Mayo Weather Forecaster Maureen Sweeney Dies Aged 100

18th December 2023

Afloat.ie Team

Maureen Sweeney, at just 21, prevented the loss of thousands of soldiers’ lives on the beaches of Normandy

Mayo weather forecaster Maureen Sweeney, whose report identified a storm that could have hit the D-Day landings in the Second World War, died at the age of 100.

As The Irish Independent reports, Ms Sweeney was taking pressure and temperature readings at Blacksod lighthouse in north Mayo on June 3rd, 1944 when she reported a dramatic drop in pressure.

Her readings were passed to US General Eisenhower, who had planned D-Day for June 5th - but then delayed it based on her information.

Ms Sweeney, whose family has been closely associated with the Blacksod lighthouse, was 21 at the time.

A notice on RIP.ie says that she died “peacefully in her 101st year, surrounded by her loving family” at a nursing home in Belmullet, Co Mayo.

Her funeral mass will take place at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Aughleam, on Friday at noon, followed by burial in Faulmore Cemetery.

Read The Irish Independent here

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