Clare Museum Lecture Series – Il Volo Perduto (The Lost Flight) – The Alitalia Disaster at Shannon Airport February 1960
Clare Museum’s Lecture Series continues on Wednesday 11th December at 7.30pm, with a talk by Peter McGarry entitled Il Volo Perduto (The Lost Flight) – The Alitalia Disaster at Shannon Airport February 1960.
Alitalia Flight 618 was an accident involving a Douglas DC-7C of the Italian airline Alitalia in Shannon, Ireland, in the early hours of February 26th, 1960. After a refuelling stop at Shannon Airport, the plane crashed shortly after take-off at Clonloghan Cemetery, with only 18 of the 52 people on board surviving with serious injuries. Peter will tell the story behind this disaster.
Peter McGarry is the author of Falling Stars, which is the complete history of Shannon air crashes from 1946-1961. His book has been featured in national media and has sold thousands of units since its launch in early 2023. Peter is currently working on a follow-on book Rising Stars with journalist, Vincent Power. This next book will explore aviation as it was in its glory days in the 1950s and is being released to coincide with the arrival in Shannon, in late June 2025, of a very special Pan-American, round the world flight which will re-trace the routes of the flying boats.
Event Details:
- Wednesday, 11th December at 7.30pm
- Admission is free of charge
- Booking required
- To book, please email claremuseum@clarecoco.ie
- Telephone bookings will not be accepted
The Lecture Series will continue at Clare Museum on the second Wednesday of each month, until May 2025. Upcoming topics include the archaeology of Skellig Michael, ancient foods, the archaeology of caves in the Burren and much more.
Listen to Part 1 of Peter McGarry’s talk here: