Racontour Archive 2008 - 201918 Jul 2014

Airplanes over Derry

Shrine 21: when Inishowen became Paris.
Location: 55.037622, -7.302966

Pedants out there may note we're into another jurisdiction, but as we are five fields from Donegal and in light of the fact that the concept being honoured - human endeavour and bravery - is far bigger than a border, we'll let it stand.

On the morning of May 20, 1932 the flight pioneer set off from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland with the intention of flying to Paris in her single engine Lockheed Vega 5b to emulate Charles Lindbergh's solo flight. After a flight lasting 14 hours, 56 minutes during which she contended with strong northerly winds, icy conditions and mechanical problems.

To cap all this, petrol had started to trickle down her neck so Earhart made an emergency landing in a pasture at Ballyarnett near the banks of Lough Foyle, a far cry from her intended landing site of gay Paris. In a masterly stroke of understated smalltalk, a farm hand who'd witnessed the landing asked, "Have you flown far?" Amelia replied crisply "From America". The site now is the home of a small museum, the Amelia Earhart Centre, but it's now shut (and it looked it when last checked) so read up on this fascinating woman before making the pilgrimage here. Earhart was to be declared dead in absentia on the 5th of January 1937 after another courageous flight ended in mystery when it disappeared without trace.

Narrator: the late Sean McMahon tells us of of not one, but three sets of aerial visitors to Derry from 1931 to 1941, two benign, one murderous!

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Episoder(392)

S1 Ep9: D1 YC Parkes Castle and Wild Rose waterbus

Non Yeats POI: Parkes Castle. GPS location 54.264611, -8.33396 A restored plantation castle of the early 17th century, picturesquely situated on the shores of Lough Gill, once the home of Robert Pa...

11 Aug 202226s

S1 Ep8: D1 YC Dromahair

Non Yeats P.O.I. Dromahair. GPS location 54.220799, -8.297467 Dromahair lies in the hilly north west of Leitrim amid some stunning unspoiled natural landscapes. The "Sleeping Giant" mountain formatio...

11 Aug 202221s

S1: Welcome to Yeats Country

Tour curator John Ward welcomes listeners about to embark on a range of sites that inspired a young Yeats to conjure up his Celtic Twilight. All of the well-known sites, plus a few non-Yeats treats ar...

11 Aug 202227s

S2 Ep9: D2 YC Rosses Point

Rosses Point GPS Location: 54.304105, -8.561783 Yeats loved Rosses Point and first experimented with the paranormal here, encouraged by his cousin's housekeeper who had the ˜second sight'. Today ex...

25 Mai 20221min

S2 Ep8: D2 YC Rathcormack

Rathcormack GPS Location: 54.31955, -8.48289 Rathcormack is a small village at the base of a valley. You may wish to take note of an art installation honouring Countess Markievicz by the roadside. Ri...

25 Mai 202240s

S2 Ep7: D2 YC Yeats's Grave

Location: Yeat's Grave, Drumcliffe Yeats's grave is marked in front of you with Ben Bulben visible through the cemetery trees. If the church is open, ensure you pay it a visit. If the excellent bookl...

25 Mai 20221min

S2 Ep6: D2 YC Drumcliffe

Drumcliffe GPS Location: 54.325334, -8.493741 You are now in the village of Drumcliffe, firmly put on the map when W.B. Yeats was interred here some nine years after his death in France in Janua...

25 Mai 202258s

S2 Ep5: D2 YC Lissadell House

Lissadell House GPS Location: 54.344031, -8.57777 Please note that Lissadell House has a limited opening season. Best to check the Lissadell website when planning your visit closer to the time. On...

25 Mai 20222min