Irish woman whose forecast saved D-Day dies at 100
Maureen Sweeney has died at the age of 100
- Published
Maureen Sweeney, the Irish woman whose weather forecast changed the course of the D-Day landings has died at the age of 100.
In 1944 Mrs Sweeney and her husband Ted worked at a coast guard and weather station in Blacksod Bay, County Mayo on Ireland’s west coast.
They were tasked with taking hourly barometer readings night and day in the lead up to the Allied invasion of Normandy.
Their reports contributed to the date of the invasion being pushed back due to an impending storm.
"We were told that our reports were the first to show any change coming in for good weather or bad weather," she told the ´óÏó´«Ã½ in 2016.
On 3 June the readings showed a storm approaching from the Atlantic.
This information led to the invasion of Nazi-occupied France by Allied troops being postponed by a day, allowing the weather to improve.
The landings, which were the biggest invasion by sea in history, marked the start of the campaign to free north-west Europe from German occpation.
Their success helped pave the way for the defeat of the Nazi regime
The invasion of Normandy by allied forces was postponed by a day
Despite the official neutrality of Ireland during World War Two, information gathered by the Irish Meteorological Service was shared with the Allies.
Preparations for the invasion of Normandy has been in the works for years, with Allied leaders agreeing that the invasion could only be attempted under certain weather conditions.
The most important of these were were wind and visibility.
The original date chosen for the invasion was 5 June 1944.
But at 13:00 on 3 June, 21-year-old Ms Sweeney was first to forecast a severe storm approaching Europe from over the Atlantic Ocean.
Her forecast was then phoned into London.
In 2014, Mrs Sweeney recalled to the Irish Independent that she had received a phone call from London asking for the readings to be checked again.
These observations from the west of Ireland formed an important part of the forecasting decisions of a team of American and British forecasters who urged that the invasion be delayed.
Maureen Sweeney and her husband Ted worked at a weather station in Blacksod Bay, County Mayo
In 2021, Ms Sweeney was awarded a special US House of Representatives honour.
Her family said she passed away peacefully at the Sonas TÃ Aire Nursing Home, Belmullet, on Sunday.
Her husband Ted died in 2001.
Mrs Sweeney's funeral Mass is due to take place Friday at 12:00 at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Aughleamon.
She is then to be buried in Faulmore Cemetery.