Celebrating a trip made across Dublin bay from Ranelagh Gardens to the slob lands of Clontarf by hot air balloon in 1785.
Richard Crosbie from Baltinglass in County Wicklow made Irish aviation history when he flew his home-made balloon over Dublin Bay in 1785. This was the first manned balloon flight in Ireland. 35,000 people turned out to see the pioneering aeronaut begin his ascent in Ranelagh Gardens.
198 years later the Lord Mayor of Dublin Dan Browne took off from Ranelagh in a hot air balloon to mark the achievement of Richard Crosbie. It appears that the Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1785 James Horan was not so keen on hot air ballooning as he banned them from the city's skyline declaring that,
Too many Dubliners were spending their time gazing up at the sky instead of getting on with their work.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 20 January 1983. The reporter is Mícheál Ó Briain.
