Dublin boys’ peerless feat

A child stowaway making it from Manchester to Rome may seem a peerless feat.

But it is not a patch on the exploits of two Dublin boys who took a ramble on the DART instead of coming home for their dinner.

Keith Byrne and Noel Murray were 10 and 13 respectively in Aug 1985.

Living in Darndale, they exploited the potential of the DART and, during one evening of exploring, they found themselves at the ferry port in Dún Laoghaire.

The boys, who unsuccessfully tried a similar trick a week earlier, made it to Holyhead before boarding a train to London.

Without passports or preparation, this was an adventure but one that was only beginning. They met a man on the train to London who took pity on their prospects of staying the night on the streets.

So he let them stay at his house on condition he drop them back to the train the next morning.

But when they got back to the station, their route to Holyhead took a diversion via the track bound for Heathrow Airport.

They had nicked haversacks in Dublin and hung around the airport until questioned by a security guard. They came up with the excuse their mother was due back in a moment.

This worked once and worked again when they approached security.

The line, that their parents were following, saw them breeze right up to the Air India jumbo jet bound for JFK in New York.

Once on the plane there were spare seats and they were served curry and allowed watch the James Bond film, A View to a Kill.

According to Keith, in a 2011 radio documentary, they did not begin to feel the enormity of their journey until they approached a taxi driver JFK but did not really know where they should be headed.

They then were put in touch with the NYPD who afterwards said they were impressed with just how streetwise the boys were.

They were fed like lords in a hotel until a return flight was organised for them back to Dublin.

A media circus, the local gardaí and a family welcoming committee was lining up to greet them.