Cashel Folk Village – Rare Brougham Carriage Stolen & Recovered 1924 | Season 4 – Episode 82
Wheels Oct 29, 2024
During a recent visit to Cashel Folk Village in County Tipperary, curator Bernard Minogue shared the intriguing story of their Brougham carriage, which was stolen and recovered in 1924 before being donated to the museum by the Green family.
THE BROUGHAM CARRIAGE
The Brougham is a rare 19th-century carriage, a four-wheeled, single-horse vehicle designed and then popularised around 1838 by Lord Brougham, a Scottish politician and Lord Chancellor.
Each week we travel to bring you our stories on Irish transport, like our recent visit to Cashel, County Tipperary. Please support our travel costs and subscribe via www.irelandmade.ie for just €2, less than the price of a cup of coffee.
The brougham features a distinctive design characterised by a low, enclosed body accommodating two passengers in a forward-facing seat. A coachman’s seat is positioned at the front, providing space for an additional passenger. This elegant and functional design became iconic for its combination of practicality and refined aesthetics.
The carriage includes an enclosed body with two doors, comfortably seating two passengers. It also features two fold-away seats in the front corners for small children. In the front, there is a box seat for the coachman and space for one footman or additional passenger. A front window allows passengers to see ahead, while the carriage is mounted on elliptical springs and equipped with small front wheels, enabling sharp turns.
DISTINCTIVE FEATURES
The Brougham boasts several distinctive features:
• It lacks a perch (the supporting pole that connects the front and rear axles), as the spring hangers are mounted directly to the body structure. This design choice reduces weight and lowers the floor height, facilitating easier entry.
• The roof has a sharply squared end at the back.
• The body line curves forward at the base of the enclosure.
• It offers a low entry point, with just one external step below the door.
A variant known as the brougham-landaulet features a collapsible top that extends from the rear doors backward.
STOLEN & RECOVERED
The Green family from Dundrum, County Tipperary donated the Brougham carriage to Bernard’s father-in-law, Martin O’Dwyer, a number of years ago.
Bernard told us that this carriage was last used was in 1924. The carriage was stored in an old belonging to the Green family building, and it was taken out of storage as their daughter or granddaughter was celebrating their holy communion. The family used the Brougham for the holy communion celebrations in Cashel town and then returned the carriage to storage. However, shortly afterwards, an unknown person who had seen the carriage parading about the town broke into the storage shed and stole the Brougham and a smaller carriage as well.
This was not the end of the story as luckily enough, about ten days later, some distance from Cashel the carriages were found camouflaged under trees that had been broken and pushed over it to hide them.
Due to the steel rims on the wheels of both of the stolen carriages making a loud rattling noise on the roads the thieves panicked and hid them in a hedge under the broken trees. The stolen carriages were subsequently recovered and placed back in storage and then a number of years later donated to Bernard’s father-in-law and brought into the collection of the Cashel Folk Village.
CASHEL FOLK VILLAGE
In 1984, Cashel Folk Village was established just 200 meters from the renowned Rock of Cashel by historian and author Martin O’Dwyer (known as Bob), Bernard Minogue’s father-in-law.
The museum’s site holds over three centuries of history, originally serving as the birthplace of Fr. John Lanigan, who authored Ireland’s first ecclesiastical history in the late 1700s. Over the years, the buildings have also been home to the Tivoli Movie Hall and a slaughterhouse, before becoming today’s Cashel Folk Village.
During our visit, Bernard shared that, aside from five items, every piece in the museum’s collection is an original, preserving a truly authentic glimpse into Ireland’s past.
Highlights in the folk village include:
• The Famine Museum/ Workhouse
• Brougham Carriage
• Blacksmiths Forge
• The Penal Chapel/ Penal Laws
• Travellers Caravan
• The 1916 Memorial Plaza
• The War of Independence/ Civil War Museum
Please support your local museum and plan your visit for this weekend to the Cashel Folk Museum. Opening hours Mid-March/ Late October 10:00 am till late every day. Late October/ Mid-March at any time by appointment. www.cashelfolkvillage.com
Sources of Information and Photo Credits:
Encyclopaedia Britannica
A Dictionary of Horse Drawn Vehicles – D.J.M. Smith
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