2BE Commercial Sabotage by 2RN

 

When 2RN took to the airwaves on January 1^st 1926, two stations now operated on the island with 2BE broadcasting from Belfast. As soon as 2BE took to the airwaves in September 1924, the listening public south of the border demanded a domestic service from the Irish Free State government. They listeners demanded something different from apparently British and Unionist slanted output from the Belfast station. There was a sense of nationalistic pride in the opening of 2RN and while initially signal power would not see them as competitors to each other, their competition did however play out on the pages of the most read newspapers north and south of the border.

 

An unusual night of programming took place on both 2BE[1] and 2RN[2] on Friday February 19^th, just weeks after the launch of 2RN. When 2RN began broadcasting in January transmission times were just two hours, 8pm until 10pm. By the beginning of February one hour had been added, 2RN now broadcasting from 7.30pm until 10.30pm. Programming from the Dublin station consisted mainly of instrumental and operatic music which led to complaints appearing in newspapers and trade magazines and comparisons being made with 2BE and British mainland stations.

 

On that Friday night, 2RN began with a tuning note at 7.30 allowing listeners both to tune in and identify the station. Two fifteen minutes talks were then broadcasts, the first one on Egypt, the second on savings certificates. From 8pm for the following 90 minutes 2RN relayed 2LO from London. Dublin listeners were treated to the Hungarian String Quartet, Vivienne Chatterton, Soprano who performed a number of Hungarian folk songs and readings by Dorothy Warren.

From BBC Genome

Meanwhile at exactly the same time on 2BE in Belfast from 8pm and heavily advertised in both the Northern Ireland newspapers and the Radio Times, a ‘Concert by the Dublin Artists’. The Belfast station was clearly audible in Dublin with a stronger transmitter than 2RN’s at McKee Barracks. The 2BE show consisted of performances by Gerard Crofts, Baritone, Jean Nolan, Mezzo Soprano and already a seasoned radio performer on 2RN, Arthur Darley[3], Violinist and the stage comedian and humourist Jimmy O’Dea[4].  The 2BE proved extremely popular with listeners, with Dublin listeners complaining about both the content of the relay from London and the quality of the rebroadcast. The Belfast Newsletter reported,

‘A troupe of instrumentalists give a concert this afternoon at the 2BE studios when many popular musical numbers will be included. A select quartette of Dublin artists (two vocalists, a violinist and an entertainer) are visitors at the station this evening, when an astonishingly comprehensive programme of Irish folk and other music will be broadcast between 8 O’Clock and 9.30.’

 

It was important for the new medium of broadcasting that listeners could read the schedules in the daily newspapers. There was an antipathy towards the Unionist leaning Belfast station from Dublin newspapers. This manifested itself when the two broadcasters clashed for listeners on that Friday. The Evening Herald published its ‘Broadcasting’ schedule but to divert attention from the obvious attraction of ‘Dublin Artists’ for Dublin listeners, they purposely inserted the 2RN schedule into the middle of the 2BE programme. It was an attempt to draw readers and possible listeners to the 2RN broadcasts rather than Belfast, it was commercial sabotage.

The Evening Herald February 19th 1926

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[1] 440m Medium Wave

[2] 390m Medium Wave

[3] Played on 2RN’s opening night broadcast on January 1^st 1926 and died December 1929

[4] Identified in the papers as James O’Dea

For Good or Evil, the GAA Embraces English Culture in 1923 via the Airwaves

For decades Rule 42 of the GAA[1] rulebook forbid the playing of what was seen as British sports, like soccer, rugby and cricket at GAA grounds across the island of Ireland including its headquarters at Croke Park in Dublin. In 1923, after several years of uncertainty due to the War of Independence and the Civil War, the GAA urgently needed to generate funds to pay off debts for the development of Croke Park. The ground had become synonymous with the events of Bloody Sunday 1920 and was a beacon of Irish nationalistic traditions. The anti-English sentiments had spilled over into the new Irish Free State but the GAA were desperate to fund their operations at the headquarters on Jones Road.

 

In June 1923, it was decided to hold a Fete or festival spanning the first two weeks in June opening on the second. Apart from sporting competitions on the field of play, markets, dancing competitions and stalls were installed on the grounds, all with one aim, to gather in as much money as they could from the paying public. The Fete was opened by Dan McCarthy TD, the president of the GAA and he suggested the optimistic plan to bring the Olympics to Croke Park. This sentiment was echoed by the then Postmaster General J.J. Walsh, both men veterans of the previous battles against the British. This launch on the steps of the main stand was the first time ever that the speeches were delivered via a loudspeaker system installed by James Kearney and his Irish and Continental Trading Company. The ‘broadcasting’ of the speeches to those gathered on the pitch was described by the Irish Independent as ‘arousing much curiosity’ and ‘the first fete in Ireland where this microphone system was used’.

 

From The Freeman's Journal

From Practical Wireless 1923

The installation of the system led to a bitter exchange between Kearney and another TD and veteran of the fight against the British going back to the Easter Rising, Sean McGarry[2]. McGarry, an electrician and businessman, seemed to under the impression that the loudspeaker system required a licence but it didn’t and he also complained that the equipment used was imported from Britain instead of being guaranteed Irish. Kearney wrote that McGarry did not know the difference between ‘broadcasting’ and ‘listening-in’. In a letter to the Irish Independent signed by ‘Fair Play’, who most likely worked for McGarry, wrote,

" As a member of the staff of an electrical manufacturing firm with a branch in Dublin which employs electrical engineers and salesmen and pays a large amount of money annually in wages, rates, and taxes in Ireland, I would like to know why permission for the reception of wireless broadcasting is refused to legitimate manufacturers and dealers of wireless apparatus and granted to people who have no connection with the electrical industry. I see by the papers that the Postmaster-General refuses to grant any further permits, and the following day permission is again granted to certain, individuals."

It may or may not have been a coincidence that in the midst of the Fete on June 15th, the electrical supplies shop on Andrew Street owned by McGarry was broken into, ransacked and a money box taken. While the GAA leadership and membership rallied against anything English, they were not against using very specific British institutions to generate cash for the organisation, cash was King.

 

One of the most popular attractions at the Fete and one that required a ticket in addition to the ground entry fee, was also organised by Kearney and had received a license from the PMG Walsh. For four hours of ‘wireless listening-in’ to British radio stations, attendees paid an extra one schilling per head. Underneath the main stand a wireless receiving set was set up with ‘perfect acoustics’ and over two weeks thousands of Dubliners enjoyed the then unique experience of listening to the wireless. In 1923, there was no Irish station to listen to, so the radio was tuned into English stations relaying concerts, gramophone records and even live sports. The Belfast station had yet to go on the air and while Cardiff and Aberdeen were both audible in Dublin, the audiences at the GAA were only treated to English stations. The gramophone records were ‘risqué’ for many of the Catholic church faithful and didn’t really sit well in the proud Irish music tradition but the younger generation flocked to the wireless room he hear the more ‘decadent’ modern music played by the English stations.

The Dublin Evening Telegraph reported on June 6th,

‘Last night[3] a most enjoyable programme was listened to by appreciative audiences. First, we had Manchester[4], which entertained us with music and song, then we switched to Newcastle to avoid a lecture which was not of great interest. From Newcastle[5] we had some fine dance music admirably rendered. When this station announced it was closing down at 10.30, we switched onto London[6]. After some orchestral selections we got news straight from the ring about the Ratner-Todd fight[7]’.

The Radio Schedule that visitors to Croke Park's Wireless Room would have heard

While the GAA held their fierce anti-English attitude, they saw no wrong in their embracing distinctly British culture broadcast over the airwaves. The GAA inadvertently had both created an interest in the new medium of radio broadcasting and for all thing culturally English. The organisation would however go one to achieve radio success as the new Irish Free State station 2RN became the first station in Europe to broadcast live coverage of a field sport when they aired the commentary of a match from Croke Park in August 1926. 

 

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[1] Gaelic Athletic Association

[2] McGarry served on the Dail’s Wireless Committee

[3] June 4^th 1923

[4] 2ZY

[5] 5NO

[6] 2LO

[7] Roland Rodd enjoyed a  points victory over Augie Ratner (USA) at Kensington, London on 4 June 1923, 

The Irish Government Funds A 2020 Dublin Pirate Radio Station - It's Time for LPFM Now

 

Some time ago, I wrote extensively on the use of illegal FM transmitters by the Catholic Church across Ireland. The call then was for a better process of licensing by the BAI, both to regulate the FM band and to legalise these pirate radio broadcasts. The implementation of a Low Power FM (LPFM) licensing policy would eradicate these illegal broadcasts and provide listeners with confidence. When the hobby pirate radio stations began to appear in the 1970’s and early 1980’s, the then Department of Posts and Telegraphs were proactive in detecting, raiding and closing these stations. They were prosecuted under the 1926 Wireless Telegraphy Act but when that law became porous, it led to the proliferation of hundreds of pirate radio stations across Ireland. The 1988 Wireless Telegraphy Act closed the majority of pirate radio station across Ireland and significantly increased the penalties for illegal broadcasting up to €20,000 fines and/or two years in prison. These illegal services were replaced by legal, licensed, national, local, regional, institutional and community radio stations. The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland also annually issues temporary licenses to local communities, events and sporting organisations.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1988/act/19/enacted/en/print.html

 Pirate operations since 1988 have been subject to raids and harassment, some for causing interference. The enforcement of the radio spectrum was devolved to ComReg but as the issue of the pirate Church broadcasts illustrated, ComReg have failed to act with an even hand, and have failed to correctly identify that there is an issue with illegal broadcasters especially on the FM band.

 https://ibhof.blogspot.com/2020/07/revealed-worlds-largest-pirate-radio.html

Further infringements of the 1988 Wireless telegraphy Act have come to light that have been ignored by ComReg and the BAI. As it was in the 1970’s, when the problem was ignored, it got out of control and enhanced legislation was required. That is why we call on the Government to immediately bring legislation to license LPFM stations. 

The Covid pandemic has forced the entertainment industry to discover new ways to interact with their audiences. We commend this, and appreciate that these services provide employment, enjoyment and impact positively the mental welfare of a nation under the effects of restrictions. This however should not encourage entertainment groups to flout the law or disregard a licensing process, which can be cumbersome and expensive. A temporary license from the BAI will cost the operator approximately €750 - €1,000 per license.

Alan Hughes, the Ireland AM and Virgin Media presenter, produced and starred in the 2020 pantomime ‘Peter Pan’. Alan and his partner Karl Broderick have been stalwarts of the annual Christmas festivities for many years, providing top quality entertainment. Due to Covid restrictions, the in person theatre experience stopped but the Peter Pan panto found another way of bringing their extremely popular show to the public. With funding from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, the show became a big screen drive-in show at Malahide Castle.

Taken from in-car at the Malahide Castle Pantomime

The action was relayed on a big screen for the drive-in audience while the in-car experience was relayed via 93.7mhz FM. Despite the fact that the Government Department, led by Catherine Martin TD, in charge of broadcasting funded the show, the transmitter used to broadcast on 93.7 was illegal. No license had been sought from the BAI to broadcast on FM. The response of the BAI was,

‘Panto.ie did not apply for such a licence.’

A pirate radio broadcast was funded by the Government and the taxpayer without oversight. This is the Irish State condoning and financing pirate radio. The BAI, temporary license list for the period documented a number of drive-in movie companies having sought and were awarded licenses. An email to the BAI elicited this response,

Hi Eddie

 Drive in movies require a contract with the BAI if they are using FM to provide audio to cars. The change in COVID regulations brought a premature end to the panto, so any illegal use of 93.7MHz was limited to a few days at most. We have granted temporary licences to a few drive in movie operators, but Panto.ie did not apply for such a licence.

 

Such illegal use of FM is an issue for ComReg, but the BAI does forward any information about such illegal broadcasts to ComReg.

 Regards

The clarification from the BAI left no doubt that the transmitter used at the pantomime was illegal as no license had been sought as required under law. Government sponsored illegal broadcasting is a dangerous precedent to be setting. This once again demonstrates the need for new legislation to provide for Low Power FM licenses that would assist the entertainment industry and local communities.

I reached out for a comment from the Producers of the show but to date no reply has been forthcoming. 

If you would like to support my work in preserving and presenting the history of Irish radio and archive as much broadcasting history as I can, then for the price of a cup of coffee (takeaway these days) you can financially support the work at https://ko-fi.com/irishbroadcastinghistory. Thank you. (Use the button at the top of the page to support)

 The application for the LPFM license from the FCC authorities in the United States

A Century of Irish Radio including Pirate Radio in Words and Pictures.

A century of Irish radio has delivered wonderful entertainment, social change and political upheaval. 

In 1926 the first official radio station in Ireland took to the airwaves on January 1st 1926 with the arrival of 2RN, later to become Radio Eireann and today as RTE Radio

The State broadcaster enjoyed a monopoly for more than fifty years bar a couple of illegal stations mostly of a political nature, but with the arrival of the transistor radio, pop music and offshore pirate radio stations like Radio Caroline, Irish pirate radio stations began to take to the airwaves.

To counter the arrival of pirate stations, the State broadcaster RTE began to tour the country with a mobile radio station that visited towns, villages and communities usually for the duration of a local festival. Rather than demonstrate the RTE could provide regional and local broadcasting, these local mobile operations led in many instances to the opening of a pirate radio station in the wake of RTE's departure.

 

Pirate stations appeared in every corner of Ireland, providing local information, local advertising, advertising, local news and a local voice. 

To celebrate the contribution of Irish pirate radio to the political and social history of Ireland, I have lectured at home and abroad on various aspects of Irish radio history. 

Pirate radio stations not alone proliferated in the Republic of Ireland but also in Northern Ireland especially sectarian pirate radio during the early years of the troubles from 1969-1975

      
  

In December 1988, a golden era of pirate radio in Ireland came to an end with the introduction of stricter broadcasting laws and the replacement of the pirates with legal, commercial and independent radio.

For more information on the history of Irish radio, my book 'A Century of Irish Radio 1900 - 2000' is available in hardback and on kindle. Copies are available here

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Century-Irish-Radio-1900-2000/dp/1717899641

For a signed copy of the book including post and packages (in Ireland & UK) are available by contacting theirishpirateradioarchive@gmail.com with payment through the secure paypal service. 

 

A Time for Reflection in Irish Radio

There has been much in the press in recent weeks on the 'Black Lives Matter' campaign, with protests in many Irish cities and towns including marches to the American Embassy in Dublin. We have been faced with looking at the diversity or lack of diversity of life in Ireland and the racism that some communities feel and experience. Much of the public opinion is driven by what we see, hear and read whether it’s in the treacherous world of social media, newspapers, on film or on television and hear on the radio. 

Irish radio is the most sought after, listened to and trusted mediums in the country and those who appear on the radio and drive the conversation, are a trusted source. They have opened the debate and lifted the lid on some issues that exist in Irish society and have often been pushed underground. It is a debate that even our Taoiseach has spoken on but what of Irish radio itself and how it reflects the society it is licensed to serve. A look at a selection of Irish radio stations around the country, both State, national and commercial, demonstrates the lack of a diverse voice on the airwaves. 

The ethnic and minority voice has somehow been banished to community radio, who have led the way in offering a true reflection of Irish society, led by stations like Dublin City FM and Flirt FM. While the accompanying slide only covers a small amount of licensed stations on the air in Ireland, it is a familiar story across the country, the lack of diversity in both on-air talent and content. There are a possible number of reasons for this. 

The slide looks at a selection of stations and their programmes that air between noon and 7pm, which includes the prime time evening slots. Fifteen of the presenters are female as compared to forty four men. There are no ethnic voices even though many of those whom we would see as ethnic, are now a growing segment of Irish born citizens and their accents on air would be as neutral or as local as those currently on air. The perception, while seeking out schedules on the various station websites, is that Irish radio is very 'white'. I am not demeaning any of the current on air talent which make Ireland one of the best nations in the world for radio, many of them have contributing greatly to the conversation now being held, but when a new opportunity opens up on radio, will HR departments seriously consider a new voice and face for their station? In today's modern radio, especially with in studio cameras, a new dimension is added as presenters are not just the voice of the airwaves but also the face. 

It is perhaps a commercial decision as minority or ethnic content would not sell advertising or increase generic ratings. At one time on-air talent were encouraged to have a neutral accents (mid-Atlantic as it was described in pirate radio days) so that listeners would not have to strain to understand what was being said. In the early days of community radio in Ireland, international accents were aimed at a very narrow demographic, such as Polish presenters delivering programmes aimed at the large Polish community in Dublin but as Irish society becomes more integrated, is it not time that the BAI encourage or even legislate that different voices and accents should be heard on mainstream radio. 

Despite the fact that the gender balance in the Irish population is almost 50/50, only about a third of primetime voices on radio are female, which has thankfully been growing over the past decade. To encourage the stations to employ more women in front of the microphone and not just behind it (at one time only in a secretarial role), quotas were set, perhaps it is time for a similar encouragement to diversify the voices we hear. The latest CSO figures illustrate that the percentage of the Irish population who deem themselves as 'ethnic' is now nearly 20% and yet this is not reflection on air. Integration is a key to a inclusive society that creates stability and opportunity.

It is now a 'Time for Reflection' in Irish radio. 

Edgar Twamley, The Irish born American Radio Hero

Ireland has produced a huge number of radio personalities who have departed the island and entertained millions across the world.  The lives of Eamonn Andrews or Terry Wogan have been extensively written about by both themselves and biographers. One broadcaster you may not have heard of, was Edgar Harold Twamley who made his name on American radio. This is his story.

 

Twamley was born on Mountjoy Square in Dublin in 1896 and when he was fourteen years old, his family moved to London but even the British capital could not hold the teenagers attention. A nineteen-year-old made his way to Liverpool and boarded the SS Finland and on November 25th 1915, Edgar Twamley arrived in New York harbour to take on the new world. He wrote on his arrival card that he was heading to Washington DC but Twamley ended up in Davenport, Iowa.

 

He joined the staff of local Davenport radio station W.O.C as an announcer and this would start a career that would eventually take him to the top of his profession at a new radio network. On August 5th 1925 he was introduced to the listening public as the new station director. W.O.C had been purchased by Professor B J Palmer from Robert Karlowa in 1922. Palmer ran the ‘Palmer School of Chiropractic’s’ and moved the station to the school campus. W.O.C broadcast on two channels, news and entertainment on 360metres medium wave, while sports and weather could be found at 485m. In 1932 one of its most famous sports casters was Ronald Reagan, later to serve two terms as US President.  

The small town of Davenport was not going to hold back the Dubliner from making his mark on the broadcasting world. In 1932, having married English born Violet, he moved the family to the upstate New York city of Buffalo. Initially he was employed by the N.B.C radio sales department then in 1935 he was being listed as the ‘Commercial Director and Programme director’ of W.B.E.N in Buffalo. W.B.E.N, owned by the Buffalo Evening News, hence the callsign, broadcast on 900khz from the Hotel Slater in the city. It was an affiliate of the NBC’s Red Network and Twamley was about to head up the NBC corporate ladder.

                                                     

In the US national census in 1940, Edgar was living at 355 Voorhees, Buffalo New York and was married to English born Violet with their two children Muriel aged 19 and Edgar junior aged seven. His birthplace was listed as The Irish Free State.

 

Tragedy was to befall Twamley in 1940 when Clifford M. Taylor, the commercial manager of W.B.E.N, and a member of the NAB Sales Managers Division, died of a heart attack March 11th in Jacksonville, Florida. Mr. Taylor was on his way home with Edgar Twamley by his side from a fishing trip when he suddenly died. In 1943 Mack Twamley, the 10-year-old son of Edgar H. Twamley, made his debut Broadway appearance in the play "Tomorrow the World" at the Barrymore Theatre.

 

With the second World War consuming the world in September 1944 his departure from W.B.E.N was announced with the appointment of Robert Thompson as the commercial manager of W.B.E.N succeeding Edgar H. Twamley, who had taken up a confidential role with the US military for the duration of the rest of the war. After the war he re-joined the NBC head office on their sales team with Twamley heading up the Chicago office.

                               

In January 1946 following the resignation of Paul Gould, vice president, a member of board of directors and station manager of W.L.I.B New York, Edgar Twamley, was appointed general manager of the station, absorbing all of Mr. Gould's duties. W.L.I.B was at the time one of New York’s most popular stations. W.L.I.B was originally W.C.N.W and founded in 1941. The station's target audience was the upper middle-class and wealthy New Yorkers, as evidenced by its format of classical music and popular jazz which competed with W.Q.R.X. The station was purchased by The New York Post in 1944 and regularly ran news updates from the Post 's newsroom at various times during the day.

 

Twamley then found himself as a radio station trouble shooter. He was parachuted into the management of a number of stations floundering in the new commercial world after the war. One of those stations was W.L.A.D in Connecticut which had gone on air in October 1947. Becomes a station trouble shooter

According to the trade papers at the time,

‘The station, a 250w daytime station on 800khz, is under the temporary managership of Edgar Twamley, a consultant called in to straighten out W.L.A.D's affairs. The managership reportedly will go to Joseph Mathers, now commercial manager, when Mr. Twamley concludes his work.’

 

In 1950, Twamley left NBC to join a brand new radio Network hoping to rival the big four at the time NBC, CBS, ABC and Mutual. He was installed as Vice President in charge of the PBS Network. According to the radio trade papers of the day,

‘PROGRESSIVE Broadcasting System, a new operation offering daytime programs to local stations exclusively throughout the country, will begin full operation Nov. 26, President Larry Finley announced last week in New York. Arrangements for service to about 250 stations are completed, he said, and additional stations are expected to bring the total to 400 by Feb. 1, he said. Mr. Finley, who arrived in New York after a six -weeks tour cov- ering more than 760 radio stations, also announced the election to the PBS board of Dr. Miller McClintock, former president of MBS. He also announced the appointments of Edgar H. Twamley, formerly with NBC and WBEN Buffalo, as vice president in charge of the eastern division, and Robert B. White, a former executive of ABC, as vice president in charge of the central division. Donald Withycomb, former president of WFIL Philadelphia, is ex- ecutive vice president, with headquarters in New York. Mr. Finley, former transcription producer, is one of three stockholders, and will headquarter in Hollywood. Programs, will be fed both live and via tape -recording from divisional points in New York, Chicago and Hollywood, via AT &T lines, Mr. Finley said. Stations will pay a minimum program fee of $580 per month, he said, plus one -half of the talent charge per quarter - hour, which ranges from $4 to $40. The company also plans to represent its affiliated stations in national sales, at the standard 15% commission, according to Mr. Finley.’

Unfortunately the network failed to take off and within months ceased operations on January 31st 1951.

After the disaster of PBS sudden closure, he crossed the country to Santa Barbara, California where he began working for sixteen year radio veteran Paul H. Chapman & Co., a company who matched radio stations up with perspective investors and new owners.

 On July 26th 1967, the newspapers reported,

‘Edgar H. Twamley, 70, broadcaster associated with stations in Davenport, Iowa, Los Angeles, New York and Buffalo, N.Y., died July 26 in hospital in Santa Barbara, Calif., following surgery.’

The Lough Beg Wireless of 1932

In January 1932 on a small uninhabited island in Lough Beg, seventy six year old pensioner George McErlain reversed the trend and built a wooden cabin on Duck Island where he lived a solo, hermit existence. Occasionally George, who became known as ‘the Robinson Crusoe of Ulster’, would row over to Antrim to attend church services. He lived by fishing and catching pike in the Lough. The Lough which is located just north of Lough Neagh was a major religious retreat.

His story made front page news as he went off grid as they would say today, the post office complaining how difficult it was to deliver post and packages to the island dweller. In a story on the front page of the Evening Herald on July 7th 1932, the article revealed,

‘Over these islands he rules like a king, without any subjects except the birds that know his sun-bronzed face so well and come unafraid, to his hand. He is more lonely than Robinson Crusoe, for no man Friday is by his side.’

But if, as this reporter did today, you row out to the island of the loneliest man he will run to greet you with a welcoming smile and tell you some of the blessings of solitude and the secrets of the islands.

In August one of those packages brought his story to international prominence when a woman who signed herself Madcap Madeline sent him a wireless set. In a note with the wireless set the donor said that she hoped the set would help pass away ‘pleasantly a few hours’. She said that she envied what she considered an ideal life.

We don't know how the radio impacted his life but it's arrival on the small island for his pleasure certainly gained column inches in the newspapers and periodicals of the day.

1938 - 'Wrong Way Corrigan' on the Radio

On July 18th 1938, at Baldonnel Aerodrome, outside Dublin, a small aircraft landed without any advance warning. On board was a solo pilot Douglas Corrigan. He was about to become a cultural icon and celebrity and would forever be known as ‘Wrong Way Corrigan’. An aircraft mechanic who had helped build Lindbergh’s ‘Spirit of St. Louis’ that itself had crossed the Atlantic, he had purchased a 1929 Curtiss Robin aircraft and modified it. He applied for permission to cross the Atlantic from the United States but was denied as the authorities deemed his aircraft not to be airworthy to make the crossing. On July 9th, Corrigan and his aircraft left Long Beach, California and landed at Bennett Field, Brooklyn, New York. On July 16th he took off again from Bennett’s Field having filed a flight plan to return west to California. But instead, he later claimed accidentally, his plane flew twenty-seven hours west landing in Ireland.

He became an instant media sensation and radio played a pivotal role in spreading his fame. A front-page story across the world, he was even introduced to the Irish Taoiseach Eamon DeValera at Irish Government buildings. The following day after he landed in Ireland Corrigan would broadcast live on NBC across America from Dublin and that the broadcast in itself received unprecedented press coverage.

Despite the fact that Radio Eireann in their studios to the rear of the GPO on Dublin’s main thoroughfare O’Connell Street closed transmissions at 11.30pm, the studios were opened at 3am in the morning for Corrigan to broadcast to America. From Radio Eireann’s studios and live across the United States, Corrigan held a conversation with his grandmother, Aunt and Uncle in Hollywood, California. It would be his native Hollywood California that would also turn his adventure into a big screen movie ‘The Flying Irishman’ made by RKO Pictures. In his international interview with Robert Ripley the creator of ‘Believe It or Not’ the host asked,

‘How are they treating you?’

‘Oh swell, they are treating me like an Irishman’ he replied according to the Irish Independent report

‘He then introduced the famous airman to his audience and then asked him a series of questions similar to those he has been asked by newspaper men since he suddenly appeared out of the clouds at Baldonnel’

Ripley in Hollywood continued "Hello, Douglas; here's your uncle," and' the airman's uncle greeted him with the news that Douglas also had become an uncle in the previous 24 hours. "Your niece, Lucille Ann, was born at 12.17 last night," he said.

Then his Uncle asked,

 "Have you any need of money? "

 " I guess not," replied Douglas. 

" Well, anyway," said his uncle, " I am sending you some through the American Consul and don't fly back."

Douglas was just starting to cash in on his new found celebrity status which included ticker tape parades in both New York and Chicago. He was paid $2,000[1] ($36,000 in today’s money) for his interview with NBC but Radio Eireann got little or nothing for their efforts to open their station doors to allow the broadcast.

Corrigan, who was housed in the American embassy in the Phoenix Park, gave an interview to Radio Eireann the following Saturday. According to the newspapers,

‘Mr. Douglas Corrigan. the American was the centre of attraction last night when he broadcast a talk of five minutes from Radio Eireann.

"Hello, Irishmen." were the first words used by Mr. Corrigan when he stepped to the microphone.

Mr. Eric Boden. compere, asked: What did it feel like when you came down at Baldonnel?

" It felt pretty good to get on the ground again," said Mr. Corrigan. "I was then a bit dubious as to what was going to happen next."

Mr. Corrigan had some nice things to say about Baldonnel. Everybody interested in Ireland, he said, knew about Baldonnel. The flying field was a good one but the buildings did not seem quite so new as those in America.

Mr. Boden, ‘When you were broadcasting previously you said you were being treated here like an Irishman. What was implied by that?

Mr. Corrigan-Well, I was being treated as good as anybody could treat anybody else. I have met Mr. de Valera, and 1 have met Dr. Douglas Hyde[2]. Mr. Walsh. Mr. Leyden. Major-General Brennan, and they have all been very nice to me.’

Before he departed Ireland via Cobh, he spoke one again live to the US audiences in the early hours of the morning, late night on the East Coast of the United States.  Broadcasting for CBS from the Customs office, at the Deep-Water Quay, Cobh, Douglas Corrigan gave the American people some of his impressions of his stay in Ireland following his flight. He made the broadcast through a long land link-up with England, and in the little room those present could only hear the replies made by Corrigan to the questions put to him by the interviewer, who was speaking from America. Corrigan heard the questions through earphones.

Sharp at 4.30 a.m. Corrigan, who was wearing the leather jacket in which he flew the Atlantic, two weeks earlier, stepped up to the microphone and announced: "Hello, Dublin! hello, London! hello, New York, this is Corrigan,' speaking from Cobh, Ireland, I am sailing in about half an hour for New York. It is 4.30 here, and a very wet night."

In reply to the questions put to him Corrigan said he was most impressed by "the large crowds who waited at each of the railway stations coming down from Dublin to Cork on the train last night. They all wanted autographs, and 1 was very gratified, because it was raining all the time.”

Corrigan returned with his plane to New York by ship and was feted wherever he went, now known as ‘Wrong Way Corrigan’.

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[1] Evening Star Washington DC

[2] The newly elected President of Ireland