Wee problem at new walk to mark first transatlantic flight

The state may have invested €1.2m to mark the site of the historic first ever transatlantic crossing – but spending a penny is a different matter entirely for Galway County Council.

So visitors to the Alcock and Brown landing site at Derrygimbla near Clifden will face a six kilometre walk to answer a call of nature – because the lands all around the site are subject to conservation measures.

News of the toilet blockage was revealed at last week’s meeting of the Conamara Municipal Authority, where it emerged that there was concerns over building toilet facilities into the plan because of the widespread nature of land conservation measures – such as SACs – in the project area.

Councillor Tom Curran was first to raise the absence of the toilet facilities following a presentation on the development of the world famous location at Derrygimbla.

John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown landed in a bog in Derrygimbla on the 15th of June, 1919 thereby completing the first ever non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in an aircraft.

The site has a double connection with transatlantic communication as it was there that pioneering telecommunication work was carried out between 1905 and 1923 in a station set up by Italian engineer, Guigielmo Marconi.

The project involves a six kilometre pathway which brings the visitor to various information points.  There are also six rest and shelter points along the route.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.