Thomond - Thomond no.1

Thomond no.1

In the early 1920s, James A. Jones had been running his garage on Haddington Rd, Dublin for some years. He and his mechanics had built up some skill and had some excellent machinery. At some stage, then, he decided to build himself a car.

Building your own car was not unusual in the formative years of motoring, as Dick Humphreys recalls in his 1963 article: "brings to mind the days when the bits and pieces of both person-propelled and self-propelled vehicles could be bought at any good wholesale house, and in fact such 'own-made' models were quite common".
John McNamara amusingly said of the trouble involved in building a car: "He must have had nothing else to do. What a glutton for punishment - he must have had too quiet a life".

Apparently the primary thing which motivated Jones was to construct 'the first car built in the Irish Free State'.
Right from the start, it was announced as 'First Irish Free State Car'. See [Autocar, 1925]. This is ambiguous as to whether Jones was considering going into production.
Jones was a proud supporter of the new nation, having aided the Volunteers during the War of Independence.
If this was his motive, then he certainly succeeded, and the Thomond car is remembered today as the Free State's first. (There were some Irish cars before 1922. None were very successful. This was the first after 1922.)

Thomond no.1 on the "24 hours" trial.
James A. Jones (in darker clothing, driving, i.e. furthest from camera) and his friend Mr. McMullan (lighter clothing, passenger, nearest to camera)
Think this would be at the 1926 "24 hours" trial, when Dick Humphreys was on it as well, and then Dick took the photo.
Though on the back Dick writes: "Mr. J.A. Jones (and Mr. Mc Mullan (Auctioneer, Rathmines)) in the 12 H.P. No.1 "Thomond" car in which he won a Gold Medal in 24 Hours Trial 1927/28".
I suspect it is 1926 and Dick just wrote the date wrong later.
See larger and full size.
See other copy.
See other scan.

"Mr. Mc Mullan" would be one of the McMullan brothers of the auctioneering business.
The brothers John McMullan and Frank McMullan were the ones who did the motor trials.
Their nephew Louis A. Mc Mullan said this is probably John.
However Tommy O'Brien, who was around at the time, said it is NOT John.
Maybe it is Frank since he was the one who was really an auctioneer, while John was in the car business.

Building the car

It took quite a while to build this car. Jones' chief mechanic, Benny Parsons, spent months in his spare time screwing the paneling together.
Alan Hogan said the car was a composite job, made of many parts modified to suit.
Brian Hogan said: "I often heard Benny discussing the 'Thomond' with my brother" [his brother Alan].

[Autocar, 1925] says the car was built in 1925.
Brian Hogan said: "I can recall standing at the garage door one day and seeing the just finished car being driven down Haddington Road. My recollection is of a long and low for the time, racy looking tourer with a very quiet and regular sounding engine."
Alan Hogan also saw the first Thomond outing on the public road. He rode in the car on more than one occasion, describing it as "not bad for the times" - surely a compliment for a home-built car.

The name "Thomond"

The car was named after the north Munster Gaelic kingdom of Thomond (Co.Clare/Co.Limerick). A kingdom that was ruled by the O'Briens, Kings of Thomond.
The Parsons family was from Co.Clare. Jones was born in Co.Kerry but was not really from Munster at all. His family moved around a lot, with siblings born in different counties. So maybe Parsons suggested the name and Jones liked it.

It worked out well when Dick Humphreys joined later, since he was from Limerick.
In fact, Dick lists 'Thomond' as a possible name for a motorbike that he was designing in a notebook full of sketches and entries dated roughly 1917-1925.
Which leads to one theory: Dick knew Jones from c.1920 at least. Could he have suggested the name to Jones?
Dick's family always thought he had come up with the name 'Thomond'.

The Kingdom of Thomond.
From House of Brian Boru.

Specification

Body:

Thomond no.1 was a 4 door, 5 seater tourer.
[Autocar, 1925] described it as having a "5 seater streamline body".
2 front seats, 3-seater rear bench.
Plywood and fabric Weymann-type body.
Kieran White said a standard chassis was probably bought from Rubery Owen, the large motor parts manufacturer in the English Midlands.
Alan Hogan said it resembled the contemporary Vauxhall, especially in the shape of the bonnet.
Georgano letter says: "It has a Germanic look, like an Aga, or the Swedish Thulin".

Engine:

[Autocar, 1925] said it had a "1750 cc, 4 cylinder engine with overhead valves" and 4-speed gearbox.
An overhead valve engine at this time would have been in between an ordinary and a high-performance engine (which would have an overhead camshaft). So a somewhat sporty car.
The reports of motor trials in [The Motor News, 1925-1926] say it had RAC horsepower of 12 horse power.

Wheels:

Primitive cast steel artillery wheels. These had thick, hollow spokes and were designed to take heavy weights.
Spare wheel stowed at rear. No rear boot.
[Autocar, 1925] said it had "semi-elliptic springs at front and three-quarter elliptic at the rear, 30 x 3 ¼ x 4 in oversize tyres".
Rear wheel brakes only.

Colour:

There is different information about the colour.
Brian Hogan said: "It was dark red in colour but that could have been an undercoat. The sentiment of the time would have been more for one of the shades of green!"
Charlie Manders thought the colour was green.
Jane Wright said Jim Jones' car was black.

Logo:

'Thomond' logo written in flowing writing on radiator at front, angled on the left hand side.
Small, upright mascot with rounded top, resembling a plaque.

Number plate:

The number plate is partially visible in photos as "IK 8--9". This is a Dublin County registration of c.1925.
Dublin County is IK 1 to IK 9999 (Dec 1903 to Mar 1927).
The car is not found in [Motor Reg] records. But note that the records for this period are incomplete.

Like many cars of the time, the original Thomond had a windscreen that could be laid flat. One could also open it up when it rained. The rain would run off while the driver looked through the gap. In this way no windscreen wiper was needed.

For a real thrill, the windscreen folded right down. The driver would then see nothing but the road rushing towards him, and 50 mph would seem like a hundred.

1925 motor trials

Thomond no.1 performed well in reliability trials in 1925-1926.
These were popular tests not of speed but of simply the reliability of early automobiles in making long and difficult journeys.
The following are documented in [The Motor News, 1925].

1925 'Twenty Four Hours trial', 26-27 June 1925:
The Dublin and District Motorcycle and Light Car Club used to include a class for cars in some of their mainly motorcycling events. One of these was the annual '24 hours' reliability trial from Dublin to Donegal and back, in which in 1925 we find the first evidence of the new Thomond.
The trial ran all night from 7pm on Fri 26 June to 9pm on Sat 27 June 1925.
26 cars (plus 22 motorcycles) took part in a tough 420 mile run up to Donegal, where Glengesh Hill (on the mountain road between Ardara and Carrick in W Co.Donegal) proved, as usual, the toughest part of the course. 3 cars failed to make the required two ascents of 'Ireland's worst main road hill'. Happily for Jones, his Thomond was not among them, but he was delayed at Bundoran in the morning, where he kindly picked up and brought home an injured motorcycle passenger, who had been involved in a crash during the trial. Jones was among the finishers arriving back in Dublin on Saturday night, but did not qualify for any awards.
1925 Dublin - Glengariff two day trial, 1-2 Aug 1925:
The second Thomond outing was quite a success. Jones took part in the annual high-speed run down to Glengariff, W Co.Cork (another D&D event).
The trial was Sat 1 Aug to Sun 2 Aug 1925.
12 cars entered the trial.
10 cars, including Jones, arrived back in Dublin on the Sunday. All 10 won gold medals.

The first mention of the Thomond in history.
Jones in his Thomond picks up an injured motorcycle passenger in the 1925 24 Hours trial.
From The Motor News, 4 July 1925, p.1088.
It is curious how the magazine shows no interest in this unique new "Thomond" car.

Glengesh pass, Co. Donegal.
Photo 2004 by Michael McGonagle. See terms of use.
See similar shot from here.
See satellite view.

1926 motor trials

The following is documented in [The Motor News, 1926].

1926 'Twenty Four Hours trial', 4-5 June 1926:
Jones again entered the D&D 24 hours trial in 1926.
The trial ran from Fri 4 June to Sat 5 June 1926.
Also on this trial was Dick Humphreys. (Dick had been on the "24 hours" before in 1920-1924. He did not apparently compete in 1925.)
There are photos of the Thomond, apparently taken by Dick, which must be of this trial, with the Thomond bearing number 38.
In the Thomond passenger seat was one of the brothers John or Frank McMullan, friend of Jones, and regular competitor in D&D trials.
14 cars entered in 1926. All 14 finished. 2 of the finishers had lost points on Glengesh. The other 12 scored full marks and won gold medals, having suffered only tyre problems (punctures were commonplace on these trials).
The medal winners included the Thomond, and the Rhode of Dick Humphreys.
Dick was very interested in the Thomond.
He had known Jones since at least the War of Independence around 1920. This seems to have been the first time he saw how the Thomond performed in competition. He was very interested in the performance of this Irish-built machine, and soon began making plans for his own 'dream car'.

Thomond no.1, on same "24 hours" trial as above photo.
James A. Jones (on right) and his friend Mr. McMullan (on left).
Probably the 1926 trial, which Dick was on (and took the photo).
Number plate IK 8--9.
"Thomond" written at angle on radiator.
See larger and full size.
See other scan.

Photo by Dick on a mountain trial.
Looks like Mr. McMullan on the trial above. Looks like Glengesh.
So this is probably McMullan on the 1926 trial.
Mary Jones didn't think it was Jones. We agree. It is McMullan.
See larger and full size.
See other scan.

Humphreys and Jones in the same trial, the 1926 24 Hours trial.
From The Motor News, 19 June 1926.

Jones advertised his trial successes thus: "Thomond successes include first-class awards in 'Twenty-Four' and Dublin-Glengariffe trials, and successful ascents of Ireland's worst hills, including Glengesh, Co.Donegal".
From Thomond letterhead.

Later years of Thomond no.1

Alan Hogan kept up an acquaintance with Benny Parsons up until he left Ireland for America in Mar 1927. At this stage Jones and his mechanics had completed just the one car.
The last time Brian Hogan spoke to Jones was in August 1929, standing at the garage door with Benny Parsons, with whom he was arranging to go to the TT race at the Ards Circuit in Northern Ireland the next day. (The TT race was on 17 Aug 1929. It was won by Rudolf Caracciola.)

Jones kept the Thomond for his personal use.
His grand-niece Jane Wright said he had the Thomond when he was living in St.Alban's Park, Sandymount, from 1933 on. She said: "My sister and I can both remember being taken for a drive in the Thomond. It was black and large and long like most cars in those days. Jimmy was naturally very proud of it."
Since Jane (the younger sister) was born in 1930, the date here would have to be c.1935 or later.

This is the last that is known of Thomond no.1, and the question remains - what did its inventor do with it? It wouldn't have had much resale value, being quite a crude design, especially compared to Jones' later work. No one is reported as buying it. Was it scrapped? Did Jones not at least keep something of it?
Whatever he kept may have been lost later. His widow Mary Jones had a difficult life in later years, and lost most of her possessions in a fire in 1983.
Nothing survives of Thomond no.1.

Sources yet to be consulted

Was Jones on the 24 Hours Trial in 1927-1928? Or is that an error? Search The Motor News, 1927 and 1928.