets into its second century, many new "firsts" are being created. Historians of the future may look back and try to pin-point the day on which Dublin traffic finally ground to a permanent halt or perhaps even the date on which public transport vehicles first outnumbered private cars on Ireland's roads!
Meanwhile, many of the "firsts" of motoring's first century have been forgotten with the passage of time. In true Irish fashion, some even predate the beginning of motoring here.
Dr John F Colohan, for example, probably became the first Irish motorist when he began motoring on the Continent in the early 1890s, while John Brown of Dunmurry was the first to import a car into Ireland in March 1896.
Naturalist Mary Ward had the dubious distinction of being Ireland's first motoring fatality when she fell from the steam carriage of the Earl of Rosse in 1869. The first pedestrian to die in a traffic accident was Elizabeth Magee, struck by the Marquess of Downshire's car at Lower Dorset Street, Dublin, in 1903.
The first demonstration of a car in Ireland was by Harry Hewetson, the English importer of Benz cars, in 1895.
The first motor trip of any length in Ireland was the epic journey of the "God-send". This car of the Great Horseless Carriage Company went from Dublin to Belfast in January 1898. The journey took two days.
The first motor company in Ireland was the Northern Motor Company of Chichester Street, Belfast, which was founded in 1899. To WF "Bill" Peare in Waterford goes the distinction of founding the first purpose-built garage - in 1901. To Peare also goes the distinction of building the first "motor vehicle" made in Ireland - it was a motor tricycle built for Captain Hercules Langrishe in 1900.
Ireland's first bus service began in 1901 between Enniscrone and Ballina. Dublin had to wait until 1908 for its first bus service - it was from the city centre to Rathmines and survived for only a short period.
Insurance, although not compulsory, became available to Irish motorists as early as 1896, while registration plates and driving licences were introduced on January 1st 1904.
In that same year, Ireland's first car manufacturer, Chambers Motors of Belfast, began production of vehicles which was to continue until 1929.
RJ Mecredy founded Motor News, Ireland's first motoring magazine and Europe's fifth, in Dublin in 1900 - there were only about 50 cars on Irish roads at that time.
The Irish Automobile Club, later the Royal Irish Automobile Club, came into existence in 1901, becoming the sixth national motor club in the world.
Motor racing came to Ireland with the Gordon Bennett Race in 1903 and Irish motor sport got under way two days later with the Speed Trials in Dublin's Phoenix Park. However, the very first motor sport event in Ireland was a motorcycle race at Navan race course in August 1900.
Ireland's first racing driver was Leslie Porter from Belfast. He competed in the tragic Paris to Madrid race of 1903. It was not until 1914 that an Irishman scored a major international racing success when Kenelm Lee Guinness won the International Tourist Trophy Race driving a Sunbeam in the Isle of Man.
The first Irish Automobile Club Reliability Trial was run in 1906, and was the forerunner of all Irish rallies.
As early as 1902, the first lobby group formed on behalf of Irish motorists came into being with the foundation of the Irish Road Improvement Association at Belfast. It found much to keep itself busy over the following two decades.
Solid white lines were introduced on Irish roads in 1926, followed by standard road signs in 1926. Before that, the first road signs had been erected by private organisations such as the Irish Automobile Club and the Automobile Association. In 1926 these signs became the responsibility of local councils and were standardised.
A significant step forward in road safety came in 1923 with the introduction of a uniform code of hand signals for use by police and motorists in the Free State.
That year also saw the first "kerbside" petrol pump installed outside the Nassau Motor Company at No 25 Nassau Street, Dublin. (It sold Pratts, later to become Esso).
The world's first pneumatic tyre factory was established by Dunlop at Upper Stephen Street, Dublin, as early as 1899, while RW Archer sold the first Ford in Ireland in 1907, having acquired the agency after Ireland's first motor show, held at the RDS in Ballsbridge in January of that year.
Ford established what was then the world's first factory dedicated to tractor production at Marina, Cork, in 1919, before turning to car manufacture there several years later. This was the first Ford manufacturing facility to be built outside the US.
In 1950, Ireland had another notable "first" when the first Volkwagen Beetle to be built outside Germany was manufactured here by Motor Distributors Limited at Shelbourne Road, Dublin.
And, a final "first" - the introduction of parking meters to the streets of Dublin in 1970 ushering in a new era for motorists.
Things have not improved.