Hollywood movie icon Maureen O’Hara will be honoured on the centenary of her birth at a special once-off event being held at Foynes Flying Boat Museum next Monday.
The Holman-Lee Model Agency will present a selection of items from the actor’s personal collection in a special live Fashion Show from the museum on 17th August.
‘The Quiet Man’ star and Honorary Oscar winner had a long association with the County Limerick visitor attraction and the town of Foynes through her late husband Captain Charles Blair – a dashing Flying Boat Pilot and O’Hara’s husband from 1968 to 1978. Blair, an immensely popular figure, was a pioneer of transatlantic aviation, a former brigadier general of the United States Air Force, a former chief pilot at Pan Am, and founder and head of the United States Virgin Islands airline Antilles Air Boats. Maureen officially opened the museum in July 1989 became its Patron and visited almost every year.
Maureen O’Hara left Ireland in 2012 to live with her grandson, Conor Beau Fitzsimons, in Boise, Idaho. On 24 October 2015, aged 95, O’Hara died in her sleep from natural causes at her home in Boise. Her remains were buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia next to her late husband, Charles Blair.
In 2017, her grandson donated a vast collection of Maureen’s memorabilia to Foynes Flying Boat Museum with the intention of establishing a permanent exhibition in her honour. The collection holds more than 300 garments, shoes, hats, bags, costume jewellery, her Honorary Oscar, Horse trap from the Quiet Man Film, hundreds of personal items, awards, movie contracts, furniture, and a vast amount of papers and personal letters and diaries.
In line with COVID-19 requirements, 32 tickets are being made available for our upcoming exclusive Fashion Show. Tickets will include a champagne reception, lunch by Executive Chef Tom Flavin, private viewing of Maureen’s Memorabilia and exhibition and a special memento to take home.
Visit www.flyingboatmuseum.com or contact Foynes Flying Boat Museum at 069-65416 / 087 2490830 for further information.
