21. DHS - Amelia Earhart's landing

Shrine 21: when Inishowen became Paris. Location: 55.037622, -7.302966Speaker: Sean McMahon (RIP) (bonus material added by Sean on two other aerial visitors in that decade.)Theme: gathering of the locals to salute a true heroine.Pedants out there may note we're into another jurisdiction, but as we are five fields from Donegal and in light of the fact that the event being honoured, human endeavour and bravery, is far bigger than a border, we'll let it stand. Besides, it was the sight and markings of County Donegal, not Derry, that gave Amelia her bearings and eventual peace of mind after hours of endless ocean - that counts for a lot in our book!On the morning of May 20, 1932 the flight pioneer set off from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland with the intention of flying to Paris in her single engine Lockheed Vega 5b to emulate Charles Lindbergh's solo flight. After a flight lasting 14 hours, 56 minutes during which she contended with strong northerly winds, icy conditions and mechanical problems. To cap all this, petrol had started to trickle down her neck so Earhart made an emergency landing in a pasture at Ballyarnett near the banks of Lough Foyle, a far cry from her intended landing site of gay Paris. In a masterly stroke of understated smalltalk, a farm hand who'd witnessed the landing asked, "Have you flown far?" Amelia replied crisply "From America". The site now is the home of a small museum, the Amelia Earhart Centre, but its now shut (and it looked it when last checked) so read up on this fascinating woman before making the pilgrimage here. Earhart was to be declared dead in absentia on the 5th of January 1937 after another courageous flight ended in mystery when it disappeared without trace.Audio taken from Donegal's Hallowed Sites on the Racontour Archive.Spotify URL: Donegal's Hallowed Sites playlist on Spotify