Irish Octopus Rides
The Octopus ride took a fierce grip in Ireland in the
1980s, with many machines from the mainland crossing over the water. These
machines were popular earners up until recent years, though with the current
trend for more contemporary machines it is debatable as to how many of
these rides will survive through the current decade. This photo gallery
celebrates the Octopus ride in Ireland between 2001 and 2004, and includes
a brief synopsis on each ride.
Included below are all the machines we could track down
in recent years. Irish Octopus that we missed include Oc4 (Holly Heron
- packed up), Oc17 (Alfie Bell - packed up), Oc60 (Jim Murray - packed
up) and Oc67 (Melvyn Bell - packed up).
The 'Oc' numbers are from our machine list here.
A superb backdrop for Tom McCormick's ride - Oc44 - this machine travelled for many years with Tricketts and was sold to Ireland from Peter Smith in 1998.
James Duffy's ride at Kilkee, 2001. This machine - Oc58 - was heavily
rebuilt when travelled by Sam Manning, and has had numerous owners whilst
over in Ireland.
This machine was a rarity - the only Octopus to travel the UK NOT built
by Lusse or Hayes. Travelled by Jennings in the UK, and then Williams
in Ireland, the machine - Oc58 - is now believed to be broken up. It was
renowned for being a fast mover.
Lyons' heavily customised machine taken in 2001. It is noted as being
Oc45 (ex J. Pont and famous for many years with Teddy James) but the more
apparent parts are from Oc16 (ex Milne and J.J. White).
Penned in at a very rainy and very distant Waterville (County Kerry) this
is James Hudson's Octopus (Oc11) in 2001. Believed to be out of Sheerness
via a non-guild owner, the ride has recently been 'combined' with another
machine for Brendan McCormick (see later).
Johnny Fry's Octopus - Oc61 - travelled for many years with M. Wilkinson
in the Notts/Derbys area.
Richard Whitney's Octopus - Oc18 - one of the tidiest machines in Ireland, and a rich history... this was the famous Fred Fowle decorated 'Moonshot'.
Ronnie McCormick's Octopus - Oc13 - seen here in 2002. The ride travelled for nearly 20 years with Traylens and is now scrapped.
David McCormack's machine was purchased in 2002 from the Welsh Freeman
family. The ride - Oc7 - was well-maintained and used up until sale to
Ireland. Seen here after a very busy night at Wicklow Regatta.
McGurk's Octopus - Oc56 - was packed up until recently. The ride travelled the West Country with the Phipps family, and crossed over to Ireland in 1983.
McLoughlin's machine caught pulling down in 2004. The McLoughlin family
have combined this ride - Oc69 - with the parts from Oc43 (ex Joe Taylor).
This original ride was superbly presented for many years by the Cullen
family after they purchased it from Lovetts in the early 80s, and then
spent a few seasons with Brian Harrison at Bundoran.
Brendan McCormick is a hard showmen to track down, and this was the best
we did in 2004. His original Octopus was Oc41 (ex Smith of Scotland) but
by the time this photo was taken it had been heavily combined with the
ex-Hudson machine Oc11. And yes, that is a tractor pulling the load.
For 2004 Ronnie McCormack purchased Oc46 from Peter Curry. This machine had travelled for many years with Culines. Many thanks to Owen Ralph for the image.
Again thanks to Owen for this image - Brendan McCormack open in 2004 with
the Oc11 / Oc41 hybrid.
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