City of Dublin SP Co
This page is devoted to postcards and photographs of the City of Dublin SP Co, the dominant company serving the Dublin-Liverpool and Holyhead-Dun Laoghaire routes until 1919. The Dublin-Liverpool route and its ships passed to the
British & Irish SP Co
in 1919, whilst the Holyhead route closed in 1920 when the mail contract passed to the
London & North Western Railway
.
An alphabetical list of ships
shown on this page is shown below. Below this is a
Fleet List
in chronological order.
The first steam ship service between Dublin and Liverpool was started by George Langtry in 1820. The St George SS Co followed suite in 1822; this company evolved into the
City of Cork SP Co
. The City of Dublin SP Co joined the fray in 1824 with the paddle steamer
City of Dublin
. Another early steamer was the
Thames
of 1826. Within a year the company had four steamers, and by 1826 fourteen in service.
Mails steamers between Holyhead and Dun Laoghaire (then known as Kingstown) were owned by the Post Office from 1820 to 1837, when the Admiralty took over. On 1st May 1850, the mail contract was given to the City of Dublin SP Co, who then maintained services for over 70 years until 27th November 1920. Initially they used the existing steamers, but in 1860, the
Connaught (1)
was delivered, which was the first steamer in the world to exceed 18 knots on a measured mile test. She was followed by
Ulster (1)
,
Munster (1)
and
Leinster (1)
, named after the four provinces of Ireland.
Leinster (1)
, was built by Samuda in London, whereas the other three were from Laird's of Birkenhead. The sisters were unusual in having four funnels, like the
IOMSPCo
paddle steamer
Ben-my-Chree (3)
. They had oscillating engines of 750 nhp, and were far ahead of anything afloat at the time. In 1885, they were all given extra accommodation, and improvements to the boilers improved their speeds even further. All four ships then had two funnels only. In the same year, a fifth paddle steamer, the
Ireland
, was added to the fleet, but she was not as successful as the earlier four and was sold in 1899. She was the largest paddle steamer ever built for the Irish trade.
In 1896/97, four new twin-screw steamers were bought to maintain the mail service. They replaced the four paddlers of 1860, and perpetuated their names. They were every bit as revolutionary as their predecessors, and were the first cross channel steamers to exceed 24 knots. They preceded the turbine era, and so were powered by triple-expansion engines. The service consisted of morning and evening trips in each direction every day. At the same time, the Liverpool-Dublin service was being run by the similar ships
Carlow, Kerry, Wicklow, Louth
and
Cork,
which ran an evening trip each way with goods and passengers, and a morning trip with passengers and fast traffic.
Connaught (2)
and
Leinster (2)
were lost in the war. After the war, the company's finances were not in a good state, having lost two of their best ships, and with the troubles in Ireland at this time. The company sold its Dublin-Liverpool route and ships to the
British & Irish SP Co
in 1919. In 1920, the LNWR finally gained the Holyhead mail contract, and the last trips of the City of Dublin steamers were on 27th November of that year. The two remaining ships were laid up in Holyhead, and sold for scrap in 1924.
Ships on This Page:-
Carlow
(1896-1919) - Dublin-Liverpool Steamer
Connaught (1)
(1860-1897) - Holyhead-Dun Laoghaire Paddle Steamer
Connaught (2)
(1897-1917) - Holyhead-Dun Laoghaire Steamer
Cork
(1899-1918) - Dublin-Liverpool Steamer
Ireland
(1885-1899) - Holyhead-Dun Laoghaire Paddle Steamer
Kerry
(1897-1919) - Dublin-Liverpool Steamer
Kilkenny
(1903-1917) - Dublin-Liverpool Steamer
Leinster (1)
(1860-1896) - Holyhead-Dun Laoghaire Paddle Steamer
Leinster (2)
(1896-1918) - Holyhead-Dun Laoghaire Steamer
Louth
(1894-1919) - Dublin-Liverpool Steamer
Meath (1)
(1884-1906) - Dublin-Liverpool Paddle Steamer
Munster (1)
(1860-1896) - Holyhead-Dun Laoghaire Paddle Steamer
Munster (2)
(1897-1924) - Holyhead-Dun Laoghaire Steamer
Thames
(1826-18??) - Dublin-Liverpool Steamer
Ulster (1)
(1860-1897) - Holyhead-Dun Laoghaire Paddle Steamer
Ulster (2)
(1896-1924) - Holyhead-Dun Laoghaire Steamer
Wicklow
(1895-1919) - Dublin-Liverpool Steamer
Coast Lines Pages:-
British & Irish SP Co
- History 1826-1945
B & I Lines
- History 1945-1995
City of Dublin SP Co
- Taken over by B&I in 1919
- this page!
Coast Lines
P&O Ferries
Associated Pages:-
Ferry Postcards
Cruise Ship Postcards
Ocean Liner Postcards
Simplon Postcards Home Page
References:-
The B&I Line: by Hazel P.Smyth - Gill & Macmillan 1984
Across the Irish Sea: by Robert Sinclair - Conway Maritime 1990
Irish Passenger Steamship Services - Volumes 1 & 2: by D.B.McNeil - David & Charles 1969
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City of Dublin Fleet List
Painting of an early paddle steamer on the Irish mail service.
Although unidentified, this would be typical of early City of Dublin vessels running to Liverpool.
Thames (1826-18??)
To be added
Ulster (1) (1860-1897)
Munster (1) (1860-1896)
Leinster (1) (1860-1896)
Connaught (1) (1860-1897)
On 1st May 1850, the Holyhead mail contract was given to the City of Dublin SP Co, who then maintained services for over 70 years until 27th November 1920. Initially they used the existing steamers, but in 1860, four powerful new paddle steamers were delivered.
Connaught (1)
, the last of the quartet , was the fastest, and was the first steamer in the world to exceed 18 knots on a measured mile test. She was followed by
Ulster (1)
,
Munster (1)
and
Leinster (1)
, named after the four provinces of Ireland.
Leinster (1)
, was built by Samuda in London, whereas the other three were from Laird's of Birkenhead. The sisters were unusual in having four funnels, like the
IOMSPCo
paddle steamer
Ben-my-Chree (3)
. They were around 1700 gross tons, 337 ft long, and had two-cylinder oscillating engines of about 750 nhp, and were far ahead of anything afloat at the time. The cylinder sizes varied, with
Ulster (1)
at 96"/84",
Munster (1)
at 96"/90", and the last two at 98"/78". In 1885, they were all given extra accommodation, and improvements to the boilers improved their speeds even further. All four ships then had two funnels only. In the same year, a fifth paddle steamer, the
Ireland
, was added to the fleet, but she was not as successful as the earlier four and was sold in 1899.
Painting of
Leinster (1)
.
Photograph of
Connaught (1)
, the fastest of the quartet.
Photograph of
Munster (1)
leaving Dun Laoghaire.
Meath (1) (1884-1906)
The
Meath
was built by Laird Brothers for services out of Liverpool. She was an iron paddle steamer of 848 gross tons and length of 262.6 ft. She was broken up in 1906.
Photograph of
Meath (1).
Photo: F.Burtt
Ireland (1885-1899)
In 1885, a fifth paddle steamer, the
Ireland
, was added to the fleet, but she was not as successful as the earlier four and was sold in 1899. She was the largest paddle steamer ever built for the Irish trade.
Painting of
Ireland
.
Louth (1894-1919)
Wicklow (1895-1919)
Carlow (1896-1919)
Kerry (1897-1919)
Cork (1899-1918)
A series of five similar steamers were built for the Dublin-Liverpool route by Blackwood & Gordon between 1895-1899. The service at this time consisted of an evening trip each way with goods and passengers, and a morning trip with passengers and fast traffic.
Cork
was lost in the war, and the others passed to the
British & Irish SP Co
in 1919 when they took over the Dublin-Liverpool route. They were later renamed with the B&I "
Lady
" prefix.
Wicklow
,
Carlow
and
Kerry
were broken up as
Lady Wicklow, Lady Carlow
and
Lady Kerry
.
Louth
later received the names
Lady Louth, Bandon, Lady Galway
and
Galway
as she passed between Coast Lines' constituents
British & Irish SP Co
and City of Cork SP Co.
Official generic company postcard for the Dublin-Liverpool route.
The passenger was expected to enter the name of their ship on the front.
Photograph of
Cork.
Photograph of
Kerry.
Photograph of
Lady Kerry
(ex-
Kerry
) in B&I service.
Photograph of
Lady Galway
(ex-
Louth
) in B&I service.
Photograph of
Lady Wicklow
(ex-
Wicklow
) in B&I service.
Leinster (2) (1896-1918)
Ulster (2) (1896-1924)
Connaught (2) (1897-1917)
Munster (2) (1897-1924)
In 1896/97, four new twin-screw steamers were bought to maintain the mail service. They replaced the four paddlers of 1860, and perpetuated their names. They were every bit as revolutionary as their predecessors, and were the first cross channel steamers to exceed 24 knots. They preceded the turbine era, and so were powered by triple-expansion engines. The service consisted of morning and evening trips in each direction every day.
Connaught (2)
and
Leinster (2)
were lost in the war. After the war, the company's finances were not in a good state, having lost two of their best ships, and with the troubles in Ireland at this time. In 1920, the LNWR finally gained the Holyhead mail contract, and the last trips of the City of Dublin steamers were on 27th November of that year. The two remaining ships
Munster (2)
and
Connaught (2)
were laid up in Holyhead, and sold for scrap in 1924.
Superb advertising card for the Holyhead-Kingstown Royal Mail Service.
Official company postcard of
Leinster (2)
, posted 1910.
The same painting was used for all four sisters.
Postcard of
Leinster (2)
,
Official company postcard of
Connaught (2)
.
The same painting was used for all four sisters.
Official company postcard of
Connaught (2)
.
The same painting was used for all four sisters.
Official company postcard of
Minster (2)
, posted 1915.
The same painting was used for all four sisters.
Official company postcard of
Ulster (2)
.
The same painting was used for all four sisters.
Official LNWR postcard of
Ulster (2)
.
The LNWR ran the connecting mail trains from London to Holyhead. They also operated a rival steamer service from Holyhead to Dublin North Wall, and had campaigned vigorously for many years to get the mail contract, succeeding in 1920 when the City of Dublin company was in financial difficulties.
Postcard of
Ulster (2)
.
Postcard of one of the four mail ships.
Postcard of one of the four mail ships.
Postcard of one of the four mail ships.