Three new maritime historical virtual reality experiences will be unveiled today, 13th July 2022, by the TIDE project partner Donegal County Council (Ireland) at Fanad Lighthouse, Fort Dunree and Inishowen Maritime Museum.

The three Virtual Reality experiences include ‘The Storm, The Sea – The Saldanha’ at Fanad Lighthouse, the ‘Wrath of the Atlantic, Wrecks of the Armada’ at Inishowen Maritime Museum & Planetarium and the ‘Beware! Convoy Below World War 1’ at Fort Dunree.

• ‘The Storm, The Sea – The Saldanha’ (Fanad Lighthouse): launched at the lighthouse, where in the Napoleonic era, The HMS Saldanha and HMS Talbot took for shelter during strong gales and heavy seas. The Saldanha under the stewardship of Captain William Packenham, sadly hit the Swilly rocks and shipwrecked off the coast of Fanad Head with the loss of 274 men. It was due to this tragedy, that Fanad Lighthouse was built and opened on 17th March 1817. The Virtual Reality experience will take you back in time as the Captain Packenham’s ‘parrot’ on the Saldanha’s final journey. You will be the first in over 200 years to see the first image ever of the HMS Saldanha! 
• ‘Wrath of the Atlantic, Wrecks of the Armada’ (Inishowen Maritime Museum & Planetarium): this VR experience takes you back in time to the Spanish Armada era dating back to the 16th Century. It focuses on two ships that entered Donegal’s waters: La Girona and La Trinidad Valencera. La Girona travelled into Killybegs Harbour to repair her rudders. Almost 1,500 men from nearby shipwrecks travelled by foot to Killybegs to seek passage back to Spain. At Kinnagoe Bay, the VR experience takes you on the journey where the Captain deliberately ran La Trinidad Valencera ashore after fighting with 7 feet of water in her bows for days. They met the friendly Irish who ferried them to shore over two days and gave them food in exchange for salvage from the boat. The VR experience finishes with footage from a BBC documentary where items were salvaged from the shipwreck by the Derry Sub Aqua Club in 1975. Some of these artefacts are on loan from the Ulster Museum today and can be seen at the Inishowen Maritime Museum for the summer months.

• ‘Beware! Convoy Below’ (Fort Dunree): the Virtual Reality Experience takes you back in time to the First World War era in the early 1900’s. TIDE Partners, Donegal County Council, Derry City and Strabane District Council, Devon County Council and CLARTE (experts in VR technology in Pays de la Loire, France) have got together to create an exciting VR experience which takes the ‘Lieutenant’ into a Kite Balloon which is part of a convoy of merchant ships coming from North America and heading for Lough Foyle! You are welcomed onto HMS Margaret, a Royal Navy Destroyer which was launched in 1917 by Captain McConnell. Their mission is to secure the convoy that will resupply precious goods such as food and necessities to the forces at the front of the battle. The Lieutenant will have to keep a watchful eye for U-Boats or even mines for several hours! Once the Kite Balloon is hooked up, the basket, balloon and Lieutenant is raised up to over 1,000 feet! Get familiar with Destroyers, Cruisers, Naval Trawlers, Minesweepers, Airships & Aircraft as you travel past Malin Head & Inishtrahull!

More about TIDE

The TIDE Project is funded by both the Interreg Atlantic Area Programme and Donegal County Council and is being led by the ERNACT network. Other project partners are from Northern Ireland, UK, France, Spain and Portugal. The main focus of the TIDE Project is to promote a common maritime theme among all the projects partners while at the same time adding a new dimension to both the tourism and cultural heritage in the Atlantic region using the latest technology and to enrich the visitor experiences. The TIDE project focuses mainly on the Napoleonic, Spanish Armada, World Wars & Atlantic Migration eras.