National Park After Dark - Death by Misadventure: Glenveagh National Park and Castle

Episode Date: September 4, 2023

Arthur Kingsley Porter aka “The Indiana Jones of Architecture” seemed to have it all, and although it can be easy to judge the Gatsby’s of the world, appearances can be deceiving – they can prove that sometimes having it all just isn’t enough. What would you do if you had the world, but desperately wanted to leave it all behind? Antarctica Trip   For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials:Instagram: @‌nationalparkafterdarkTikTok: @‌nationalparkafterdarkSupport the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page!Thank you to this week’s partners!CareOf: Use code npad50 for 50% off your first orderProse: Use our link for a free in-depth hair consultation and 15% off your subscription, plus $20 off your first subscription order.For a full list of our sources, visit http://npadpodcast.com/episodes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Close your eyes. Listen to Monday.com. Feel the sensation of an AI work platform. So flexible and intuitive, it feels like it was built just for you. Now open your eyes, go to Monday.com. Start for free and finally, breathe. Girl, winter is so last season. And now Springs got you looking at pictures of tank tops with hungry eyes. Your algorithm is feeding you cutoffs. You're thirsty for the sun on your shoulders. That perfect hang on the patio sundress. Those sandals you can wear all day and all night. And you've had enough of shopping from your couch. Done hoping it looks anything like the picture when you tear open that envelope? It's time for a little in-person spring treat. It's time for a trip to Ross. Work your magic. For as long as there has been economic inequality, there has been jealousy.

From the outside looking in, it's hard to pity someone who seemingly has it all. Someone driving the nicest car, sporting the newest fashions, living in the most lavish of homes and traveling the world for vacations, which somehow seem like most of the year. They're out there just having an awesome time drinking awesome shooters, listening to awesome music, and just sitting around soaking up each other's awesomeness. It's easy to judge the Gatsby's of the world,

but for everyone who is familiar with the 1925 novel, despite his lavish parties, extreme wealth and Gothic mansion, good old Jay wasn't doing so hot. Appearances can be deceiving and can prove that sometimes having it all just isn't enough. Welcome to National Park After Dark. Dun, done, done. Speaking of travel.

Yeah. Speaking of people who travel all the time and it's like, how do you do this? Reminder. It's us again. And reminder, we have our Antarctica trip is going on sale in a couple of days. Yeah, we wanted to give you a good heads up buffer time before the page goes live. Like we said last week, there is a very limited amount of spots. It's the most expensive, most expensive trip we've ever done and probably will ever do. So we wanted to give people a fair shot at planning and

figuring it out, looking into it if it's something you are really, really interested in. So here's your final warning. It's going on sale soon. It's going on sale soon. And I don't know, I really have no idea what the turnout is going to be because in our past trips they've sold out really fast. This is one of our most expensive trips where it's going to be $12,600 to go to Antarctica, but it is a full trip. I mean, we're on a fancy cruise ship, lots of dinners, there's spas. It's not, we're not roughing it. That is for sure. And then we're going to Antarctica. And we're also getting to be citizen scientists and we'll get to see crazy wildlife and just it is a once in a lifetime trip I think I mean I don't think I'll ever go I can't imagine I'll have another reason to go back to Antarctica I know I'm talking kind of soon but it's a

really really awesome trip we hope that people are just as excited about it as we are and we can't wait to launch it but we have been kind of talking about it for a while because we want to give you all some time so check it out we have the link in the show notes here so you can look at the itinerary There are different payment option plans to make it a little bit easier. And the trip isn't happening until March 9, 2025. So we're giving you guys time to pay it off, to plan, do things. We fly into Yushwaya. Yushwaya has the most southern national park in like the southern hemisphere, I believe.

I think in the world, in the world. Oh, okay. So the world. And there's a day to hang out there. I mean, it's just the coolest trip. So check it out. I'm looking forward to the lectures that we get to go to on the boat. There's different scientists doing different lectures about Antarctica as a whole,

obviously different species that migrate there, etc. This isn't an Antarctica podcast or episode, but we just wanted to give you guys a heads up. We're going somewhere completely different. One day. One day we'll do Antarctica. I don't think there's a national park on Antarctica. Yeah, but we already decided episodes ago that we get one freebie each.

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Maybe I'll use it for Antarctica. I was going to say every year, and we haven't cashed those in ever. So we each have two freebies to just talk about anything. Okay. Well, if you want to use one of years on Antarctica, I will be, who knows what we'll learn, you know, once we're down there, years from now.

Years from now. We're really looking forward to it in like 18 months. Okay. Well, like I said, we are not going to Antarctica for an episode today. we're actually going somewhere we have not been for an episode or at least i haven't covered for an episode we're going to ireland have you covered a no i think you have this is the first time cool all right so we are going to be covering a mysterious disappearance case and there's a lot of questions regarding what happened to this individual because obviously there's uh it's open-ended so we'll

talk about um the different theories as we go along i've already made up my mind but i'm very curious to what you're going to think. Okay. Okay. So let's get to know Arthur. He's the center of our story today. Arthur Kingsley Porter was born in Stanford, Connecticut in 1883 and was the third son in a very well-off family. When his father, Timothy Hopkins Porter, who was a banker, married Arthur's mother, Maria Lucia Hoyt, the union merged two of the state's oldest and most influential families. So if you're a Titanic fan, which Titanic has nothing to do with this story, but there's like the old money and the new money families. They are the old money families.

The old money, the people who really have money. The porters and the Hoyts claim to both have arrived in what is now Connecticut in the early 1600s. Arthur and his siblings had comfortable upbringings and wanted for nothing, but all the money in the world can't save you from tragedy. When he was eight years old, his mother died. His oldest brother passed away when Arthur was in. college and his father passed away when Arthur was a freshman at Yale University. So he's lost a lot

of his family. At a very young age, too. He forged on and he graduated from Yale in 1902. He was a huge lover of travel. So after Yale, he made his way around Europe's studying medieval buildings, thanks to his family's wealth. I was going to say, you don't study medieval buildings if you don't have money. Right. Mom, I'm going to just go study medieval castles. Like, how are you going to make money? How are you going to live? You're just going to study castles. Well, I'll tell you, because at the age of 18, like the day he turned 18, his trust fund matured and he was able to access that money. And he became a multi-millionaire literally overnight the second he turned 18. Ballsy of his family.

If I was a millionaire, I would not give my kid access to millions of dollars at 18. I'd be like, become a person first. Like, 30 is a good time for you to become rich. Get some character. Well, I mean, he seems to have me doing like, he has trauma. His whole family died. Oh, that's true. He does have trauma.

He does have trauma. I'm sorry. So anyways, he also, over time, he was really responsible with his money because he invested it in various businesses and endeavors. so his wealth was building upon itself. Not that he even really needed to do that. I mean, this guy was very wealthy. But while he was in Europe studying those medieval buildings,

he fell in love with architecture, even after having what he would later describe as a semi-spiritual experience while visiting one of the cathedrals out there. In particular, it was one that was built in the year 1210 in Normandy, France. So, like, that was like his turning point. He's like, I not only love looking at the architecture and I love the style, it's like, I want to make my life this now. So when he returned home from his travels in Europe and his time abroad, he set aside his law degree because remember he went to Yale and Yale is like a big law school.

And he enrolled at Columbia University School of Architecture to study art history. Total switch. This episode is brought to you by Prime. Obsession is in session. And this summer, Prime Originals have everything you want. Steamy romances, irresistible love stories, and the book-to-screen favorites you've already read twice. Off-campus, every year after, The Love Hypothesis, Sterling Point, and more. Slow burns, second chances, chemistry you can feel through the screen.

Your next obsession is waiting. Watch only on Prime. Mm-hmm. Several years later, he found himself a scholar of architecture and was involved in several prestigious art circles. At the age of 28 in 1907, during a social event in New York, he met 35-year-old Lucy Wallace's. Lucy was born and raised in Connecticut as well, coming from a family of wealth. Her father and her uncle owned Wallace and Sons, which was a really huge copper wire factory. She studied art history, music, and science at Miss Porter's Young

Lady's School in Farmington, Connecticut, and went on to be accepted as one of the first women into Yale School of Music. She was really accomplished herself on her own accord. Love that for her. And Farmington, Connecticut is where me and my dad spent a lot of time fishing. Oh, really? Yeah. I don't know. I've heard of it before, but I don't know if I've ever actually been there. Yeah, we, I don't know anything about the actual town. We just used to go to the rivers all the time. Okay. After graduation, Lucy went on to specialize in education, working a few years in New York schools before going back to her studies in Columbia's Teachers College, where she focused her study into the art, history, and literature worlds. The pair seemed to be opposites at first glance. He was more on the shy and

kind of like more reserved side. While Lucy had a calendar chock full of social events, she had an air of confidence, she was really outgoing, just kind of polar opposites at first glance, but they had a lot in common and they fell in love pretty quickly and they bonded over a passion for art and architecture, and they were married by the following year. They spent the following years traveling overseas again, coming back after the start of World War 1. As the war raged through European countries, destroying the architecture that Arthur loved, he returned to Yale for a lecturing role and wound up giving Yale an offer. In 1916, he offered the university $500,000 to set up a department of art history, laying out specific ways,

in which his money was to be utilized. And apparently, Yale was frustrated by his strict guidelines and declined his very generous offer. And do you know how much money this was in that time period, like in comparison to today? I didn't do the calculation, but I would love to guess if you want to Google it. Okay. Okay. So it's five. What year was it again?

1916. And it was 500 grand. So I want to say it's like around four to five million. today? Sorry, what year again? 1916. I was writing 1961 and I'm like, that's not right. 13.9 million. Oh, God. Okay. Whoa. Wow. And they declined that? Well, yeah. So he was really, really, he was very particular about how he wanted this program to look and the guidelines around this program that he's essentially funding the entire thing. And why, While Yale initially was on board, it never went all the way through just because of how

particular Arthur was being. I could kind of see that, I guess, if you don't have the freedoms to create your own curriculum and you have someone else delegating it, I could see how that could get a little dicey. Two years later, in 1918, the French government offered Arthur a job. Because at this point now, Arthur is now an unrivaled expert in his field. and the French government asked for his help leading an architectural preservation effort to commemorate and revive the history of the buildings that were destroyed by World War I. He accepted and also worked as a guest lecturer at universities throughout France and Spain,

building his reputation as he went. And all this time, Lucy is with him, working alongside her husband frequently, having an extensive knowledge of art herself, because remember she has a solid background even before she knew Arthur. And she actually documented a lot of his studies and acted as his official photographer. And a lot of her photography work was celebrated and applauded by the entire industry. And her work was published in many of Arthur's books that he went on to publish about the subjects that they were studying and lecturing on.

The pair returned to the states in 1925 and moved to Boston, where he became the chair of art history at Harvard. He was at the top of his field, a renowned scholar of architecture and archaeology. His professional wealth allowed him to fund leaves of absences and to fund his own expedition teams to Europe in search of different treasures, earning him the nickname the Indiana Jones of architecture. One of these expeditions got him in some controversial waters, though. Arthur was in Spain in search for evidence to support his thesis involving some Romanesque sculpture. And in the most basic terms that I can interpret, because I did kind of look into it because it's interesting. Basically, this was a type of sculpture that was practiced in Spain during the 11th century.

And he found proof in the form of a burial slab. So it looks like kind of like the top of a sarcophagus lid type of thing. If I can give you that mental picture, it's just a big slab of... Okay, I can kind of picture it. It's a big slab of stone with different carvings in it, essentially. That's used for the top of a tomb. and the lid was circa 1093. So it was different from any other coffin lid at the time,

containing large figures representing different souls that had passed on to the next world. This, along with some other very detailed architectural and archaeological lingo, basically proved his original theory. Using his money and his connections, Arthur purchased the sarcophagus lid, had it shipped back to the states and put it on display at the Fog Museum of Archer. at Harvard. And this really triggered some controversy because he did buy it, quote unquote, but it's like, is that really its rightful place? And a lot of people got upset and there's a big thing.

And it does come back around a little bit later, but it kind of got him into some trouble. But for him in the moment, he's like, I just proved my thesis. I'm right. I'm doing all the things I wanted to do. I'm traveling. I'm guest lecturing here and there. My life is good. At least that That's what people thought. Because on the outside, Arthur was riding high until rumors started to swirl that Arthur was sexually harassing some of his male students at Harvard. Whether it was the rumors or Arthur struggles with depression, which he experienced on and off throughout his life, which his father also struggled with when he was alive.

Lucy, his wife, suggested a change of scenery. Let's just get out of here. There's a lot going on. Do you know, is there any validity to the rumors? that he was doing those things. We'll talk about it. Okay. And also, ever since you said, he's the Indiana Jones of, like, architecture,

I just think he looks like Nicholas Cage. And I'm picturing Nicholas Cage and everything that you're talking about. Why would you picture Nicholas Cage for Indiana Jones? Because he's in... Or is that National Treasure? That's National Treasure. I'm like, what? The same thing.

I mean, I'm connecting the dots. I'm following... I'm picking up what you're putting down, as my dad would say. Okay, I'm just picturing Nicholas Cage in this entire episode. I'm sorry for that because that's never my goal for you to picture him. For any. For anybody. To picture him.

For anything ever. So Lucy suggests this change of scenery due to her husband's significant interest in Celtic history and art in 1929, the couple decided to purchase a home in Ireland. But this wasn't just any home in Ireland. This was an entire castle. The dream. Despite being beautiful. beautiful. The castle that they purchased has a very dark beginning. The Glenve estate was first

created in 1857 by Captain John Adair, a wealthy Irish businessman who made his fortune in American finance. So Captain Adair had a vision of building a large sprawling estate with deer hunting and sheep farming surrounding this large castle with ornate gardens, and he began purchasing large tracts of land in Donigal accumulating 28,000 acres around the Derry Vey Mountains. The problem was the land that he purchased already had people living on it, and lots of them. He allowed the people to stay initially, and they essentially became his tenants. Before long, disputes over hunting and fishing rights on the land arose, leading to the murder of one of Captain Adair's shepherds, who was found beaten to death.

No one owned up to the murder, and Captain Adair blamed the entire community, basically using the murder as a springboard to launch what would later become known as the Derry Vay Evictions. On April 8th of 1861, Adair went on a rampage and began seizing homes and lands of the 47 different families living throughout the land. Anticipating a mass resistance and uprising to this mass eviction, he enlisted the help of 200, policeman and a 10-person crowbar brigade to remove the families by force, demolish and level their homes, or remove the roofs so they were unable to return back. And over three days, 85 adults and 159 children from 47 families were evicted across over 11,000 acres of the valley. An eyewitness to the event later told a newspaper, quote,

long before the house was reached, loud cries were heard, piercing the air. Frantic would despair and throwing themselves on the ground, they became almost insensible and bursting out in the old Irish whale. Then heard by many for the first time, their terrifying cries resounded along the mountains for many miles. They had been deprived of their only shelter, and with bleak poverty before them, and with only the blue sky to shelter them, naturally they lost all hope, and those who witnessed their agony will never forget the sight. That's so sad. So this guy's ruthless. Absolutely ruthless. Like children, families, just get out, like lost their homes overnight.

That's horrible. None of the tenants resorted to violence, even though most were resorted to homelessness. Some were taken in by relatives and nearby landowners who pitied their situations. Others were sent to workhouses, while others emigrated to England, America, or Australia. This event is considered to be one of the cruelest in all of Irish history. Adair went on to build. the castle in 1867 and completed it in 1873. So he basically just ruined the lives of 47 families so he could have a castle and hunt deer. Who lived in the castle with him? Well, it's just like,

it's just greed essentially is what it is. It's just him in the castle alone with his land. He's like, where did all the people go? So did I picture. His dream of completing the hunting estate didn't happen as he died suddenly in 1885. So he didn't even get a... How do you die? It just says suddenly. Mm, sketchy. Yeah, so he didn't even get a full decade in a completed castle.

And after his death, his wife, Cornelia, had his gravestone inscribed for the words, brave, just and generous. Generous? Just? Just. Brave? Very questionable. Cornelia.

questionable decision making. Yeah. Local legend has it that the gravestone was later struck by lightning and shattered into pieces, while another alleges that a local woman in Derivay placed a curse on the castle so that none of its owners would ever have children. Cornelia proved to be a much kinder overseer and continually sought to improve the castle's comfort and the beauty of its grounds, carrying out major improvements to the estate and layout of the gardens. Over the next 30 years, she was to become a high society hostess and continued to spend her summers at the castle until 1916. Following her death in 1921, Glen Bay fell into decline and was occupied by military forces during the Irish Civil War.

And it wasn't until 1929 when it received its next owners who were Arthur and Lucy Porter. Despite the castle's beauty, there was another reason the couple decided to move to the castle. Its high stone walls kept in a secret that they had been harboring. Shortly before leaving for Ireland, after nearly two decades together, Arthur let Lucy in on his most closeted secret, that he was gay. Despite loving her deeply, he couldn't deny himself any longer and confided in Lucy, who patiently listened and supported him with compassion and love. The move to Ireland seemed to alleviate some of Arthur's inner turmoil, at least temporarily.

An avid outdoorsman, he spent a lot of his time beyond the sprawling grounds of the gardens, of the castle, out into the mountains, because this castle is literally nestled into a bunch of mountains. It's on the shores of a lake. It's beautiful. He would do a lot of hiking, reading outdoors, sitting along the sparkling lakes of the region, and he seemed to be mentally in a better place, at least temporarily. He became more intrigued by Celtic studies and began learning the language and studies, Celtic high crosses and art. Despite the castle's remote location, it was always alive with activity. Although no visitor ever came without an invitation, Lucy's full rolodex kept them busy

as hosts. Additionally, there was always about 10 people there at all times, either taking care of the castle and its grounds, or living and working on the property in some capacity. It didn't leave much time for solitude that Arthur was eager for, and that may be what prompted their next purchase, which was a small piece of property on Inishbothen, a small island located roughly just two miles off the west coast of Ireland in the Atlantic Ocean. And it's pretty close to the castle's location. Okay. The island is small.

It's only roughly about 300 acres in size, and so was its population. The residents were fishermen and farmers, and in the early 1930s, the island's population hovered around 138 people. Tiny, small town. Very small. Small. In the early 30s, Arthur turned his sights towards this sparsely populated island, which was essentially divided into two parts. There was one half of it, which was the populated side. Like everyone who lived there had their homes there. And then the other half of the island was pretty desolate. No one lived there. Like it was used maybe for like sheep farming and other things, but it was really windy and rougher to live on. But Arthur liked that side because no one was there.

So he's just avoiding people. Everyone. Everyone. He hired locals to build him a very small home there, far removed from everything and everyone on the island. Despite locals thinking it was a remote and awkward choice, they obliged and they built him a small stone two-room cottage. So very different from Glen Bay Castle.

Arthur and Lucy split their time while they were in Ireland between the castle and the island, routinely making trips back and forth to the states. And for a time, everything seemed to go back to quote unquote normal, despite Arthur revealing his big secret to Lucy. So are they just staying in the marriage and she's just supporting him through it? I mean, in this time especially, I imagine that he couldn't, he can't come out and tell people. So they just have kind of this showfront marriage now and she's just supporting him through it. Yes. And she supports him in a way that goes beyond just like, I don't understand, but whatever,

like as long as people don't know whatever, like she was, I mean, especially at this time, something that may have caused a significant rift or even end their entire marriage. Lucy stood like pretty steadfastly by Arthur's side throughout this whole thing and she did anything and everything she could to support him. Like she wasn't just like, I will save face with you in public. But otherwise, like, don't talk to me. It wasn't anything like that. She loved him for who he was regardless of his sexuality and regardless of...

Like they were best friends. Right. Yeah, exactly. The porters were living in a time where homosexuality was viewed as a condition. And it was illegal. The inner turmoil it was causing Arthur was clear to Lucy. And she felt very deeply for her husband. So she decided to seek support for him in the best way that she knew how.

She researched the work of Dr. Havlock Ellis, an unorthodox psychotherapist and sexologist based in London, and she urged Arthur to reach out to him. So he did, and they began working together. And what? I'll tell you. It was Havelock's opinion that his repressed sexuality was the root cause of his bouts with depression. So he recommended Arthur contact one of his other. patients who was a young man named Alan Campbell. So Alan and Arthur began exchanging letters and

became quite close. So is Alan one of his patients who is also gay? Yes. Is that why he connected them? Yes. Okay. Alan began visiting their homes, both in the States and in Ireland, to the castle in Glen Bay. He spent so much time in their Boston home that he even had his own room. A relationship soon began to form between Arthur and Alan, and Lucy didn't object and was quite supportive of opening up their marriage. Havelock instructed the pair to keep in contact with him and separately without consulting one another by writing him letters detailing their thoughts and feelings regarding their relationship. So essentially, like at face value, it's like, oh, he's like, oh, you might want to,

a support system of someone who's going through something similar, here's this guy, his name's Alan, But essentially, Havelock was conducting an experiment on what was viewed at the time as an unconventional relationship. So I don't think that Havelock had any like really bad intentions, but his intentions did involve him doing research. So he's studying their relationship and also kind of playing Cupid. Right. He's like, here's a support system. Wink, wink, wink. Just kidding.

I think you guys will like each other a lot. go get me. And just tell me about it so I can figure out what this is because no one talks about it. Yeah, no one talks about it. It's not understood at all at the time. So I don't know. Like, it kind of gives me mixed feelings, but especially because I don't know too, too much about Havelock Ellis himself. But he was pretty unconventional at the time. But was he unconventional at the time because he was studying homosexuality, which was viewed at the time as like a condition. Like would he be considered unconventional now? Right.

That's the point. Yeah. Yeah. And I do wonder, like, is he being manipulative or does he genuinely want to know? Like, is this? Because if you're just looking at it as an experiment point of view, like, let's see what happens, then that sounds pretty awful. But if you're looking at it where you're studying social relationships and you want to learn more

and you've found two people who can help you do that while also getting. a support system and being able to find a space to be themselves, then that's a lot different versus if you're just like trying to see what happens. And I get intention is important behind it. And I also do get just with a background in psychology, I do get wanting to learn more and study. And especially in this time where no one talks about it. Right.

Absolutely. Because there's such a stigma against it, unfortunately. And then he's studying it. Yeah. Is what I like to believe that it's not a malicious thing. According to both Arthur and Alan's letters to Havelock, everything was going well for a time, but it wasn't long until Alan, who was nearly 20 years younger than Arthur, made the first mentions of his unhappiness and expressed interest in leaving the situation. Arthur likely knew this. At one point,

he even paid Alan for part-time office work in an effort to persuade him to stay. So it's not like written down word for word that Arthur knew, but he kind of got a feeling that he wanted to leave. So he's like, well, if you're not going to stay for the relationship, at least like earn some money, I can give you a job. So in essence, at this point, Alan is a very young man in what he is now viewing the relationship as kind of like an arrangement, like an arranged relationship with someone who is now much older than him. He's in a remote castle most of the year in Ireland and in a foreign country because he wasn't born in Ireland.

So he's extremely unhappy. He began spending less and less time with Arthur. And as a result, Arthur began spending more and more time alone. Arthur's depression and anxiety increased significantly and he sought out time by himself on the island much more frequently. Locals took notice of the millionaire because obviously he's extremely. extremely wealthy. And yet he's just alone in a two-room stone cottage on a part of an island that no one wants to be on. It's how do you not notice that? You know? I feel like there would be rumors going around. Like, just people would start making things up about like the lone guy in the, in the castle and on the island. Like, what's he doing over there? Mm-hmm. And Arthur actually wanted the beach by quote unquote, his side of the island literally just for himself. And while he permitted locals to come and collect driftwood along the shores to be used as firewood,

he didn't want anyone to linger around or stay for longer than they needed to. And he gave every resident on the island two euros, which is roughly $50 today, to allow him permission to walk wherever he pleased on the island at whatever time and to come and go as he pleased throughout the island with no questions asked. So they likely looked at him kind of oddly, like with squinted eyes or like a raised eyebrow about those requests. But they described him as an overall pleasant person and they were happy to accommodate his wishes because he was nice and also because he was paying them. They're like, okay, you seem nice enough and you're paying us. We don't know what's going on with you, but sure.

Yeah, why not? The long walks on the beaches of the island were a way of spending time alone with his thoughts, which at this point were filled with anxiety and worry. He was fearful that his sexuality was not something that could be kept hidden forever, especially back at home, away from the isolated island that provided privacy and afforded the luxury of discretion. According to a letter he wrote to Havelock, it seemed he was scared of his secret being revealed and being, quote unquote, found out,

saying, quote, The shadow that has arisen is that it has been reported to me that people are talking, about Alan and I feel myself absorbed by anxiety. And as we kind of alluded to earlier, being gay at this point in time in the UK was illegal and it was highly scrutinized back in the US. The worry of being discovered as a homosexual at Harvard would have undoubtedly at this point in time ruined his career, one he had spent a really long time building up. And so much schooling and he's so smart and experienced and that's awful. And I just had a curiosity, I started Googling because I'm just interested to know about the 1920s and what was going on with same-sex relationships. And there's a lot of

articles. The first one that comes up is from history.com. And it says how gay culture blossomed during the roaring 20s. But then it says they were illegal. But there was a lot of nightlife and culture that was starting to happen in the 20s. And there were LGBT. you communities that were starting to form, but it was still very illegal and very like, like what you're saying, your entire world could be ruined if people found out that you were gay. Especially. And that's because, like, also, while a lot of that was obviously happening in pockets of

our country at the time, Arthur was not a part of the regular community. He was like Harvard, which is one of the most buttoned up old school establishment. in the country at the time, not progressive thinking whatsoever. Like even if this was starting to become more accepted at the time, it was not anywhere near his world, especially. And I did do a little bit of digging about being gay at Harvard during this time because obviously that's where his worry was stemming from. And it's just unbelievable.

Obviously, I didn't go super into it, but it gives context a little bit to like, why you. he was so stressed out. So being getting in the 20s and 30s at Harvard would have been extremely difficult. According to Timothy McCarthy, who is an award-winning scholar, educator, and activist who has taught at the Ivy League School for more than 20 years, he said it would have been, quote-unquote, terrible. On campus, there was an enormous amount of hostility towards people who were even suspected as being homosexual.

According to Timothy, one of the darkest chapters in Harvard history comes from the 1920s. when there was a secret court established to investigate suspicions of homosexuality in an attempt to purge the school from students who are engaging in homosexual activities. And as a result of this, several individuals completed suicide and 10 people ended up getting expelled. Eight of them were undergraduates, there was a graduate student, and an assistant professor. This court may have operated in quote unquote secret, but it was well understood at the time just how things on campus. went. Timothy goes on to say that, quote, if you are a gay person, a black person, or a Jewish person at Harvard in the 1920s and 30s, you are always under surveillance and always subject to

discrimination and prejudice and you were always potentially the target of a purging. Of a purging. That is so horrifying. And not to downplay anything that's going on today because we obviously still see these issues significantly today. But just the fact that that's like, you're at risk of a purge. The fact that people focus so hard on sexuality when it doesn't even matter for like it's your own private business. You know, it's who you love doesn't matter and it doesn't even correlate with what you do for a job or where you work or what you like to do in your life. And the fact that they're sending out like these bounty hunters on people is just insane. And it's ruining their entire lives.

Yeah, you can't be who you are. And I mean, obviously, just from this one particular example, at least one person ended their own life over it. I mean, that's like, I would say one person in this time, but I mean, that's a frequent issue that goes on today as well. Like, I mean, this is happening every day in the United States where people are losing their lives because people aren't accepting of it. I mean, it's an ongoing issue.

Right, right. But this secret court, you know, whatever operation. in particular. In particular was the result of at least one that, you know, I found. And it's just, it's awful. So all of that to say essentially, Arthur, in his mind, he's like, there's no way. There's absolutely no way that I'm going to be accepted. And he's anxious because somehow, according to his letter back to Havelock, he has heard

rumors about people talking about Allen and suspecting something. So he is really, really concerned. I wish that Arthur would have seen that Ireland was going to be like the first country in the world to recognize same-sex marriages. Well, it's like it makes me so sad because obviously we have more to go. He wasn't alive during the time because it happened in 2015, but which is very recent. I was going to say like it makes me sad because obviously we'll talk more about his, you know, what happens. But it just makes me sad that he, it's like he was kind of like alive before his time. time type of thing. But I will say, I mean, he's just one of, I'm sure, thousands and thousands of

people who went through this throughout time and history. And still do. And still do. So Arthur is the director of an entire program at the university. He's an esteemed professor and has held chair amongst all his other academic achievements. So if he was outed, you could only imagine the public downfall that he would have received. Also, compounded onto that, he would have had it even harder due to his family's notoriety. Because remember, he's not just like someone with a lot of money who is now in a very prestigious position. People are very into his family's business and have been for a really long time. When he was a child, for example, after his mom passed away, his father tried to move forward

in dating and finding a new partner. He was courting other women. And he was sending romantic letters to some of the younger women in the community. And eventually he started seriously dating someone. She was a governess. And his side of the family was concerned because they feared this younger woman was after all of the family money. But all of this very private

and emotionally sensitive information wasn't very private because of the family's stature in the community. All of their personal affairs were published in the New York Times during this time for the world to read about. Like, can you even fucking imagine. I would hate to be a celebrity in the spotlight like that. It's awful. It's just

awful. Like, why do people want to read this shit? Read a book. A read a book. But not only does that, is that awful for his dad and his family as a whole, but Porter, Arthur at this time was a young boy. And it probably was something that like he wouldn't ever forget. Like, he learned that every move we make, everything that is going on, people will know about. As a porter, he wasn't exactly able to fly under the radar. And he also, you know, he's living in one of the biggest houses in the city and he's known in the highest social circles. Like, he can't do anything without, he can't breathe a word without anyone knowing about it.

There was also the matter of finances that's adding to his anxiety. The porters were experiencing financial problems. During the Great Depression, the family had consistently lost portion. of their wealth. In a letter to his only surviving brother, he wrote that he had, quote, fears of total annihilation, going on to say that he was considering selling the castle unless there were signs of the economy turning around. And lastly, his relationship with Alan was about to end, and he was very well aware of that. It was now the summer of 1933, and Alan was preparing to leave Arthur. Lucy, Arthur, and Alan boarded the RMS Cameroonia in the early summer,

to set for Glen Bay Castle. According to the ship records, when it was first docked in Derry, Ireland, the stop that they would disembark to go on to get to their property. Allen did not join them, opting instead to continue on towards England. And this really upset Arthur,

and he turned to have Locke for advice. The doctor advised him to meet him in London, to get together, to talk it through, which him and his wife did end up doing. So Lucy accompanied Arthur to go talk to the doctor about what's going on. And when Lucy and Arthur arrived to Glenvei, the couple opted to go straight to their two-room cottage on Einishbuffin to spend the night. Early the next morning, it is now July 8, 1933. Arthur told Lucy that he was going to take a walk.

Obviously not out of the norm. He paid people on the island so he can walk anywhere he wanted any time. but when he had not returned by 11 a.m., she went looking for him along his regular spots. When she couldn't find him, she went further, and then a bit further. Finding no trace of him and becoming more and more worried, she enlisted the help of two local men to help her. They split up into two different directions to cover more ground. At 3 p.m., midway through the search, she went back to the cabin to write letters to loved ones regarding her husband's disappearance, but according to historians, she never sent them. By 8 p.m. that night, without any indication of where Arthur may be,

she said she was satisfied that a thorough search of the island had been made, seemingly accepting that Arthur had been swept out to sea. While she was waiting on a dock to be picked up and brought back to the mainland, she turned to a person waiting alongside her, stating Kingsley, which is Arthur's middle name. Kingsley will not return tonight. Kingsley will never return. According to Lucy, he went for a walk, must have gotten too close to the edge of a cliff, fallen off, and was swept out to see. There was an official investigation into the event held in September, the first in the Irish state to be held without a body. This inquest, whose records reside today in the National Archives in Dublin, involved interviewing witnesses. And these locals were asked

a series of questions, including if they saw any boats leaving the island, that Arthur disappeared around the time that he was out for his walk. And while most of them said no, it came to light that one small boat did leave the island around 11 a.m. that morning of July 8th, which is the day he disappeared. Also, the night before, a large fishing vessel had left the island, and Lucy had been seen helping it prepare for departure. After extensive review, the inquest accepted Lucy's version of the events. Arthur's death, which they're now assuming he's dead because it's months later, Arthur's death was officially ruled as death by misadventure in a simple tragic accident. Although privately, the coroner alluded that it was in his opinion that Lucy knew more than what

she was letting on in court, and she appeared to act as if her husband's disappearance was not unexpected at all. And he wasn't the only one to have suspicions. It didn't take long. It didn't take long for news of the story to spread throughout the island and across the pond back to the U.S. and over the years, everyone seems to have their own opinion of what actually happened to Arthur that day. The island's residents had an especially difficult time buying the idea that he simply fell off of a cliff and was swept away to see. Because according to this, I watched a documentary on this story, it's produced by TG4, and it's called The Story of Arthur Kingsley Porter, and the entire documentary is based on the book, which I also have, called Glen Bay Mystery,

the Life, Work and Disappearance of Arthur Kingsley Porter by Lucy Costigan. And the documentary is, there's a couple people who are interviewed that speak English, but it's all, what is it, is it, what do they speak Celtic? Yeah. Yeah. So it's all. A Gaelic. It's Gaelic.

Gaelic, yeah. So I'm like trying to learn like how to like pronounce these locations and things. because they don't say it the same way, you know what I mean? So I'm like, oh my gosh, I hope I'm doing okay. You're doing great, sweetie. Thanks. But in this documentary, which goes to these actual locations, you can see there are areas of cliffs on the islands, but they're not very high.

And of course, they're high enough to sustain injury. I mean, you can break your ankle by taking a step wrong on your staircase at home, you know? Like, you can get injured, obviously falling off one of these cliffs, but the local. especially were like, okay, you could definitely break a leg or like an arm or whatever, but to die and be swept out to see like immediately. Like a little dramatic. It seems unlikely.

They weren't entirely convinced. The rocks are slippery when they're wet and the base of them does have a swift and receding outgoing tide, but the locals just don't buy that version of events, especially because Arthur was extremely familiar with the island. and he was an experienced outdoorsman. So getting close to the edge and unintentionally would have seemed a little out of character for him. So if it wasn't death by misadventure, what the hell happened? So I have a few theories written down that are the most debated, hotly debated.

Can I say my theory before you say yours that are debated? Yeah, sure. Go ahead. I have thoughts. I feel like because he was financially struggling, he was afraid to be outed, his wife was extremely supportive and loving of him. I think that she helped him concoct some idea to escape the island and start a new life elsewhere. And I don't think he died at all. So you think he faked his own death?

Yes. Okay. That is my... Final answer. That's my consensus as well. That's my opinion as well. But of course, we'll run through things that are debated. Okay.

And two of them in particular, it's like... Roll your eye. But, yeah. So the first one, he... is that he was murdered by Lucy over his love affair with Alan, which seems like almost impossible to me. I mean, she's supposed, by all accounts, she was, she's the one who facilitated the relationship in the beginning and she was supportive throughout the years. Like, I just don't, I don't buy that. I don't buy it. During the inquests of the investigation following Arthur's disappearance,

the arrangement with Alan was never brought up because no one knew about it. Lucy kept her husband's sexuality close to her chest. And I do believe it wasn't from embarrassment or like ruining her own, like, image to the public. It was out of love for him. She always supported him, loved him, allowed him to be himself. Like, I just don't believe that whatsoever. Me either.

The second is that he ended his own life intentionally between the anxiety and fear that he felt about the public finding out about his sexuality and what subsequently would have been the pretty, like we can say pretty confidently, the end of his career. Obviously, there's the end of his relationship with Alan, his financial situation, his overall unhappiness. He must have felt pretty trapped. He clearly couldn't live and love freely in the position he was in at the time. So a lot of people believe he ended his own life. I think that that's a possible answer, but why wasn't there a body if that was the case. The explanation for that is that he just jumped off a cliff and his body was never located. That's a crazy way to end your life though. You have to like be in cold water,

drowning, being hit by salty waves. Like that is a crazy way. I feel like, I feel like that's also unlikely because what you said, you know, it's not a surefire way. You could just jump off and break your leg and suffer or like, like, I don't know. I just. And who says you're even going to be dragged out to see? Like, what if you just wash up on the shore? Right. It's just not a very efficient way. Yeah, I don't know. I don't think it's impossible, but I just feel like it's odd. Yeah. Okay. So the next one is the one I roll my eyes at the most. Okay. But it comes up, I mean, in different research portals and things, it's come up multiple times. So I felt like I had to include it. Okay. He was cursed and died as a result. And it. And it's,

It all stems back. It all stems back to that sarcophagus. So remember the one he found and then allegedly bought and then brought to Harvard? So in 1931, a Duke in Spain realized that Arthur had taken the sarcophagus back to the states and he was pissed. He lobbied the Spanish government to get the peace back, arguing that its historical significance was tied to Spain, had nothing to do with America and shouldn't be there and that it belonged in Spain. And due to different political processes, it was tied up and delayed for years this decision. But by the time it was actually physically returned back to its rightful place, it was July 8th of 1933, which was the same day that Arthur disappeared. Oh, spooky. So that's a little spooky. But spooky. I don't know. Let's just

move on because I don't. There's like no wait until. You can't, what does that even mean? How do you prove it? Okay, and then lastly, of course, what we kind of already talked about, he faked his own death by escaping the island to start a new life. Despite the money that the porters were losing, they were still exceptionally wealthy. He would have had ample access to resources that he needed to leave his old life to start a new one wherever he chose. Little clues indicating this could have been the cause make it seem likely, especially ones hidden in his own writing. So he was an avid writer, he wrote a lot of different books, and while most of them, were about architecture and art history, he did write a play, and it was called Comkele Goes,

inspired by the story of one of the patron saints of Ireland, St. Comkele, I think I'm saying that right, probably not. And there was a statue of the saint that stood outside of the Glenvee Castle that was put there by the castle's previous owner. So to keep it brief, basically this saint, this Irish saint, was a missionary, he got into trouble and was really deeply troubled by his own conscience. And he was denounced, like kind of cast off by society and decided to leave the shores of Ireland, promising never to return.

And in the preface of Arthur's play, it says, quote, the significance of the characters is that they voice Arthur's innate thoughts. And there's a portion of the play where the saint is leaving the shores, leaving his problems, leaving Ireland, and saying that the shore will carry him away and no one will ever see him again. He'll be gone and he'll be wandering alone forever. There it is. So it's like, there it is.

He wrote it down. Is that a coincidence? Yeah. Oni McGee, who is a fisherman who looked after the porter's boats, was the last person to come forward at least to claim that he saw Arthur. And he has descendants who still live on the island. And based on what they heard growing up and learning, they said that, only knew what happened to Arthur. And regardless of what he did or didn't disclose to investigators

during the inquiry, he had always held fast that Arthur left the island in good health and was secretly transferred from one boat to another until he was far enough away to begin his life over again. I knew it. It's what I said. I figured it out from the beginning. Yeah, I knew. Arthur Kingsley Porter remains to this day an important scholar and researcher of medieval architecture and award- winning author, a distinguished professor of fine arts, and is remembered as a worldwide traveler. He is also remembered fondly at the school he was so worried would have disowned him. As he was one of the founders of the College Art Association of America, a prize in his honor is still given out every year, and his personal communications are now a part of Harvard's archives.

There are 35 boxes worth of his personal documents, between personal letters and diaries, and photographs of him and his family throughout his life. After Arthur's death, Lucy returned to Glen Bay and used her wealth to fund research to study the quote, nature, cause, and treatment of homosexuality. She sold Glen Bay Castle to Henry McKinney, a former student of Arthur's. She moved back to the U.S. and continued her husband's archaeological studies. She died on September 19th of 1962 in her Cambridge, Massachusetts home, never revealing her husband's relationship with Alan. And we only know about this because of the letters. Oh, wow. She kept it a secret until the end. Yep. She never told anyone. Well, I'm happy it came out and I'm happy that now he's remembered

in a beloved in a beloved way from Harvard, not only for his accomplishments, but also as someone who is part of the LGBTQ community. Her estate in Cambridge was bequeathed to Harvard University. And it's now part of the university's property. Lucy is interred in a family plot in Woodland Cemetery in Stanford, Connecticut. Her headstone reads, Arthur Kingsley Porter, February 6th, 1983, drowned at sea, July 6th, 1933. His wife, Lucy Wallace Porter, January 23rd, 1876, to September 19th, 1962. Arthur's great-grand-nephew, Scott Arneill, still lives in the community. When he was asked what he thinks happened to his relative, he believes that Arthur faked his own death in order to live a more genuine life and hoping to avoid scandal. He believed because Lucy had shown such a tremendous

understanding for her husband for so many years, he thinks that she was in on it and likely helped arrange it or at the very least understood his departure when he left. Although Arthur vanished without a trace from the island, that doesn't mean that he disappeared completely. For years, Arthur sightings were reported in all sorts of places, from other islands off the coast of Ireland to as far away as India. While visiting Donigal, a town on the coastal mainland, a couple was using a spyglass to look out to Einish Bofen, so basically just like an old school binocular. And a man nearby who was working on a roof repair noticed that they were sightseeing and struck up a conversation with them.

This was shortly after he disappeared, by the way, like just like a couple months to a year after he had disappeared. And the guy on the roof was like, oh, like, you're looking over at that island, you know what happened there, like kind of telling him the story of the millionaire, the lore and legend of whatever happened on the island. And the couple kind of like looked at each other

and then looked at him and scoffed and said, that millionaire isn't dead. He's still around. We were talking to him in Paris last. week. So I don't know if they were fucking with him or if they were like, no, we know. I think he was in Paris. The city of love, baby. Yep. So I like to believe that he just went off to Paris and lived his best life for the rest of his days. But just to kind of wrap this up, you may be wondering, like, how the fuck is this connected to a national park? Well, Henry McKenny, the man who

Lucy sold the castle and the grounds to, wound up being its last private owner. He was an American connoisseur of art and antiques and an avid world traveler. He was a socialite, philanthropist, and notably a curator and chairman of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He used the castle as his part-time residence and he was incredibly passionate about the property. He hired eight full-time gardeners to enhance and care for the grounds while hiring talented stone craftsmen and stone masons to add various architectural features. And the alleged curse on the castle that, remember back in day from when the evictions happened that none of the owners would ever have children has remained true. As he had no heirs, Henry left almost his entire estate to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

However, he gifted the Glen Bay Castle, the gardens, and estate lands to the Irish state in 1975 under the condition that he would be able to live there for the rest of his life, which he did, until just a few years before his death in 1986. The hope that the people of Ireland and beyond could enjoy the property as much as he once did, came true in 1984 when Glenvay National Park opened to the public. The park and the castle draw visitors in from around the world. It's the second largest national park in all of Ireland. It included the castle and its surrounding grounds, a large freshwater lake and much of the Derry Bay Mountain Range, and it is home to the largest herd of red deer in Ireland, and the formerly extirpated Golden Eagle was reintroduced into this

National Park in the year 2000. The park is a popular destination for local schools where children visit on field trips to learn about the landscape, about the natural world, and how to care for it. The park even hosts events on biodiversity and conservation and leave no trace outdoor ethics education programs while the castle is open for historic tours and garden walks. And the last last thing, I know this is like the longest episode I've done in like over a year probably, But the last thing I had to like kind of look into was Einish Bofen, obviously the island that he spent a lot of time on. Because I was like, where is it today?

If there's only 138 people on it before, like, is it even a thing anymore? And surprisingly, it's seen a pretty recent revival. Over the last decade, the island has taken a serious step forward regarding ecotourism. All of the land on the island is now protected and several volunteer-based organizations help fund local on-ycournese. conservation initiatives and projects. The entirety of the island has embraced sustainability and prides itself on providing an intimate, authentic tourism destination. As of 2017, 40,000 people were visiting every single year

and staying in hostels, bed and breakfast, hotels, and on different campsites. The island has kept in mind how maintaining leave-no-trace principles positively affects its countryside. They sell certified fair trade items, utilize, renewable energy sources, and more. Visitors can enjoy activities like walking scenic loops, learning in different heritage museums, participating in yoga events, intimate farm tours with farm-to-table dining. They have dive charters, there's geocaching, horseback riding, and wildlife viewing at the

different seal colonies, or birdwatching amongst all the tall grass on the island. And in 2021, the island unveiled a memorial in memory of those who lost their lives in the sea surrounding Einish Bofen and as a way to bring comfort and solace to those affected families. Arthur's name is not included. And that is the story of Arthur Kingsley Porter and his end-of-life mystery. Well, I'm sold on visiting the place. We have a castle and an island to visit in Ireland. Yep. I'm ready. I've never been anywhere near there, so. I've been to Ireland before, but on a different side, because I was on the Dublin area. And I went to Wicklow National Park

where PSI Love You was filmed. So cute. I can never watch that movie again, but I remember it fondly. Yeah. Yeah. It's a really sad movie, so yeah. Yeah.

In case no one has seen it in the last 15 years or whatever. When did that come out? It's got to been, I want to say. It's when I first fell in love with Gerard Butler. I feel like that's the origin story for everyone's love of Gerard Butler. Yeah. Like 2012, I want to say, maybe. P.S. I love you.

2007. No. Yeah. God. I'm showing my age. It was like a couple years ago. Everyone's like Gerard Butler's old. What are you talking about?

He wasn't always, okay? Or even worse, they're like, who? No, he's been in recent things. Yeah, I know. He'll do well for many years to come. But anyway, okay, I know I've talked enough. So yeah, I hope everyone enjoyed that and let us know what you think your theory is. I'm a Lucy Stan.

I feel like she, I think she did the ultimate act of love and let her husband go to enjoy his life in the way that would be fulfilling to him. Yeah, I agree. Cool. Team Lucy. Team Lucy. We'll see you guys next week. In the meantime, enjoy the view. But watch you're back.

Bye, guys. Bye. Thank you so much for joining us again this week. If you have a trail tale or story suggestion, send us an email at Stories at npaddpodcast.com. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook at National Park After Dark and on Twitter at NPAD podcast. Join our Outsiders-only community on Patreon or Apple subscriptions to listen ad-free, unlock monthly bonus episodes, and exclusive content. And remember, when you support our sponsors, you are supporting our show. For our exclusive discount codes and source information from today's episode, check out the show notes.

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