Shannon Development
Open-knowledge reference entry
Shannon Development (legally the Shannon Free Airport Development Company Limited formerly known as SFADCO) was an important regional development body for the Shannon Region of Ireland. Its area in the lower River Shannon basin comprised all of counties Clare, Limerick, and the former North Tipperary, as well as north Kerry and west Offaly. Its key founder was Brendan O'Regan.
Shannon Development worked with, but was not an agency of, Forfás.
Responsibility
Shannon Development was set up as Shannon Free Airport Development Company by the Irish Government in 1959 to promote the airport and region. Shannon Airport was built at a strategic point on the early transatlantic flying route, but with the age of the jet, its fortunes declined. In 1969 Aer Rianta took responsibility of the airport.
Shannon Development was responsible for a number of areas of development of the region including tourism and industry similar to IDA Ireland. The agency was responsible for Shannon Free Zone and National Technology Park on which the University of Limerick is located. Shannon Town was also created and managed by the company until it was transferred to Clare County Council in 2004.
The public source identifies “Shannon Development” as open-knowledge reference entry. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Shannon, Development and Open-knowledge.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Shannon Development”, the useful work is to connect “open-knowledge reference entry” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7488854. VIAF identifies the subject as 315671878. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1959, 1969 and 2004.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Shannon Development”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Shannon Development primary sources, Shannon Development archive and Shannon research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Shannon Development”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Shannon Development” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.