The Cable that Changed the World

This presentation will be two-fold, firstly to highlight the role Valentia Island played in global communications in the 1800s and secondly to share Valentia Island’s journey in the 2000s to become Ireland’s next UNESCO World Heritage site. 

The story of the world’s first transatlantic cable which resulted in the first ever message to be transmitted across an ocean, is an inspiring one. In 1858, the first ever message was sent from Valentia Island in County Kerry to Hearts Content in Newfoundland in which Queen Victoria sent a note of congratulations to President Buchanan of the United States. The 98-word message took 16 hours to transmit, and the President response of 143 words was sent in just 10 hours. Improvements in the cable technology meant that when the next successful cable was laid in 1866, messages could be sent in minutes.

The transatlantic cable reduced the time it took to communicate dramatically as what required two weeks by ship could now be done via the deep-sea copper cables in minutes, thus beginning an era of global collaboration.

The then remote Valentia Island in County Kerry in Ireland and Hearts Content in Newfoundland played a major role in connecting the old and new worlds for the first time, placing the two villages at the ‘cross hairs’ of the emerging global communications industry. Indeed, one could say that globalisation began at the edge of the then modern world with the successful connection of the cable between London, via Valentia, Ireland and New York, via Newfoundland, Canada.

The Valentia Transatlantic Cable Foundation was established in 2016 to support the local community in pursuit of World Heritage designation by preserving the relevant historical sites and sharing this incredible story.  The foundation has established a visitor experience at the Valentia Cable station and hosts international events to raise funding and the profile of this project.  In July of 2022, the Valentia Transatlantic Cable project was added to the Irish UNESCO World Heritage tentative list. The Cable Station at Hearts Content in Newfoundland was added to the Canadian list in 2017 and we now look forward to supporting the governments of Ireland and Canada in completing the extensive preparatory work which will be required to make a successful submission to UNESCO for inscription of this exciting transnational industrial heritage project on the World Heritage List.

The island of Ireland has three World Heritage sites, The Giants Causeway, Bru na Boinne and the Skellig Islands, which was Ireland’s last inscription in 1996.  To be awarded World Heritage status you must demonstrate the ‘Outstanding Universal Value’ and Valentia Island and Hearts Content will submit a transnational application - the story of the Transatlantic Cable ensemble in 2026, preserving our place in world heritage for generations to come.  This designation will preserve Valentia’s industrial heritage as having played a vital role in the fusion of the most advanced technology, engineering and communications systems with global entrepreneurship, maritime innovation and profound social change.