The Hovercraft on Steamboat Quay

Poxyshamrock · 12-06-2013 08:49PM #1

I vaguely remember as a young fella a hovercraft down by where the skatepark is now. There's still a ladder down there.
Does anyone have info on this?

Why was it there? Where did it go? Who owned it?
How long was it there? Etc.

Any info would be much appreciated! :pac:

Itsdacraic · 12-06-2013 09:30PM

Poxyshamrock wrote: »

I vaguely remember as a young fella a hovercraft down by where the skatepark is now. There's still a ladder down there.
Does anyone have info on this?

Why was it there? Where did it go? Who owned it?
How long was it there? Etc.

Any info would be much appreciated! :pac:

It was a pleasure/tour type thing. It went out along the estuary. I'm thinking it was around 1990-92

the drifter · 12-06-2013 09:53PM

Jaysus I remember that...feck im old.

I remember one of them being parked up for ages after that somewhere local.
I used to go for a Sunday drive with the parents every weekend and id see it.

I'll ask the mother tomorrow.

Itsdacraic · 12-06-2013 10:55PM

the drifter wrote: »

Jaysus I remember that...feck im old.

I remember one of them being parked up for ages after that somewhere local.
I used to go for a Sunday drive with the parents every weekend and id see it.

I'll ask the mother tomorrow.

I think it may have had "stations" at a few of the piers along the estuary, such as Ringmoylan in Pallaskenry and maybe as far out as Foynes.

testicle · 12-06-2013 10:57PM

It was a hovertaxi to Foynes as far as i can remember

Itsdacraic · 12-06-2013 10:58PM

It may also possibly have been used as connection from the city to Shannon Airport.

testicle · 12-06-2013 10:59PM

Itsdacraic wrote: »

It may also possibly have been used as connection from the city to Shannon Airport.

Don't think so.

phog · 12-06-2013 11:18PM

I think it did leisure trips to Foynes and Bunratty. It only lasted a season it two. I also remember the moorings being damaged in a storm one day. Not one of the Christmas storms that we had.

Brian Lighthouse · 13-06-2013 01:05AM

Far as I remember it was a husband and wife team. They had a taxi in town and they used to advertise the hovercraft on the doors of the cab.
I remember getting that taxi home one night and asked the driver (husband) about the hovercraft. I can`t remember his answer exactly but it was along the lines of myself and the wife don`t operate it anymore.
I hope that helps.

feargale · 13-06-2013 02:24AM

Around that time there was an old U-boat there taking passengers on pleasure trips. Are you sure that's not what you're talking about?

Lurching · 13-06-2013 05:52AM

I was on it during a birthday party as a kid.
Wasn't it yellow and white?

Lurching · 13-06-2013 05:58AM

Did a bit of digging:
http://www.limerickcity.ie/media/limerick%20history%2066.pdf

Have a look at page two, beneath the picture titled "March - Marchers in Limerick"

Poxyshamrock · 13-06-2013 09:34AM

Cheers everyone

Kess73 · 13-06-2013 10:12AM

feargale wrote: »

Around that time there was an old U-boat there taking passengers on pleasure trips. Are you sure that's not what you're talking about?

There was never a real U Boat being used for pleasure trips in Limerick city. There was a company trying to pass off a much much smaller and more modern submersible as a U Boat or similar on their advertising posters, but there was never an actual U Boat doing river tours in Limerick.

They used roughly the same location that the hovercraft had used, and had a similarly short business lifespan.

Itsdacraic · 13-06-2013 12:50PM

Kess73 wrote: »

There was never a real U Boat being used for pleasure trips in Limerick city. There was a company trying to pass off a much much smaller and more modern submersible as a U Boat or similar on their advertising posters, but there was never an actual U Boat doing river tours in Limerick.

They used roughly the same location that the hovercraft had used, and had a similarly short business lifespan.

Sure a u-boat would hardly even have been submerged at full tide!

HattieMcDoogal · 13-06-2013 01:15PM

Ah flashback! My parents took us on this back in the early 90's. Went down as far as Bunratty and turned around if memory serves :-)

Kess73 · 13-06-2013 02:59PM

Itsdacraic wrote: »

Sure a u-boat would hardly even have been submerged at full tide!

A fully functional WWI U Boat would have serious problems attempting to approach the quay at the point where the skatepark is now, let alone the WWII models that were twice the length and between 700 and 1000 tons in weight.

Also as anyone who has gone to any of the ship museums will attest to, they are not exactly designed for pleasure trips in that there is very little headroom inside, and no viewpoints from the inside that would accommodate a group trying to view at once. The main deck is not exactly a spot to have people casually wandering about when on the surface either.

I can remember the submersible that was in Limerick for a while at the start of the 1990's, and it would have been dwarfed by the WWI U Boats, and just a little dot beside the models that came about nearly three decades later.

Also there was a clue to it's size in the fact it was advertised as a submersible, whereas a U Boat is a submarine

The Hovercraft on Steamboat Quay

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