From an early age Robert showed a fondness for the sea and appears to have shown little interest in formal education, so, with his imagination fuelled by tales of faraway lands recounted by mariners in his fathers tavern, he left home at age 10 to become a seafarer!
Fast forward through a rapid career which saw him, at the age of 30, captain the 'Great Eastern' to complete the laying of the first transatlantic telegraph cable from Valentia Island, Co Kerry to Newfoundland, Nova Scotia in 1866.
He later went on to lay an estimated 26,000 miles of cable (more than enough to circle the globe) over various routes around the world.
So there you have it folks - where would the internet be today without the likes of Robert C Halpin of Wicklow Town and his worldwide web of cable?
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