Alcock and Brown Landing Site

Welcome to Derrigimlagh Bog, a site that holds a dual significance in the history of global communication and aviation. You are standing at the very spot where, on the morning of June 15th, 1919, the world became a significantly…

We begin at the precise location where the Vickers Vimy nosed into the Derrigimlagh Bog. Imagine the scene on that June morning: after sixteen and a half hours of flying through the 'Atlantic Air Triumph,' Alcock and Brown…

Before the planes arrived, the air over Derrigimlagh was already pulsating with invisible information. This bog was the site of the first commercial transatlantic wireless station, established by the Italian-Irish innovator…

Central to the Marconi operation was the Powerhouse, a massive structure that generated the electricity needed to send signals thousands of miles. The statistics are staggering: 16 boilers operating at 100 horsepower each,…

The Condenser House was perhaps the most impressive and intimidating structure on the site. At 350 feet long and 50 feet tall, it housed the massive steel plates that formed the capacitors for the transmitter. …

On a hill overlooking the landing site stands one of the two major monuments to Alcock and Brown. This striking structure is shaped like the tailfin of an aircraft, its white form slicing through the Connemara sky. …

The Derrigimlagh site has been thoughtfully developed with a boardwalk that allows visitors to explore the sensitive bogland without damaging the ecosystem or getting stuck—as Alcock and Brown did! Along this path, you will find…

As we stand at the edge of the Derrigimlagh Bog, looking back over the ruins and the monuments, we are struck by the strange, wonderful paradox of this place. This remote, windswept corner of Ireland, characterized by the 'mad…