Christmas on the Howth Tram

The Christmas Tram

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It is said that all good things must come to an end, but at least their cherished memories live on. One of the loveliest memories the people of Howth will ever have must be that of the “Christmas Tram,” No. 3. Each Christmas, No. 3 was decorated by Billy Rankin and Bob O’Connor, and no effort was spared on the lavishness and thoroughness of this task.

Above the windows were draped tinsel and racks of holly, heavy with red berries. Crepe paper cut into scallops and diamonds was stretched across the top of the glass. The window corners were packed with imitation snow made from white window paint. Fairy lights hung from the ceiling structure, beneath the clear story lighting. “Merry Xmas” was written on the bulkhead window and a few smiling Santas peeped out from hidden corners waiting to catch your eye. Multicoloured balloons were hanging everywhere and the many Christmas cards received by the tramcrews were carried on threads stretched across the ceiling.

A small Christmas tree with shining baubles and winking lights was located under one of the stairs and some years a much larger tree was tied to the upper deck screening at both ends of the tram, bedecked with coloured fairy lights stretched up the trolley pole to add a special and truly splendid finishing touch.

Bob, with his cheery red face and big smile, would greet every passenger as the fairy tram approached the waiting crowds and Billy would bid them a special farewell as they departed at the other end. The most memorable year was perhaps in the early fifties when a small group of carol singers chose the tram as their ‘stand’ and that year even the passengers joined in the singing.

I can still hear those cheerful voices singing out the strains of “Adeste Fidelis”, as I stood and watched the tram sparkling from stem to stern with glistening lights fading into the stillness of the night.

The memory of those journeys from my childhood in the company of the tram men who I was later able to count among my friends have always lived on in my mind. In this book I have tried not just to give a history of the trams but to recapture the excitement and wonder of those days and the lives of the men who worked on them. For those who travelled on the Howth trams I hope these stories and sketches will have recalled memories and stories of their own. To those too young to have known the trams I hope that they give a foretaste of the pleasure that they will have in the future if the trams ever resume running in Howth.

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