Tourism Ireland has created a new online film to highlight the Wild Atlantic Way – and to remind people everywhere how the route has brought the world closer together.

The video shows that, throughout history, locations along the route have led the way in connecting the world.

In 1919, John Alcock and Arthur Whitten-Brown flew from Newfoundland in Canada, in a two-man Vickers Vimy biplane and performed a crash landing at Derrigimlagh Bog in Connemara. 

In the same year, the world was brought closer again, when Guglielmo Marconi sent the first transatlantic radio-telegraph from Ballybunion to Nova Scotia, also in Canada.

In 1866, Kelvin Thomson sent the first transatlantic cable message from Valentia Island to Newfoundland, reducing the time it took to send a message across the ocean from weeks to just minutes.

In 1947, Brendan O’Regan opened the world’s first duty free shop in Shannon Airport, inspiring hundreds of free zones around the world and encouraging visitors through these locations.

This year, Ireland celebrates two 100-year anniversaries: the first transatlantic radio-telegraph and the first non-stop transatlantic flight, which will be honoured with a full re-enactment of the landing at this week’s Alcock and Brown 100 Festival.