An Irishwoman whose weather report from the west of Ireland led to the postponement of D-Day and the safe landings of Allied troops in Normandy has turned 100.
Maureen Sweeney, originally from Knockanure in Co Kerry, was working alongside Ted Sweeney in the observation station and post office in Blacksod, near Belmullet in Co Mayo, as a young woman in 1944.
One of her duties from Europe’s most westerly weather station included making hourly reports from the lighthouse - which were being sent to London.
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The D-Day landings, when more than 150,000 Allied soldiers stormed a beach in northern France, were originally scheduled for June 5, 1944. But on June 3, Maureen reported an incoming storm that could hamper the operation - which would become famous as the largest seaborne invasion in history.
On advice from a British Royal Air Force meteorologist, after the Blacksod reading was phoned through, General Dwight D. Eisenhower postponed the action by 24 hours.
D-Day kicked off the liberation of western Europe from occupation, and started a chain of events that would eventually result in the Germans’ surrender and the end of the Second World War.
The short postponement ended up working out well. Any longer and the entire thing would have had to be shelved for weeks due to a whole range of factors, like the tides, the moon phases to account for adequate lighting, and the times of the day the troops could feasibly land.
Maureen’s grandson Fergus Sweeney said the heroine was in good spirits as she marked a century old last Saturday.
Fergus said: “She’s remarkable. She can walk around herself on her Zimmer frame.”
The grandson said he commented that she looked fantastic on her 100th birthday, to which she replied: “I know, I can’t help it!”
“Physically she’s very good - even growing up, I have very few memories of that woman even being sick,” said Fergus, who still works along with family at the lighthouse where that fateful weather forecast was recorded.
Maureen received a letter from President Michael D Higgins to mark her 100th birthday, as well as a card from US Congressman Jack Bergman, who led a special House of Representatives honour to her two years ago for her services.
Born Maureen Flavin, originally from Knockanure in Co Kerry, moved to Blacksod after getting a job to work in the post office with Ted Sweeney, who she would marry in 1946 after the war was over.
She eventually took over as postmistress from her mother-in-law, working there until she retired in the early 2000s. Her son, Vincent, is the lighthouse keeper to this day.
The Kerry native did not initially know about the important role she played on D-Day, as years passed before the full extent of the planning was made public.
In an appearance on RTÉ’s Nationwide 17 years ago, she said: “They could arrange everything but they couldn’t pre-arrange the weather. They had it all worked out to the nearest detail, but our weather report put the first spoke in the wheel.
“They would have gone ahead and the invasion would have been a complete disaster. There they were, with thousands of aircraft and they couldn’t tolerate low cloud. We’re delighted we put them on the right road. We eventually had the final say.”
In a video interview some years later, Maureen elaborated: “Eisenhower was making up his mind about whether to enter France or not. He was very divided but when he saw the report from Blacksod Point it confirmed he made the right decision.
“That report was sent from here on the 3rd of June and the following morning there was a query at around 11 o’clock. And then there was a second query. A lady with a distinct English accent requested me to ‘Please check. Please repeat’.
“We began to look at the figures again. We checked and rechecked and the figures were the same both times so we were happy enough then.
“They relied on our weather forecast. It’s something you’ll remember for a lifetime.”
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