Here in the land so famous for the gift of gab, there seems to be a passion for communication much deeper than just good craic in the pubs. I’m trying to get my mind around this:
Many paleontologists (at least many Irish paleontologists) believe the first fish slithered out of the water on four stubby legs 385 million years ago onto what would become the isle of Saints and Scholars. (I actually hiked down to see their “tracks.”) Over time those tetrapods evolved into bipods…like the Irish scribes who–living in remote outposts like the Skellig Islands just off Ireland’s southwest coast– kept literate life alive in Europe through the darkest depths of the so-called “dark ages.” In fact, around the year 800, Charlemagne imported monks from this part of Ireland to be his scribes.
Evolution, literacy, communication. Just over a thousand years later, in the mid-19th century, Reuters–who provided a financial news service in Europe–couldn’t get his pigeons to fly across the Atlantic. So he relied on ships coming from America to drop a news capsule overboard as they rounded this southwest corner of Ireland. His boys would wait in their little boats with nets to “get the scoop.” They say Europe learned of Lincoln’s assassination (1865) from a capsule tossed over a boat here.
The first cables were laid across the Atlantic from this same desolate corner of Ireland to Newfoundland giving the two hemispheres telegraphic communication. Queen Victoria got to be the first to send a message–greeting an American president in 1866. Marconi achieved the first wireless transatlantic communication from this same place to America in 1901. And in 1927, when Charles Lindberg ushered in the age of trans-Atlantic flight, this was the first bit of land he saw.
Today, driving under the 21st century cell phone and satellite tower crowning a Ring of Kerry hilltop on the far southwest tip of the Emerald Isle while gazing out at the Skellig Islands, you just have to ponder the evolution of communication through the ages and the part this remote corner of Ireland played.
Hey Rick – a request, if you have an extra few minutes:
Please contact me at KTRO Radio, Portland Oregon regarding the Terror alert today, August 10th.
503.513.6397
I would like to record your brief comments about how this will affect travelers.
Sincerely,
Dave Paull
News editor/writer/anchor
Rick,
A couple of errors in the tale of the transatlantic cable.
1)The first successful one (and the one on which Queen Victoria sent a message to Pres. James Buchanan on Aug. 16, 1858)failed on about Sept. 1. 1858. That one was laid by HMS Agamemnon, and USS Niagara, after several abortive attempts. For history buffs, the Illustrated London Times (I’ve forgotten the precise date, but I would look for it in 1858)had a full page illustration of the two ships loading the cable at Plymouth England.
2)Thanks to the American Civil War, the project went on hold until 1865. Brunel’s Great Eastern almost completes the job, but the cable breaks almost with land in sight. With a better cable, the Great Eastern completes the job in 1866, and picks up the end of the 1865 cable and finishes that one.
I think the last pair were still in use until very late (well after radio transmissions), but would have to check there.
Dear Steve,
As one of your loyal fans who’s preparing to go spend up to a year in Europe soon, I was disappointed to see your nod to the theory of evolution. Would you please look up an article on WorldNetDaily.com from June 22? Here’s the first paragraph: “More than 600 scientists holding doctoral degrees have gone on the record espressing skepticism about Darwin’s theory of evolution and calling for the critical examination of the evidence cited in its support.”
Reading your blog for the first time. I love it. Your style is breezy, no BS, and informative. I have also forsaken most other travel books for yours. You have a convert.