Lithuanian Chief of Defence visits Ballinrobe landing site

Lithuanian Chief of Defence visits Ballinrobe emergency landing site


Ciara Galvin

IN 1935, Lithuanian pilot Felix Waitkus made an emergency landing in a field in Cloongowla, Ballinrobe, after becoming the sixth pilot to fly solo across the atlantic. Seventy-nine years on, Lithuania’s Chief of Defence Lieutenant General Arvydas Pocius visited Ballinrobe to walk that very field.
Also in attendance was Patrick Murphy, former county registrar for Mayo. Mr Murphy, who was nine years old when Waitkus landed, was one of the first on the scene in Cloongowla in 1935.
At the time, Waitkus signed a piece of the plane’s wing and gave it to Murphy, who kept the special piece until three years ago, when he presented it to Waitkus’s only son when he visited Ballinrobe.
Waitkus had initially hoped to make it as far as Kaunas, Lithuania, but weather conditions forced him to come down in Ballinrobe.
Arriving at the local GAA pitch by helicopter on Wednesday last, the group, including Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Flynn, Chief of Staff Division Defence Forces, and Chief of Staff Conor O’Boyle, visited a monument commemorating the pilot. Members of Ballinrobe’s Lithuanian community met Lieutenant General Pocius and Lithuanian Ambassador to Ireland Vidmantasand Purly.
The group, along with local councillors Damien Ryan and Michael Burke and Mayo County Council County Manager Peter Hynes, then made their way to the site at Cloongowla, where local businessman Patsy Murphy explained the story of Waitkus’s journey.
Many of the people gathered also had stories to tell. One local woman, who was just two months old at the time of the emergency landing, said her family kept a piece of the plane after the event.
Another told The Mayo News that after Waitkus landed, he asked a local where he was. The pilot was told he was in ‘Cloongowla west’, a detail that left him none the wiser, as he was unsure which country he had landed in.
At a reception held at Ballinrobe Credit Union, where pictures and information about the landing are on display, David Hall, chairperson of Ballinrobe Tourism, welcomed the group and said it was ‘a great day for Ballinrobe’. He said the event was further evidence of the strong ties between Ballinrobe, Mayo and Lithuania.
Peter Hynes said it was a pleasure to be associated with the visit and said the twinning of Ballinrobe and Lithuanian region Marijampol? would receive full backing from Mayo County Council.
Lieutenant General Pocius thanked David Hall and Patsy Murphy for their efforts in strengthening the links between Ballinrobe and Lithuania, and said he was thankful to Felix Waitkus for bringing the two countries together. He then presented Mr Murphy with a coin of the Chief of Defence to commemorate the meeting.
Mr Murphy said the landing was a blessing in disguise, explaining that the town now hosts the annual Fly Mayo Festival every September to celebrate the pilot’s landing.
The Lithuanian Chief of Defence and the group were formally invited to attend the 80th anniversary of the landing at next year’s Fly Mayo Festival.