Happy Birthday Internet! (In Ireland anyway...)

Agent Smith · 15-05-2012 08:01AM #1

As Facebook – just a baby at eight – hurtles towards one of the most momentous IPOs in tech industry history, it almost went unobserved today that the internet as we know it in Ireland, at least, is 20 years old today.
Ireland's first ISP Ireland On-Line was formed out of Barry Flanagan's house in Galway on 15 May 1992. Flanagan, as he outlines in his blog, had no working capital except his credit card and nine months worth of dreams.
He recalls: "The aim was as simple as the name suggests - I wanted to put Ireland online. To bring the World to Ireland, and Ireland to the World.
“The Internet was as yet unheard of except within the hallowed halls of academia, but I was convinced that this global network had the potential to transform this country, and would ultimately affect every aspect of our lives and businesses, and allow a new generation of Irish to remain in Ireland yet enjoy the benefits of a global economy and opportunity," Flanagan said.
He says the Ireland of 1992 was vastly different from the place it is in 2012. "Looking back 20 years later, I am amazed at how much of what I predicted and imagined has come to pass. We live in an Ireland today which, although beset by some short-term setbacks, has been transformed in terms of our ability to transcend our borders and small population. Our opportunities are global, and our reach infinite."
When Flanagan began Ireland On-line he had the honour of leading and shaping an entirely new industry. The only rule was: there were no rules.

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/comms/item/27207-the-internet-in-ireland-is

So when were you hooked up? I remember the date we got it into our house, 14/09/2001 - Just after the World trade centre attacks

Agent Smith · 15-05-2012 08:06AM

tallus · 15-05-2012 08:08AM

1999 eircom dial up... Oh the heady 5KB per second mp3 downloads bring back (bad) memories.

galwayrush · 15-05-2012 08:09AM

I remember it taking over an hour to download a 3 minute song..

Balmed Out · 15-05-2012 08:11AM

Set up an email address in 95/96 with my wang 386 sx.

I remember the alta vista search engine and some Irish pub chat room and thats about all

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar · 15-05-2012 08:11AM

dont remember when we got it in the house... was early enough as mam already had a computer/modem for work stuff so getting the IOL cd was all we needed

I remember the first time I tried the internet was on a st patricks day in a tiny net cafe in dublin. I had a little "guide to the internet" book and I tried to look up X-files stuff.
was awesome.

Robxxx7 · 15-05-2012 08:15AM

What we have Internet !! When did that happen

danniemcq · 15-05-2012 08:17AM

20...

I don't feel so bad w*nking over it now

galwayrush · 15-05-2012 08:20AM

danniemcq wrote: »

20...

I don't feel so bad w*nking over it now

Diall up ****??
Suppose it did last longer.

rubberdiddies · 15-05-2012 08:20AM

First hooked up in August 1996 with club internet and a borrowed 14.4k modem. I thought it was the dogs b****x at the time. The sound of the dial up, eventually connecting after 6 attempts, the 5 mins to load up a grainy picture and the £100+ phone bills that my parents were none too pleased about.

Had my first website up and running in October that year and all. I was such a nerd.

Good times

TeresaDarling · 15-05-2012 08:23AM

I first got the internet in 1998 I was pregnant and on bed rest, I had great fun playing on it for hours every day on Eircom dial up, then we got the bill £550, it was nearly as much as the mortgage, my husband banned me from using it

I was one of the first to get broadband, it took about 18 hours to download and install, everything was left to download overnight, the first broadband was quicker, it only took 1 minutes to load a page instead of 3 but regularly lept back to dial up when you were not looking and another mad phone bill

TeresaDarling · 15-05-2012 08:37AM

That reminds me when clearwire came out, no ethernet cables but it took 3 of you 1 to watch pc signal, 1 to hold box up to the window and 1 to shout through the house

When you finally found the best reception in the corner of a window, out came the nails, sellotape and string

Sky King · 15-05-2012 08:39AM

galwayrush wrote: »

Diall up ****??
Suppose it did last longer.

C'MON! LOAD DAMN YOU! LOAD!

I think I can see a bit of nip...

danniemcq · 15-05-2012 08:48AM

Sky King wrote: »

C'MON! LOAD DAMN YOU! LOAD!

I think I can see a bit of nip...

and just as you splurge you realise that its the guys....

Cee-Jay-Cee · 15-05-2012 08:51AM

March 1998 my dad bought a computer and set it up for the internet. I had no real interest in it at first and i'd say it was a few months before i bothered with it and even then it was only to have a quick look at something and then leave it. My dad however was well into it and spent a few hours each night thrawling through ebay for bargains (that was when ebay was used by private sellers and there was genuine stuff to be found and not like now when its over run by commercial sellers) I think i got broadband in around 2002/2003 and TBH didnt notice a whole lot of difference over dial up as i was using Onspeed with dial-up which sped up the connection considerably.

15-05-2012 08:52AM

1892 150 150

danniemcq · 15-05-2012 08:54AM

on topic though i believe it was around 92 so must have been right at the start... It was around the Donegal v Dublin all ireland final anyway and i remember loading the NASA webpage and Yahoo.

and a gallery some of yous might find cool

http://thechive.com/2012/01/24/when-websites-were-young-20-photos

smash · 15-05-2012 08:55AM

Got it connected in 96 I think. Ah the hours spent trying to download a single photo and the joy of saving it on a floppy disc so I wouldn't have to wait next time.

Balmed Out · 15-05-2012 09:15AM

There was no yahoo in 92.

danniemcq · 15-05-2012 09:20AM

Balmed Out wrote: »

There was no yahoo in 92.

maybe i remember yahoo from later... (94 according to google)

it was 20 years ago and there has been a lot of drinking since! I remember seeing the directory listing before search engines so i guess that would have been before yahoo. Trying to piece together family life timeline to figure it out!

Ledger · 15-05-2012 09:23AM

Sometime around March 1999. Eircom dial-up on Windows 98. I remember bringing the computer home in the car.

8 year old me was nearly crushed to death by loads of MASSIVE boxes in the back seat. It's amazing how big they were back then. The boxes were bigger than I was....

Ah memories.

bren2002 · 15-05-2012 09:25AM

2fm.ie I think was one of the first Irish sites I visited.

I remember Indigo launching in the mid 90s.

Tipsy McSwagger · 15-05-2012 09:28AM

CJC999 wrote: »

March 1998 my dad bought a computer and set it up for the internet. I had no real interest in it at first and i'd say it was a few months before i bothered with it and even then it was only to have a quick look at something and then leave it. My dad however was well into it and spent a few hours each night thrawling through ebay for bargains (that was when ebay was used by private sellers and there was genuine stuff to be found and not like now when its over run by commercial sellers) I think i got broadband in around 2002/2003 and TBH didnt notice a whole lot of difference over dial up as i was using Onspeed with dial-up which sped up the connection considerably.

Of course he did;)

breffni666 · 15-05-2012 09:29AM

Come to Cavan guys. Might as well still be on dial-up for all the advancement made down here. Joke service. I'd hate to be in business and rely on broadband. Terrible terrible down here. its a numbers game, if you've the population you've the broadband, if not tough!

Gyalist · 15-05-2012 09:30AM

I guess that I was one of the early adopters as I went online with IOL around September 1992. I actually still use my old IOL email address.

Does anyone remember what programs were on the installation floppy?

starbelgrade · 15-05-2012 09:31AM

I didn't bother with it in the office until 2007 and only installed it at home a couple of years ago.

Sky King · 15-05-2012 09:33AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsNaR6FRuO0

Music to my ears.

(Not really)

Run_to_da_hills · 15-05-2012 09:34AM

Got it in 1996 US Robotics 28k Modem with Ireland on line using a 486 DX 2 66 platform.

Speed was ridiculously slow and expensive as browsing was dial up time based hence spent more time playing Doom 2.

Balmed Out · 15-05-2012 09:36AM

It used to be so slow but do you remember how you'ld search for something and itd come back with 10 relevant hits rather then 12 million with the one you want on page four behind all bigger sites with better advertising budgets?

Duggy747 · 15-05-2012 09:37AM

I must've had a million hours worth of "free" dial-up CD's which came from magazines.

Pity the majority of them were English and therefore useless.

Seachmall · 15-05-2012 09:38AM

First website I remember visiting was a Pokemon one in 2000 or 2001, you could create your own Pokemon or some shit.

Long live the 'net.

Happy Birthday Internet! (In Ireland anyway...)

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