Some of Ireland's first and oldest motor cars go on display at a new transport museum in Killarney.
Ireland's latest transport museum has opened in Killarney County Kerry. The permanent exhibition has been put together by retired veterinary surgeon and car collector Denis Lucey.
The collection includes two hundred vehicles from Ireland's past and is attracting more tourists to Killarney. The museum has been set up with the cooperation of Killarney hotelier Maurice O'Donoghue.
Denis Lucey claims
This is the finest collection of automobilia ever displayed in Ireland.
The exhibition contains what is claimed to be the world's rarest car, a 1907 Silver Stream, which was the first car assembled in southern Ireland and built by Cork man Peter Somerville-Large. Also in the collection is a car owned by Countess Markievicz, a 1910 Wolseley Tilsley. The real flagship of the museum is the 1904 Germaine, which it is claimed is the finest specimen car in the world. The first car ever in Ireland was the 1898 Benz Velo, produced even before Mercedes joined that company.
The first car that ever went into series production. It was also Ireland's first motor car and this is now Ireland's oldest motor car.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 1 May 1987. The reporter is Tom MacSweeney.
