Irish Jaunting Car

A two-wheeled, five seat cart designed to be pulled by one (but sometimes two) horses.

It was built by the coachbuilders T. Young and Son Ltd, a small local coachmakers located in Londonderry in the County of Derry, at some point after 1901.

The carriage has a simple design, with one front drivers' seats facing forward. These seats are covered in a plain leather upholstery and are protected from any mud or stones upturned by the horse/horses by a plain leather dash.

There are also four passenger seats in the back, which are on the sides of the cart facing outwards. These seats have a hinged footboards which can be pulled up and into the back of the cart to reduce its size or pulled out and down to create seating for passengers.

The cart has faded yellow paint on its body, undercarriage and shafts, and the shafts have some painted black lining. This jaunting cart does not have a braking system. There is a small trunk/boot for storage at the back of the carriage. The wheels have hub caps which are engraved “T. Young & Son, Londonderry”.

Irish Jaunting cars are light two-wheeled carriage for a single horse, with a seat in front for the driver. It was commonly made with lowerable footboards for the seating of two or four people placed back-to-back, lengthwise.

Jaunting cars were introduced to Ireland in the early 19th century by Irish Italian, Charles Bianconi, an entrepreneur sometimes described as the “man who put Ireland on wheels”. He helped to develop a network of horse-drawn coaches that became Ireland’s first regular public transport system.

Irish jaunting cars were a most common form of transport used in Ireland, and they had a reputation for being robust, lightweight and cheap.

“This car was very light, a great benefit for the horse; it is easily turned and moved in crowded thoroughfare and is capable of conveying more luggage than might at first be supposed. The car is no doubt very cheap, and perhaps more Irish drivers are able to own their own cars than are the drivers of London cabs” – George Athelstane Thrupp, The History of Coaches, 1877.

At the same time, jaunting cars were described as “perhaps the most uncomfortable kind of vehicle yet invented” by 19th century English novelist Anthony Trollope.

Jaunting cars are still used today by tourists, in places like the national parks, and are rentable for countryside driving in Ireland.