FEATURE
USS Niagara showing her sails and boilers working with smoke from funnels (www.atlantic-cable.com)
VALENTIA ISLAND TELEGRAPH SUBMARINE CABLE STATION A Continuing Success
V
alentia, an Island just of the coast of Kerry, Southern Ireland is 7 miles long and 2 miles wide and is one of the westerly points of Ireland. It was also known for its underwater basaltic columns, the same as the Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland. To many people in the early 1800s it was just an island where fishing, farming along with a lighthouse, which had been established on the island in 1841 and a slate quarry were the major forms of employment,. However to others the slate quarry was well known within certain circles as it was used in Westminster Palace, the British Library and the roof of St Pauls Cathedral in London and Paris Opera House. At its height of production in the 1850s it employed nearly 500 people. For miles around it was the only industry other than fishing or subsistence farming. Communications and transport to the island were difficult as its only connection was by small ferry between the island and Portmagee. Travel to Dublin was very slow process as it would take a horse and rider over 2 ½ days or a carriage 7 days to travel the distance. Another way to get a message to Dublin would be by boat and that would take just as long as a horse and rider. However things were about to change and trust the island into the annuls of communication history. In the early years of the 1850s Cyrus Field, a paper magnet from New York, took an interest in telegraphy and this lead to him to a meeting with Frederick Gisborne who had connect-
56
SUBMARINE TELECOMS MAGAZINE
BY DEREK CASSIDY
ed North America and Newfoundland, via Nova Scotia with a telegraph line. However this venture did not prove profitable for Gisborne and Cyrus Field had acquired his interests. Field had investigated the ideas of Gisborne and wanted to push the telegraphic connection further. He had looked at the telegraphic connection between Newfoundland and New York and immediately knew that by looking at the technology available he could use this to build a better connected future. He also knew that he could not do this alone so he pulled together like minded people such as William Thompson (Lord Kelvin) and Charles Tilson Bright. Connecting America to Europe by laying a transatlantic cable between Newfoundland and Western Europe would be a world changing event as it would connect the old and new worlds together. It would also help to connect the financial markets of New York and London. Ireland was the obvious place to land a telegraphic cable from North America. Originally Galway was selected with Clifden as the most westerly town that would become the telegraphic landing point. Field discussed these optiones with very experienced people in the areas of telegraphy, Sea Bed Surveys, accessible landing sites and connections to existing telegraphic systems. However with influence from the Knight of Kerry and surveys carried out by Matthew Maury, who had carried out oceanographic and seabed depth surveys of the North Atlantic, West Kerry was selected as