‘Europe and America are united by telegraphy’

When the first transatlantic telegraph cable was laid under the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and north America in the 1800s, it was even more revolutionary in its day than fibre optic transmission is now.

The first cable was laid across the floor of the Atlantic from Telegraph Field, Foilhommerum Bay on Valentia Island in Kerry to Heart’s Content in eastern Newfoundland, Canada.

Before that, communications between the continents took place only by ship. And sometimes severe winter storms delayed ships for weeks.