Minister Officially Opens Derrigimlagh Discovery Point

Minister of State for Tourism and Sport Patrick O’Donovan has officially opened one of the Wild Atlantic Way’s key ‘signature discovery points’ at Derrigimlagh, Co Galway. The site has been developed to feature an interactive looped walk of 5km which will tell the history of the area in compelling fashion.

Fáilte Ireland provided €1.2 million of funding for the discovery point at Derrigimlagh while the project was managed by Galway County Council in association with Connemara Chamber of Commerce.

Commenting on the new development, Fiona Monaghan, Fáilte Ireland’s Head of the Wild Atlantic Way said: “Visitors to Derrigimlagh will now be taken on a journey of discovery back to the early 1900s where they can, literally in some cases, look back to the time of Marconi and Alcock and Brown. The interactive features of the site – playing on sounds, sights and landscape – are designed to draw in the tourist and encourage them to interact with the history of the place.”

The walk has been augmented by a number of attractive features which are designed to engage visitors and encourage them to interact with the history of the location. These features include a set of ‘hides’ along the route which offer shelter and house old fashioned crystal radio sets. A tuning fork ‘organ’ is also present along the trail, allowing visitors to interact and experiment with different sound frequencies and a wind reed installation.

In order to help visitors imagine how the site would have looked in the 20th Century, ‘historioscopes’ have been installed. These instruments focus on locations such as the old Marconi buildings and images from the Alcock and Brown crash site. Also present along the Derrigimlagh site is a parabolic mirror which plays on acoustics, reflections and light, alongside a number of artistic interpretative panels which reveal the story of the discovery point.

Welcoming the official opening, Nessa Joyce, President, Connemara Chamber of Commerce said: “The Chamber is delighted to have been involved in the provision of the new visitor experience at Derrigimlagh that properly recognises the world class achievement that took place there at the turn of the 20th Century. The Chamber is proud of our members who contributed so much to the co-operative process working with our partners Fáilte Ireland and Galway County Council.”

Derrygimlagh is one of 15 signature discovery points along the Wild Atlantic Way that Fáilte Ireland is bringing to life through interpretation and improved visitor management. Further initiatives are currently underway at other signature discovery points along the route at Malin Head, Co Donegal; Keem Bay, Co Mayo; Bray Head, Co Kerry; and the Old Head of Kinsale, Co Cork. All of these are due for completion at various stages over the next two years.