When your hobby takes over your house
Damian McCarney
Let’s face it, for kids Christmas means just one thing - toys. It’s with this in mind that the Celt calls into the home of model collector Martin Bolger. From the exterior, his terrace house looks no different to any other on Mt St Joseph’s. Inside it’s another matter. Since the last time the Celt was out to visit the real toy-master, he’s been busy building the display shelving for his enormous collection.
Climbing the narrow stairwell the walls are festooned with Dinkys, Corgis, and Matchbox tractors, cars, and lorries; all neatly parked on perfectly uniform shelves. It’s hard to take in. Amused by the Celt’s reaction, Martin barely pays the vehicles any heed, he’s opening a bedroom door to reveal a jaw-droppingly ludicrous display of toy cars. It’s literally wall to wall toys. It brings comedian Frankie Howard's quip to mind: ‘never has my flabber been so gasted!’
Not an inch of wall space is spared. The Celt asks the obvious question - how many?
“At a guess, about 20,000.”
His passion was triggered 28 years ago.
“I came across at a vintage show one that I used to have myself and bought it to put on my mantlepiece to remind me of my youth.
Do you know which one it was?
“I can point it out to you.”
Of course he can - anyone this passionate about collecting has an bottomless knowledge. From the ranks of lorries he picks up a green truck and trailer carrying a bulldozer.
“That one there. It’s one I used to have myself when I was a kid and it got lost in the sand. I wanted to replace it, and it caught on then after that.”
His favourite?
“There’s one in memory of my late father (Michael Bolger),” he says picking up a yellow open back lorry which he’s painted yellow to look like an old council vehicle. “He drove for Cavan County Council for 21 years.”
Amongst his other favourites is a green Volkswagen Beetle which his father also drove, and obviously his first model.
“I suppose they are the favourites in this room.”
There’s another room?
He shows us from what he calls ‘The White Room’ which stores his toys, to ‘The Blue Room’ which houses his models. The difference is you play with toys, and you collect and display models. A lot of the Corgi cars show the dents and scratches of having been driven roughshod through kids’ imaginary race tracks.
Here the dominant theme is tractors and lorries, which have a special place in Martin’s heart as he drives a full scale lorry in real life. Part of the
“They are all Irish,” he points to a section near to the entrance where there’s Kingspan lorries and Virginia International Logistics & Warehousing. “They are actually very expensive some of them. You can buy something without livery [branding] for €30-40; you are talking hundreds for them,” he pointing to a beautifully finished lorry.
He then directs my eye to a corner devoted entirely to Guinness vehicles, a second area for Cadbury lorries, and another for just Pickfords.
“I don’t have a collection, I have a collection of collections.”
He delights in pointing out the curious aspects of his most unique model vehicle which he picked up for about £3 in Dorset Steam Fair, England - a Komatsu traxcavator.
“You can’t see the engine, it’s all covered in; number two - there’s no seat; number three - it’s got a periscope. It’s for working under water, it works by remote control.”
So this contraption actually exists?
“Ten of them exist in real life, and ten models - there’s one model for every real one.”
Any boats?
“Not into boats,” he says, “not into trains, not into planes. If it hasn’t got wheels or tracks I don’ want it.”
Martin “went public” 10 years ago with his first display at a vintage show in Cavan Equestrian Show. That prompted other like-minded collectors to introduce themselves to Martin.
“People came out of the woodwork - people I’d never even have dreamt of collecting stuff. Joe Duffy collects fire brigades, Gerry Ryan collected racing cars, good rest him - it’s surprising the people collecting.”
A very sociable man, with a gentle manner and a winning smile, he loves getting out to shows. Last year he was at 46 different shows.
“It’s an absolutely gorgeous hobby - I travel the whole country showing them off.”
Despite the diminishing parking spaces on Martin’s walls there’s no sign of him putting the brakes on his collecting.
How do you feel when you find a vehicle you’ve been looking for?
“It’s good to get something you’ve been looking for, but even better to find something that you didn’t know was out there. That’s the cream on the cake really - I never knew they made that, and now I have one.”