Marconi

Marconi

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Details

Location

Fairhead

Year

1962

Date

Production

Length

02min 25sec

Audio

sound

Format

16mm

black and white

Source

Digitised as part of Unlocking Film Heritage / Courtesy of UTV Archive

Courtesy

British Film Institute, UTV Archive

Rights Holder

ITV

It is illegal to download, copy, print or otherwise utilise in any other form this material, without written consent from the copyright holder.

Description

It all began a mile outside of Ballycastle on the north Antrim coast. A glorious moment when Northern Ireland stepped right into history!

Did the first attempt to carry out radio transmission experiments take place in Northern Ireland? According to elderly inhabitants, Marconi arrived in Ballycastle with his right-hand man, George Kemp and young Edward Glanville, armed with strange wire devices in 1899. 

Notes

This material is courtesy of the UTV Archive. Evidence suggests that ‘Marconi’s Cottage’, situated on the shoreline, at the end of the road before Fair Head, was not where the reception of transmissions were received. It has been pointed out that the former Antrim County Council, misled by local Post Office officials, put a plaque on the cottage - not only was it at the wrong location but the date on the plaque of 1904 was also wrong. Details of this historic event remain unclear, as accounts also tell of the unfortunate death of Edward Granville taking place on Sunday 21st July 1894 when he tragically fell off a cliff on Rathlin Island. There are other circulating rumours claiming that the transmissions were not the first ones of its type over water and were rather a part of the development of this revolutionary form of communication - wireless telegraphy. Details of this historic event remain unclear, as accounts also tell of the unfortunate death of Edward Granville taking place on Sunday 21st July 1894 when he tragically fell off a cliff on Rathlin Island. Who knows where the truth lies …

Credits

Reporter: E. Strathdee

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