Previously on Ireland Made we shared our story of the restoration of an ultra-rare Trac Grip autotruck (Ultra rare Trac Grip autotruck restored | Season 2 – Episode 45) owned by Rathdrum native Pat Cullen. Following on from our time spent filming we discovered a long connection between the Cullen family and Rathdrum stretching from 1926 until the present day and we are bringing you two additional videos, featuring the history of the Cullen’s shop and garage and the restoration of Pat’s 1963 Bedford J2 Fire Engine.
The ancient town of Rathdrum (Irish: Ráth Droma, meaning Ringfort of the Ridge) is situated on the high flank of the western side of the beautiful Avonmore Valley, County Wicklow in eastern Ireland.
From around 1795 when a flannel hall was erected in the town, Rathdrum prospered as a centre of local flannel and woollen cloth. In the 1830s there were two breweries in the town and at Ballyfinchogue in the surrounding mineral rich hills, each year the Royal Irish Mining Company produced 300 tons of galen (mineral form of led).
In 1838 Rathdrum was described by the Lewis Topographical Dictionary (LTD) as “a market and post town, and a parish in the barony of Ballinacor, county of Wicklow containing 2,688 inhabitants of which 1,054 live in the town”.
Rathdrum was the birthplace of one of the greatest political leaders of modern Irish history, Charles Stewart Parnell (1846 – 1891). His family home at Avondale Forest Park is now open to the public.
Like so many other towns Rathdrum suffered from emigration following the Great Famine (1845 – 1852), the decline of agricultural industries and the subsequent drain of emigration to America. With the opening of a railway station in July 1863 and rail links established to Dublin and the south-east, prosperity began to slowly return.
The story of the Cullen family’s association with Rathdrum began in the mid-1800s when Charles Cullen and his wife Kate (Barry) set up a grocer shop on the site of the former Bank of Ireland in the town. Their son James married Bridget (Forrestal) in 1921 and in 1926 they bought no. 36 on Main Street and opened a shop and garage and by the 1930s both businesses were prosperous. The shop run by Bridget sold general drapery, millinery, dressmaking materials, and there was a boot warehouse. James ran the garage selling Shell & BP petrol on the kerbside outside no. 36 and in the buildings to the rear repaired all makes of cars, taxis, tractors, lorries, and motorcycles. There were also Chara-bancs for hire and a full range of motoring accessories were stocked.
James and Bridget’s son David married Eileen D’Arcy, daughter of the head Farrier at Lord Fitzwilliam’s Coolattin Estate and in 1962 David and Eileen bought no. 37 next door and set up as a fancy goods shop offering a huge range of goods to the people of Rathdrum.
David and Eileen’s children, Seamus, Pat and Ann Marie Cullen grew up in a business family with their parents operating a fancy goods shop and next door their grandparent’s selling drapery and petrol and operating a repair garage. The Cullen children enjoyed a unique playground as a large scrap yard located behind the buildings used for the garage stretched across the sites of nos. 36 & 37 and contained almost every type of vehicle – from Willys Jeeps to Thames vans and a multitude of VW Beetles.
In 1967 the Cullen’s decided to relocate both the Shell & BP pumps to outside no. 37 with the storage tanks located in the rear garden. You could buy Super and Regular petrol and the Regular pump had a two-stroke pre-mix pump.
In 1967 Pat’s father David joined Wicklow Fire Service as a part-time Driver/ Mechanic and was stationed in Rathdrum. In the previous year, 1966, a disaster had occurred for the Wicklow County fire service when a Merryweather fire engine based in the village of Dunlavin was destroyed by fire. The Rathdrum fire crew were especially saddened as the Merryweather fire engine had until 1963 previously been stationed in Rathdrum. Ironically the blaze in Dunlavin’s market-house also housed the villages’ fire station.
As David Cullen was responsible for the maintenance of the Rathdrum fire service 1963 Bedford J2 fire tender it was often to be found undergoing repairs in the garage at the rear of no. 36 Main Street. The Rathdrum Fire Service crew were Alan Jackson, Andy Belton, Billy Nolan, David Cullen, Dave Haughton, Eddie Murphy, Huge Cullen, John Houlihan Jr., John Houlihan Snr., Nicky Fogarty, Noel Kinsella, Peter Murphy and Tommy Dunne.
David being stationed in Rathdrum was good for the people of the town and those in the surrounding area as he could quickly respond to callouts. It was not so good for young Pat Cullen as the shrill ‘out-of-hours’ emergency bell was situated on the wall outside his bedroom and he was regularly lifted out of his slumber by the shrieking of the bell.
The 1963 Bedford J2 fire engine served the people of Wicklow until 1978 when it was replaced by a Bedford TK which is now located in Ferns, Co Wexford. Pat holds many childhood memories of sitting amongst the fire crew in the cab of the Bedford and enjoying the craic. David Cullen served with Wicklow Fire Service for 25 years and retired in 1992. In his retirement David Cullen was working in his repair garage and motoring about the county in his 1986 HiAce van.
Just a few years later Pat Cullen met Daphne Wybrant from Knockanna, Co. Wicklow and they married in 2004. In June 2000 they had added another Cullen business to the commercial history of Rathdrum and set up the 4-star Stirabout Lane Bed & Breakfast at no. 36 Main Street.
Another few years went by, and this is where our story takes a unique turn and when fate intervenes. At this time alongside working in the B&B, Pat was working as a fitter and installing a kitchen for Martin Thompson. In conversation Martin mentioned that he ran the Irish Fire Service trust and as the conversation continued Pat discovered there were almost 30 fire engines in their collection.
Pat asked Martin could he bring his dad over for a visit as he was a former fireman, and a visit was arranged in 2007. The Fire Service Trust was formerly known as the Irish Fire Service Preservation Group and was formed in January 1999 and was based at Clooney Castle, Athy, Co Kildare.
On the visit and in Pat’s words his father was like a “kid in a sweet shop” and they spent 5 hours roaming from shed to shed exploring the collection.
As is often the case when fate intervenes, it was the last shed where David Cullen was reunited with a long-lost friend when Martin opened the door and there was the 1963 Bedford J2. The engine was in a sorry state and covered in debris. After some clearing out, David was able to sit in the driver’s seat and reminisce about his time driving and repairing the Bedford.
When it was Pat’s turn, he climbed into the cab and sat opposite his dad and experienced the same high-emotions. In his own words “the hairs rose on the back of my neck as long-forgotten childhood memories came flooding back, of being in the cab with the crew”.
Pat asked Martin there and then would he sell the Bedford and his offer was politely declined as the collection was not for sale. Over the next few years, the Cullen’s made return visits to the annual ‘pump-a-thons’ held by the trust in Athy and Martin, David and Pat became good friends.
David Cullen passed away on August 15th 2015, and as a mark of respect, his funeral cortège paused outside nos. 36 & 37 Main Street and the guard-of-honour fire engine sounded the siren.
It was just two weeks later when fate again intervened yet again, and Martin Thompson was in contact to say the Fire Service Trust was reducing their collection and would Pat be interested in buying the Bedford? Pat jumped at the chance, a deal was made and by his father’s ‘month’s mind’ (requiem mass) the Bedford J2 fire engine was back again in Cullen’s garage at the rear of 36 Main Street, Rathdrum, Co Wicklow.
In our next video, ‘Irish Bedford 1963 Fire Engine Restored | Season 2 – Episode 78’ we will bring you the story of the nut-and-bolt, better-than-new restoration of the Bedford J2 fire engine completed between December 2015 and January 2020 by Pat and his son Padraic.
Sources of Information
County Wicklow Heritage
Fire Service Trust – www.fire-service-trust.com
Irish Tourist Association (ITA)
Lewis Topographical Dictionary (LTD)
Wicklow Fire Service
Wicklow.ie
