Local author’s book takes flight

LEADING figures from aviation and historical societies attended the Dublin launch of a Broadstone author’s new book on the first Atlantic flight.

Brendan Lynch’s centenary ‘Yesterday We Were in America’ tells the story of the historic flight that landed in Connemara on June 15, 1919 and which is now being commemorated with a special postage stamp and a new Central Bank coin.

The Broadstone author says the recent launch was more than your average book launch.

“It was also an overdue tribute to two of aviation’s most courageous pioneers who, coincidentally, arrived in Broadstone station on their way back to London,” he explained.

“For over 16 hours, John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown battled the elements in their open-cockpit Vimy plane, to touch down in Connemara after an 1800-mile epic journey.

“It’s a scarcely credible story I often heard around my childhood fireside. With constant rain and cloud, navigator Brown enjoyed only three fleeting sun sightings between Newfoundland and Ireland, yet the pair landed just 20 miles off their original target destination.”

MC on the launch night, Martin McCarthy, reminded those gathered that Alcock and Brown’s success opened up the Atlantic for commercial flights and put Ireland firmly on the world aviation map.

“It also lifted people’s spirits after the horrors of WW1 and the Spanish Flu, which had decimated western Europe,” he added.

Tony Alcock, nephew of John Alcock, sent a special message to the launch.

“The flight was triumph of rare skill and navigation,” he said.

“It was not only the first crossing of any ocean, but also the greatest distance ever flown up to that time. This centenary book is a most comprehensive and accurate account of Alcock and Brown’s flight.”

The launch took place in Hodges Figgis, Dublin’s oldest bookshop. The attendance included authors John O’Grady and Oisin McGann, and aviation enthusiasts from as far away as Belfast.

Brendan Lynch will also launch his book in Clifden during the town’s special centenary celebrations this week and speak at the Central Bank’s launch of a commemorative coin on June 14.

Signed copies of his book are available from Mountjoy Publishing, Dublin, by calling 01-8302511.