Driving in Dublin in 1976

FEATURED ON RTE NEWS
My dad and his friend filmed themselves driving around Dublin city centre on 4th of September 1976. They drove down Grafton Street and up by Dame Street by the central bank (still being built) then down past Trinity College and up to the top of O'Connell street. Check out the flares and 1970s cars
Music: "On the road again" by Canned Heat
Camera Used: Canon Autozoom 518
Car: Mini Moke (like this one: bit.ly/sxx1Vc)
Date: 4th September 1976
Super8 Film Converted by: www.dvdcentre.ie/

[@MiskyBoyy]

They should have left the trees on O' Connell street. They looked class!

[@tomthumb3500]

Couldn’t agree more absolutely

[@damiendaly983]

Totally agree i remember them

[@connoroleary591]

During the winter, those trees would be filled with thousands of pied wagtails roosting in the trees. Most people didn't notice them, but often we would look up to see these tiny, delicate little birds sleeping above the crowds waiting for the last bus home.

[@comerfordjohnnine]

They should have left the white people there

[@ritakidney2970]

Met my hubby that year in Dublin where I worked, so have vivid memories of time. We are still together. He was just like all those gorgeous slim guys in film.

[@rossdarragh]

I was 10 in 1976 and remember Grafton St. before it was pedestrianised and The Dandelion Market was on the site of the St. Stephens Green shopping centre The new Central Bank was built with too high and top floor had to be removed (maybe that was just a tale my parents told me). You could still drive into Westmorland Street without hitting a wall of traffic. I see people took their life in their hands when crossing O'Connell St, even back then.. Nice little film!!!

[@detoxing10]

Hey, I was 20 that year and cannot believe that I have forgotten those clothes and funky cars! Great film - well done. Really takes me back. And the RTE commentator is right - people were MUCH slimmer back then!

[@sdgmrs]

Thanks for that. I was born 1975.. lovely to see people walking with their heads up.. not on phones.. also Grafton streets looks lovely no dodgy shops like now. And yes oconnel st with trees lovely. Spotted a few lovely cars.. renault 4... ford escory..

[@michaeldineen8324]

This is very interesting. I am glad that someone captured it. It was great to see the old cars, which were driven at that time. I remember most of them. Ireland was a totally different place back then. This was the year that Ireland had a heatwave.

[@danielkelly5112]

Yep. .me back was burnt off me. . I was in pain for two days and itchy for a week. .I'll never forget it

[@jflan92]

That was the ladybird summer as the pavements in Dublin surburbs were crawling all over with the ladybirds.

[@EXTREME4YEARSTOCOME]

far better times. if only we could go back.

[@lukekelly9616]

@napper tanndy Whaaaa?

[@pauldunneska]

Certainly weren't good times in the occupied stolen six counties of Ireland. Imagine Belfast in 1976.

[@lukekelly9616]

@@pauldunneska T Á L

[@Devin7Eleven]

@@pauldunneska Now you’re being conquered by Africans and Arabs without a single shot.

[@JMad1972]

Thanks for taking the time to share this...I turned four 5 days after this was shot and remember Dublin so well as it was back then

[@brokenglassesshaner]

I never saw Dublin like this being only 19, but it's amazing to see how things have changed. Excellent video.

[@Tallulahland]

Thanks for posting this. Reminds me of old times. Great to see Grafton Street in the pre-pedestrianised days!

[@dillster430wj]

I love this clip. I wasn't born until 1995 and the changes in town, the cars and peoples clothes are amazing to see.

[@77paisley]

That is a brilliant video, fair play to you! It really bring back to me a Dublin that is long gone, sadly missed! Can't wait to show my kids this

[@BrendanSmithSpeedie]

What a brilliant video!! Thank you for sharing it with us. Double decker buses, Volkswagen vans, zephyr & fiat, ford cortina & vauxhall cars, grime-covered Trinity, nonchalant walks of the pedestrians as they crossed Dublin's streets, low level car traffic. Pity the video did not show the bohemian and youth cultural centre that was the Dandelion Market located just off St. Stephen's Green.

[@miathompson1172]

Lovely video...... brings back happy memories and simpler times 🌸

[@TheSeanm102]

thanks for the upload brings back great memories of going into town as a kid

[@mindhead2005]

Fantastic! Driving DOWN Grafton Street! :) Wow!

[@MrEffortless]

This brings back good memories. Great accompanying track. Thanks for posting.

[@casperbubbles]

Thank you for this ! Amazing little gem of a video from 1976 , Love the song too !

[@funnyonion6]

Excellent! Brought back memories - lovely Super 8 feel to it to!

[@Y0rkiegirl]

Aww this was lovely to come across, amazing to see so many familiar sights so long ago :D

[@hibernianemigre]

@willmcq Great video & nicely put to music too. I remember Grafton St when you could drive down it - though I was only 7 when your dad filmed this. I tried pausing to see what was playing at the Ambassador - no joy.

[@seancourtney9021]

I lived in Bla Cliath around that time. Just before the shots of Trinity, around 1:50 mark, he shows a side street: on the corner was O'Neill's, a great pub and a local haunt of mine and my friends back then.

[@deanoreilly1761]

Baile ath cliché 😉

[@growmagicbeans]

Driving down Grafton Street, I love it! The streets have seen many changes -some good, some bad- yet the City still remains the same. Love the way the traffic can merge on Westmorelan St. without the need for traffic lights. Classic footage, well done.

[@anbreatnach]

great clip, amazing seeing the traffic actually moving! O Connell St very different these days :(

[@FifthCat5]

Brings back happy memories. I was there and could have been one of those people walking up Grafton Street that day!

[@MrLetmein2011]

1976 was a blistering hot summer all over Europe and I spent most of it down on Dollymount beach I was 11 that year and unfortunately I lost my mam to cancer on the 19th of June that year ...she was only 48, God rest her soul.

[@siambuddha]

One of the best videos I've ever seen. Thanks.

[@barochoc]

Absolute gold. Great to share videos like this. Thanks a million :)

[@annmrry]

This is great! Thanks for putting it up here.

[@kensington25]

Fascinating. Thanks for this.

[@1948DESMOND]

thank you for a nostalic ride. i was 28 that year. flares, abba, you name it. i ws living in england at the time, the hottest year EVER there. god, it was!! but i would love some long, slow shots of people coming and going. i doubt if anyone would recognise themselves after 37 years!!!

[@patcalutube]

Well, that certainly took me back. Thanks for posting.

[@sapogrin]

just awesome... I lived in Dublin for 1 year and a half.. was incredible to see the O´connel street with no spire or even Luas... had a great time in Dublin, fantastic city....

[@sunnumbers]

This is done just after that very very hot summer that seemed to go on forever. It's great. Thanks for posting it. The days of bus conductors and not a punk is sight - just yet!

[@Passengervehicles]

I recently tried to recreate this drive. Got some strange looks as I drove my JCB down Grafton street....

[@tomthumb3500]

That’s for sharing this has made my day - 15 years living abroad now.

[@555worldwide]

Wow! How things have changed in Dublin.Super memories.Bravo!

[@GENFX303]

Brilliant. I had to watch this a few times, - I slowed it to 1/4 speed, but still could not see what was on in the Ambassador. CIE bus/ castorol GTX & Zhivago ads..... excellent. great post. Thanks.

[@deiciderob]

What an amazing video, I grew up in dublin just outside the city and have never seen dublin like this. Thanks for sharin this with everyone man

[@OLAMEFEIN]

CLASS!!!...GREAT MEMORIES...THANKS FOR UPLOADING!

[@ciaranconlon84]

This is my favourite youtube video. So many people on here would take some great footage like this and destroy it with a terrible choice of song, but this fits so perfectly with the music, it's a pleasure to watch. Thanks, willmcq!

[@SirAntoniousBlock]

Maybe a bit Thin Lizzy would've been better.

[@Outday19]

this is going to be a youtube hit thanks for putting it up

[@rmlfilms123]

The DVD Centre converted the Super 8! Brilliant. I get all my conversions done there and DVD copies. This is a brilliant clip, the city hasn't changed much, I knew exactly where everything was and still is - I was born two years later. Love Dublin, unique city and am very proud to be from there.

[@raymondcregan6607]

Remember when there was motor traffic on Grafton St. Good to see the Central Bank still was a building site.

[@epicswell]

Amazing vid. What a cool snapshot of street life in Dublin! Very artistic - the original Google car :) Thanks for sharing.

[@taylork096]

haven't seen an obese person on the street at all in this video, it shows how much society has changed our diet and lifestyle so weird :o

[@supafuckinmingster]

In my opinion, knowing that her son is still thinking of her with such affection so many years on is giving her soul ample rest. She looks forward to seeing you again. Peace.

[@mac_tire_aonair]

Thanks for posting, William. This takes me back like you wouldn't believe....

[@jambr54]

Thanks for the memory.. I was 20.. we all thought we were so cool.....

[@richardsheil5289]

You were.

[@rammsteingirl2010]

That was really cool, I was born well after that but it was really nice to see how Dublin used to look. Thanks man =)

[@peterigoe7757]

As a former bus conductor I can well recall what Dublin was like in those times. Buses were the main mode of transport. Mornings and evenings were very busy. "3bells"=full bus. Long queues in Marlborough Street @Abbey St. going to all the northside destinations was normal. Happy memories.

[@Berthmark]

This vid is amazing...This was filmed three years before I was born...Thanks for sharing this vid. xx

[@lestermorrisey6240]

Thanks for that. I loved looking at the cars from that era.

[@barkendog1]

In 2011 our cars go twice as fast than 1974 but that trip would take at least twice as long. What progress we've made on the future.

[@JuanJose16]

Brilliant vid (from the year I was born coincidentally enough). Fair play to whoever held onto the footage & to whoever uploaded it on here. Makes for great time travel for Dubs past & present. Driving, like many other things, seemed so much simpler then!

[@nolhrt]

Brings it all back. I was 16 back then, looks like a Saturday so I was probably in town that day. Everyone looks like an extra in a movie! Amazing lack of traffic compared to today. When I started work in town the next year. I used to get the bus home for lunch, walk a half mile, eat lunch and be back at work in plenty of time. Try that now! Notice the pedestrians almost throwing themselves in front of the cars. No one paid any attention to traffic lights. Great weather that summer of '76.

[@JohnofDublin]

Excellent, I remember 1976 in Dublin well.

[@Moonlight0810]

it is like gone back in a time machine 36 years back...:)

[@macaroonlee]

I was 4 days old when this was filmed - and Im from Dublin. This is a deadly find. Great post!

[@ThePeterFitzpatrick]

Wonderful video. If you have any others please do upload. They're great viewing. Well done.

[@urpleurple]

Most amazing thing: in 1976 you could travel for 3 and a half minutes in a car and get from Grafton St.to the top of O'Connell St.! And you can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times the car comes to a complete stop ... today you'd be sitting on the south side of the bridge for 3 and a half minutes just waiting to get across.

[@df464]

its 1976, the "tan" livery on the cie double decks came in summer 1975 and a brand new bus is seen in o connell street which makes it 76 id say the summer judging by the trees in full bloom and nice light. brilliant video thank you for posting

[@DoojeenDoonican]

Flares a go go - incredible!

[@geogan2]

Look at all the lovely big trees all over O'Connell St. Now for whatever health/safety/PC reasons there are none. Nelsons column/pillar was only blown up 10 years before this too...

[@paulus837]

Great video , brings back memories , great tune too.

[@bigfanofrj]

A great little snapshot and soundtrack. Thank you.

[@CastleHotelDublin]

Straight down Grafton Street, now that brings back memories!!

[@anthony72747]

Nice video ... brings back memories of a simpler time..hardly any traffic on the roads. Does anyone else have similar videos showing Dublin or Ireland in the 70s and 80s. I've an interest in vehicles from this period. Thanks.

[@rayrayray63]

Great stuff,, I was 13 in 1976 and remember all those streets,, Thanks for posting this.

[@colm47]

Classic footage. Orange buses! Brings me back to being 10 years old walking down Grafton Street. Or getting the number 14 bus down the street and checking "all the heads" going by from the upper deck!

[@radarsh1967]

Brilliant piece of nostalgia.

[@sbbinahee]

Digging Dublin in 1974. I was four..Great footage!

[@pauldunneska]

Filmed in 1976. So you were 6.

[@joshbourke89]

Wow, thanks for uploading this!

[@seanhennessy]

Brings back great memories :)

[@carkmor1]

Really lovely. Cheers for uploading. Fair difference now.

[@Dubliner1991]

I watched this out of interest rather than nostalgia since it was filmed almost 20 years before I was born. I can't believe the place was such a tip back then.

[@speakertreatz]

thanks very much for uploading

[@DCSwipe1]

I've been down those roads, it's weird seeing them in another time

[@Humanpunk77]

2 dislikes are you for real what a brilliant piece of footage thats probably only ever gonna be seen this once. Thanks for uploading this great stuff.

[@aislingniriada1989]

I feels weird watching this video... I have lived in Dublin my whole life, but I was only born in 1989. It's strange how much Dublin has changed so much, but at the same time, doesn't really look any different!

[@BennyWyer.BennyWyer]

Love these old super 8s. I just found some old super 8s from 1969 and put them up. filmed down the country. a different world!

[@2dtypogster]

Wonderful, thank you.

[@tnoeldillon]

Great clip. So-oo-oo quiet and easy to get around. That much was better, but I would prefer the way Dublin looks today. Much cleaner and easier on the eye.

[@charliecabinteely]

What struck me is how few buses there were on this journey. Take any point today on this route and notice the number of buses passing you in a given minute. The mustard coloured double deckers were gradually replaced by green buses. These in turn gradually gave way to the (for me) smarter and more distinctive yellow and blue livery of Dublin Bus today.

[@irishlebvet]

Wow, brought back some memories

[@PaulStewart1959two]

Fantastic video! Thanks for posting. I did my leaving in 1976. (Sigh.....) I agree with many of the earlier comments and would add two things:- 1) The cars are generally not as small as I remember. This is suprising as cars generally got a lot smaller after the oil crisis of the early '70s. Although VWs, Anglias etc were always small. 2) It's way less crowded than I remember. I suppose "crowdedness" is relative. 4th Sept 1976 was a Saturday. Anyone know what time of the day it was filmed? Cheers

[@bullseyeify1]

super video well done wow! a real blast from the past

[@kevbun]

the roads looked better then, less traffic lights and a better traffic system! nice video, thanks

[@andrewg.carvill4596]

"Bell bottoms" (24 inch flared-ends) on just about everyone. And every third car a Ford Escort! The summer I did the Inter. A gang of us went down to Kerry after the exams and I got the back and arms burnt off me in the sun.

[@JEANNEBOLEYN]

God, do I miss Dublin in the Rare Oul Times! I remember wearing the same clothes worn by the pedestrians: flared jeans, knee-length denim skirts, square-heeled boots...

[@errlloyd]

Fuck sake the trees on O Connell street look class. So many streets were one way the other way back then!! Nuts.

[@raythemechanic]

enjoyed this, would love to see more. I think my first trip to Dublin would have been around 10 years after, it looks like a away more inviting place than it does now.

[@klksplsor]

Looks like a movie scene. Very impressed.

[@Andy5238]

Why the hell would someone actually dislike this video? They must be some very sad people.

[@orangerooster]

Class video! DRIVING down Grafton St. blew my mind.

[@sadhbhisu]

Sound track is perfect! Must show this to my folks.

[@urlookinwellbil]

ya i know , i have one those 088 no. bricks in my attic somewhere, with huge leather belt clip! ...she's just got her hand at the side of her head . i was 12 in 76, the video brought it all back - the innocence/ first kiss/ love found and lost/ teen-disco/slow dancing/pair of docs,single cigs,jukeboxes, waiting for the next bus,the music, the flicks/roller-discos,sneaking out +sneaking in, friendships so strong ,nicknames given,enduro 125 and the smell of 2stroke,hours in coffee shops.cheers

[@markodonohoe7315]

sub 4 mins from top of Grafton st to bottom of O'Connell st......! The fleet of busses were changed around that time from the open back hop on & off anywhere to the orange ones seen in the video which had the automatic doors. :( still remember landing on my back side having jumped from one of them shortly before Pearse station in '78/9

[@robertlarkin3463]

Mark O'Donohoe Its surprising that there is only 1 RA type bus in this video. Also only 1 van hool (D603) the prototype AN 68 model parked in o'connell st approx 238 of these buses in service by 1976 maybe video is from 1974 or 75.

[@TattiePeeler]

The open backs survived till late 1982/early 1983.. on one route only, the 15A/15B/15C.. I would hop off the buses at the AIB in Rathgar, to walk up Zion Road to school.. no one else seems to remember, or tells me I'm wrong, oh well.. memories..

[@hundredand9]

It's cool to look back in time like this. Just people going about their day.

[@brendanr80]

Ah the clothes are class. Cant beat flares with the crease.

[@DublinWarrior1]

brilliant video.thank you.