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Podcast: Trinity Long Room Hub Podcasts
Episode: The Wire that Changed the World
Description: Recorded November 11, 2021.
In 1858 the first ever message to be transmitted across an ocean – a note of congratulations from Queen Victoria to President Buchanan of the United States -- was sent from Valentia Island in County Kerry to Trinity Bay in Newfoundland. The 98-word message took 16 hours to transmit, and the US President’s 143-word response was sent in just 10 hours. Improvements in cable technology meant that when the next successful cable was laid, in 1866, messages that had once taken two weeks by ship could be sent in minutes.
Valentia Island in County Kerry played a major role in connecting the old...