Richard Crosbie the first Irishman to fly in a balloon 1785 | Season 2 – Episode 97
Floats, Wings Jan 18, 2023
Richard Crosbie, was born in 1756 at Crosbie Park, near Baltinglass, County Wicklow . He showed an early interest in engineering through clock making. He later studied at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) but did not graduate. While at TCD he expanded his knowledge of science and engineering and developed practical skills. It his said his chambers at Trinity were like a workshop of sorts.
In February 1784 Crosbie announced his intention of making a balloon flight from Dublin to London, and he spent the year developing his ‘aerial chariot’. It is said he was a showman, but he had support from some Trinity academics and from influential patrons such as the Viceroy.
He designed his first “Aeronautic Chariot” in the 1780s incorporating ship like elements. This included masts, sails, paddles, and rigging, with a 40-foot-diameter hydrogen-filled balloon. The large paddles attached to the hull of the Aeronautic Chariot were designed to be spun so quickly that the resulting gusts would fill the sails with enough air to move the ship forward. The main hull of the Chariot was actually built for an exhibition, although it never successfully took flight.
He later built more conventional balloons incorporating gondolas as a passenger compartment basket. Like other aeronautical pioneers of his time, Crosbie launched several balloons containing animals before attempting his own flight in Ireland. One of which, containing a cat, was seen passing over the west coast of Scotland, before descending near the Isle of Man. The cat and the balloon were both rescued by a passing ship.
On 19th January 1785, aged 30 years old, Richard Crosbie flew a hydrogen balloon from Ranelagh Pleasure Gardens to Clontarf in Dublin, making him the first Irishman to complete a manned flight in a balloon. A large crowded, estimated at between 20 and 120 thousand depending on the source you read, were there to wave Crosbie off. From early morning, hydrogen was generated by combining sulphuric acid, water and iron filings or zinc. It took hours to inflate the balloon testing the patience of the crowd and Crosbie’s nerves it is said.
Crosbie’s achievement has been marked and celebrate in numerous ways in recent years. In1985, An Post issued a special stamp, commemorating the bicentenary of the event. In 2008 a statue was unveiled to the man himself at Ranelagh Park which is what remains today of Ranelagh Pleasure Gardens. Finally 2013 Ranelagh Arts Festival closed with ‘Reach for the Sky’, a balloon flight to celebrate Crosbie’s 1785 flight. It is important to note pioneers in the first successful method of conquest of the air, were people of science comparable to the astronauts of the 1960s. They attracted the same public excitement and received similar international publicity.
Sources of information
- Historyireland.com
- Ranelagh Arts Festival
- Smithsonianmag.com
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