The Historic Crossing the Irish Sea by Balloon from Ringsend

 

Birtles near Macclesfield in Cheshire might not seem to have any great connection to Ringsend but on Tuesday February 15th, 1910 one of the greatest aeronautical adventures began on Barrow Street, international flight from Ringsend. John D. Dunville was the chairman of the Dunville Whiskey distillers in Belfast. Dunville was born on October 20th, 1866, in Holywood, Co. Down to Robert and Jeannie Dunville. The distillery was started by John Dunville and William Napper but Dunville bought out Napper in 1825 and by 1837 they were producing their famous Dunville VR.

 

Having gained success initially as a whiskey blender, Dunville & Co. constructed their own distillery, to be known as the Royal Irish Distilleries, on the edge of Belfast in 1869. When built, the distillery occupied an impressive four-storey red-brick building and was amongst the most modern in Ireland. With production was distilled via the Coffey Still, at its peak the distillery had a capacity of over 2.5 million gallons per annum, making it amongst the largest in the country. The Coffey still was named after Aeneas Coffey who invented the method and before leaving Ireland to go and revolutionise the Scotch making industry, had his own distillery at the end of Barrow Street, Ringsend. Much of the distillery's output was used in the company's whiskey blends, Dunville’s VR and Dunville’s Three Crowns.

 

Although, like other Irish distilleries, prohibition in the United States caused Dunville to lose access to that market, Dunville ended the 1920s in good financial health. However, when the last heir and chairman of Dunville, Robert Lambart Dunville, died in 1931, the company began to flounder, and left to its directors, in 1936 Dunville & Co. was liquidated.

 

John D. Dunville married Meath born Violet Lambart in 1892. In January 1910, the couple accompanied by Charles Pollock arrived at the Gas Company yard on Barrow Street with the St. Louis, a massive balloon. The balloon had originally crashed into the North Sea but it was rescued and purchased by balloonist John Dunville. It was repaired by Short and Company at their premises at Battersea London. Later to be known as Short Brothers and one of the most famous aeroplane manufacturers in Belfast was founded by Eustace and Oswald Short.

Mrs Dunville in the basket of their balloon

When 80,000 cubic feet of gas was being filled into the balloon it began to leak. The balloon was transferred back to Short’s in London for repair and arrived once more on Barrow Street on February 14th 1910. Eustace Short accompanied the repaired balloon to Ringsend. Two hours before the planned lift off Mr. W. F. Cotton, chief engineer of the Gas Co., and his assistant, Mr. Waterby began to fill the 85-foot-tall balloon with gas. The wind was so strong according to the newspapers that it took forty men to hold the ropes of the balloon tethering it to the ground. Originally the passengers in the basket on just the third completed flight across the Irish Sea, were Dunville, Charles Pollock, who raced balloons with Dunville, and Dunville’s wife Violet. However it was decided to ensure success, Violet would remain on the ground in Ringsend. On hand to watch the take-off was Sir Thomas Myles who would later be involved in the 1914 gun running by the Irish Volunteers from Germany.

At 10.08am, the balloon lifted off from Barrow Street, Ringsend. They men travelled up to 10,000 feet in temperatures of -27 degrees and travelled at an average speed of just over thirty miles per hour out over Dublin Bay and across the Irish Sea. After four hours forty seven minutes and having flown over Holyhead and the northern coast of Wales, the two men descended near Macclesfield. Ringsend to Birtles was an amazing feat of aeronautics from the then present of the Irish Aero Club.

 

Two hours after landing Dunville was on his way to Holyhead to take the ferry back to his wife with his now deflated balloon, while his companion made his way to London by train. John Dunville died on June 10^th 1929, Violet passed away in 1940.