Inishnabro (Irish: Inis na Bró, meaning 'island of the quern/bottom grind stone') is one of the Blasket Islands of County Kerry in Ireland.
Native name: Inis na Bró | |
|---|---|
 Inishnabro, with Tearaght Island behind | |
  Inishnabro | |
| Geography | |
| Coordinates | 52°03′28″N 10°36′33″W / 52.05786°N 10.60913°W |
| Archipelago | Blasket Islands |
| Area | 121 acres (49 ha) |
| Highest elevation | 229 m (751 ft) |
| Administration | |
Ireland | |
| County | Kerry |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 (2016) |
Geography
edit
Inishnabro is separated from Inishvickillane by a narrow sound (about 200 metres), and rises to 229 metres, and has an area of 49.15 hectares.[1]
Spaceport proposal
editIn 1973, an American scientist, Gary Hudson, approached the Industrial Development Authority and then the Irish Consul General in Chicago, Sean Farrell, to propose using Inishnabro as the launching site for a new commercial space shuttle. Hudson said he represented a group including British astronomer Fred Hoyle, an American astronaut who had walked on the Moon, and others. In a memorandum to the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, Farrell wrote that his initial reaction was "one bordering on disbelief" but then concluded that Hudson was "genuine enough". Department officials, however, concluded that "Whatever his objective may be it is apparent that the scheme he propounded to Mr Farrell in Chicago belongs mainly to the realms of science fiction" and that it could be "a gigantic leg-pull". The proposal only became public in 2004 when Irish state papers from the period were released under the thirty-year rule.[2][3][4][5]
External links
edit- Hiking on Inishbro, Irish Times article
References
edit- ^ Townlands.ie - Inishnabro
- ^ Winn, Christopher (2011). I Never Knew That About the Irish. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 179. ISBN 978-0-312-66164-9.
- ^ Sheehy, Clodagh (1 January 2004). "Blaskets targeted to be the next Cape Canaveral". Irish Independent. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
- ^ O'Toole, Fintan (6 January 2004). "Perhaps the aliens are here". The Irish Times. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
- ^ O'Toole, Fintan (2023). We Don't Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Modern Ireland. New York: Liveright Publishing Corporation. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-324-09287-2.