Name: Matt Melville travels from New York to Ireland for the winter, 1961
Start: 1961-12
End: 1961-12
Location: Beaver Island

Locator map: Beaver Island highlighted within the Beaver Island archipelago — Took place at Beaver IslandLocator plate © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0); depths NOAA; names USGS GNIS. How the plates are drawn.

Event

Date: 1961-12
Kind: Transportation
Where: Beaver Island
Participants: C. Matthew “Matt” Melville (traveler)
Carried out by: C. Matthew “Matt” Melville
Eras: Modern era
Concepts: tourismcommunitydemography
Within: Beaver Island

Summary

Matt Melville, identified by the December 1961 Beaver Beacon as Beaver Island’s golf professional, flew from New York to Shannon Airport to spend the winter with friends and relatives in Ireland. The April 1962 issue reported his return to Beaver Island.

Evidence and limits

These are reported travel notices, not an itinerary, immigration record, or complete identity history.

Sources

Beaver Beacon, December 1961, “Trip to the Auld Sod.”
Reports Matt Melville, identified as Beaver Island’s golf pro, flying by jet from New York to Shannon Airport to spend the winter with friends and relatives. It gives a Limerick address and includes a humorous letter anecdote, but does not provide travel records or a complete biography.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1961-12_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, December 1961, held issue PDF, source scan.
The held six-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1961-12_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, April 1962, “Help! Matt’s Back.”
Reports Matt Melville’s return to Beaver Island after spending the winter in Ireland and repeats the newspaper’s humorous comments about his truthfulness and his dog Freckles. It does not provide travel records or a complete account of the trip.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1962-04_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, April 1962, held issue PDF, source scan.
The held six-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published return notice; it does not expand the travel or identity claims.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1962-04_Beaver-Beacon

Added 1 August 2026 · revised 3 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “Matt Melville travels from New York to Ireland for the winter, 1961”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/matt-melville-winter-trip-to-ireland-1961/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, December 1961, “Trip to the Auld Sod.” (and 3 further sources listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-03. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

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