Boeing 767 arrives at glamping site following barge journey

Decommissioned plane arrives in Co Sligo town after sailing along the west coast

Yes. It's official. The "Big Yoke" has landed. It came by sea to Enniscrone, Co Sligo.

The unimaginatively titled object is a decommissioned Boeing 767, which completed its unorthodox journey to the Co Sligo seaside town on Sunday following its purchase by glamping entrepreneur David McGowan.

On arrival it was hoisted by crane onto a trailer and then transported to the proposed site of Mr McGowan’s Quirky Nights Glamping Village.

Glamping refers to camping with a touch of glamour.

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At his Enniscrone site Mr McGowan hopes to turn various modes of transport – buses, taxis and a train – into camping accommodation.

The Boeing, which was formerly owned by Russian airline Transaero, was bought by Mr McGowan last year for €20,000.

He plans to have eight apartments inside it.

Barge

A 159-ft long aircraft, weighing 50 tonnes, it had its wings removed before being transported on Thursday by truck from Shannon Airport, where it had been in storage, to Knockbeg Point.

Workers then spent six hours loading it onto a barge before it sailed down the Shannon Estuary to the wild Atlantic spray.

It sailed up the west coast in relatively calm conditions and arrived off Co Sligo early on Sunday morning.

Patsy McGarry

Patsy McGarry

Patsy McGarry is a contributor to The Irish Times