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This year’s St Patrick’s Day Parade Grand Marshall will be travelling in style thanks to a group of dedicated enthusiasts who have beautifully restored a Victorian era carriage.

The vehicle, believed to be a Victorian Landau from 1861, was discovered on a scrap heap by Dermot Healy of Dermot Healy Motors. As the ‘before’ picture shows, it was very severely damaged but Dermot tasked members of the local Men’s Club with restoring the coach to its former glories.

Mick Myers, Tom Ashe and Pat O’Brien, who joined via the South Kerry Development Partnership scheme, enlisted the help of Marguerita, a Mexican woman with experience in this line of work, and off they went.

Speaking to the Advertiser this week, Mick admitted that they were mad to take the job on. “We didn’t know what we were letting ourselves in for,” he said. “We were only making it up as we went along.”

“Marguerita and her late husband used to restore coaches up in Kilcummin. Only for her, we hadn’t a hope.”

The canopy proved especially tricky as the original one had been completely destroyed but, working off pictures they found online, the crew laboured tirelessly on the project for over six months. The results are astounding.

The group expressed their gratitude to Pat and Timmy McGillicuddy, Brendan O’Sullivan Darcy of Killarney Welding, Torc Engineering and, of course, Dermot Healy, all of whom provided great assistance throughout the process.

Locals will be able to catch a glimpse of the classy carriage on St Patrick’s Day when it will be used to transport the parade’s Grand Marshall, Yvonne Quill.