Finnegan Bray

29/01/2025

Happy Chinese New Year all, particularly to our customers from China who we bring around Ireland on summer tours! See you all again soon! Bray Chamber

27/01/2025

Thank you to Bray Chamber for this month’s award! As a local employer serving our customers and the local community , we appreciate the acknowledgment. Another busy year ahead planned with tours, schools and private hire etc and we look forward to at least another 50 years after that!

Finnegan Bray is announced as this month’s Chamber’s Member of the Month in recognition of their ongoing successful coach and minibus business and their commitment and support of the Chamber.

Finnegan Bray has been providing tours and private hire since 1973 and continues to expand, including acquiring a new minicoach this month with more buses on order. Eugene Finnegan joined the chamber in the 80’s and both Sarah and Eugene are active members, contributing 36 years’ worth of volunteering on the executive between them, including terms as Chamber Presidents.

Reflecting on their continued success and plans for the future, Eugene tells us “The key to our continued success of our bus hire business is our dependable and pleasant staff and the loyalty of our many repeating customers, with thanks particularly to our regular group tours and local hotel referrals.”

Finnegan Bray Bray, At The Heart of it Bray Chamber

24/01/2025

15:15 update 24/1/25 : Southern Cross to Dart / Luas have resumed as the red weather warning has been lifted .

Last few runs of this service but the drivers are as chirpy as ever!

We will be busy with private hire and tours from now on!

23/01/2025

Red storm warning: Friday 24/1/25. There will be no school routes.
It is the last day of our SC/Dart/Luas services but there will be no runs in the morning.
We hope to resume from 13:45(subject to red status being lifted) . Safe Travels!

17/01/2025

Always a pleasure to have the chats with Declan Meehan on EAST COAST FM and this morning we were on to discuss all the upcoming changes with local routes.

We will still be busy from Monday 27th January with all our private hire !

As if he isn’t busy enough Eugene Finnegan has written a book “A Good Enough History of Ireland” to try to capture all his fact finding over the decades with our tours so he took the opportunity to present a presale copy to Declan.

Bray, At The Heart of it Bray Chamber

17/01/2025

It's the end of an era as Finnegan Bray prepares to call time on their public bus routes. Eugene and Sarah are with Declan to talk to him about 40 years of serving the people of Bray.

13/01/2025

On January 24th our 144 to Bray DART will be replaced by the new Bus Connects route L14 via Putland Road to Dart.

The 143 to Sandyford LUAS will also cease on that day.

Commuters to Sandyford should now take the E1 from Bray Main Street, alight at Newtown Park Avenue and walk the short distance to Leopardstown Road stop 3176 and change to the S8 to continue to Sandyford industrial estate and the LUAS.

It is 26 years to the day since Eugene Finnegan received the first bus route licence issued to a private operator in the greater Dublin area for over 46 years. The company operated the service linking Southern Cross to Bray DART and Sandyford LUAS ever since.

We thank our drivers, so many of whom became well known to all, for their dedication as they kept the service running through storms, snow drifts and a pandemic.

The Finnegan Bray night bus was Dublin’s first night bus and we proudly claim to have brought three generations of Bray revellers home safely. The night bus finished during the Covid pandemic.

We sincerely thank all our loyal passengers who travelled with us over all those years. We hope you will settle into the new routine without too much inconvenience.

09/01/2025

A new year and another new additon to the fleet as Eugene Finnegan picks it up from Noone Turas Mini & Midicoaches in Maynooth. Happy Travels!

08/01/2025

Did you know that the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to travel into the UK, including from the Republic to Northern Ireland is being implemented this year. It does not apply to Irish Residents but it being extended to other EU later this year. You can see the list here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-when-you-can-get-an-electronic-travel-authorisation-eta -can-apply-from-5-march-2025

We regularly bring groups like schools, colleges, sports teams and families to Northern Ireland for lots of reasons so it is worth baring in mind if you are arranging day trips to the likes of Belfast, Giants Causeway, Game of Thrones etc and some people in your group do not have an Irish passport.

List of nationalities that that can apply for an ETA now or will be able to apply later.

05/01/2025

In view of the severe weather forecast for the Roundwood area the Finnegan Bray school service to Kilcoole will not operate on Monday 6th January.
We will keep you informed regarding Tuesday and the rest of the week

20/12/2024

Lovely festive messages from all around the world, including our own Santa that visited our yard and Eugene Finnegan sending greetings from The Martello

18/12/2024

**Update : Service resumed 1345**
Wed 18/12/24 13:00 Apologies but there are issues with Southern Cross / Bray Dart route … we are trying to rectify but there may be no service for at least an hour, maybe two

02/12/2024

Santa dropped in again this year as he has us on his nice list ! He knows we would help him with his transport plans this Christmas if he needed!

19/11/2024

19th November update :

NTA have confirmed that Phase 6A will be delayed and so our 143 and 144 service will continue until at least 29th January 2025.

Please be reminded that we provide a reduced service over the Christmas Season 24th December - 1st January, please see Christmas 2024 page

Coach and minibus and minicoach hire in bray wicklow dublin ireland for group tours weddings, school trips, groove festival, killruddery and scheduled services for southern cross to bray dart and sandyford luas .Shelbourne races. Slane concert. bray airshow. Groove festival.

19/11/2024

Absolutely ridiculous traffic around Bray and Greystones … nothing is moving. It just took one of fleet an hour and a half to get from Kilcoole to Little Bray while
other buses are just sitting going nowhere. Apologies, but little we can do!

14/11/2024

An incident near Druids Valley on N11 northbound is affecting our service. Buses are diverting onto M50 to avoid the area but traffic backed up back to shankill and the M50 merge south of the hospital

14/11/2024

14th November 2024 update.... this is as much as we know for the moment.

https://www.transportforireland.ie/getting-around/by-bus/phase-6a-e-spine/ #:~:text=Phase%206a%20of%20the%20BusConnects,hour%20Spines%20E1%20and%20E2.

02/11/2024

29th October 2024 update :

NTA have confirmed to us via email that having done a month by month renewal in recent times it is now a short renewal of contract and their expected new date for phase 6a is now December 8th 2024.

So it looks like Friday 6th December will be our last day of providing our 143 and 144 routes.

It is an end of an era for Finnegan Bray. Eugene Finnegan came up with the local routes years ago and was the first operator to create a night bus, but that is worth a separate post.

A big thank you to our drivers who often went out when other operators did not in conditions such as snow and heavy rain to make sure people got home as well as looking after and returning lost property.

We would also get phonecalls in the office asking “when is the next bus?” or “can you just ask him to wait two minutes in Sandyford , I am running down the road from work?” so thanks also to staff for who have handled countless calls and queries over the years.

See https://www.transportforireland.ie/getting-around/by-bus/phase-6a-e-spine-launching-08-12-24/ for the generally available information.

Launching December 8th Phase 6a of the BusConnects Network Redesign roll-out in Dublin will continue with the introduction of 13 new routes, operated by Dublin Bus and Go-Ahead Ireland, on Sunday December 8th. This includes: 24-hour Spines E1 and E2. Radial 19 – for more, see Route 19 informati.....