Foynes's former terminal preserves the history of transatlantic flying boats. Its museum also explains Joe Sheridan's Irish coffee and the town's enduring connection with actress Maureen O'Hara.
A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.
Recorded forms
Faing· Irish · main form · validated name
Foynes· English · main form
Place & story
A terminal on the Shannon estuary
Between 1937 and 1945 Foynes played an important part in transatlantic aviation. Flying boats used the sheltered estuary waters, bringing passengers and crews to a terminal on the waterfront. Pan American's Yankee Clipper arrived in July 1939 as commercial services developed. The original terminal now houses the Foynes Flying Boat and Maritime Museum. Its location preserves the connection between the town's maritime setting and the period when long-distance passenger aircraft landed on water, before land-based aircraft and Shannon Airport transformed the route.[2]
People & connections
Joe Sheridan's warming drink
Chef Joe Sheridan came to Foynes after Brendan O'Regan established a restaurant and coffee shop in the terminal in 1943. The museum associates him with the creation of Irish coffee that winter. In its account, an aircraft bound for New York returned because of bad weather, and staff welcomed the passengers back with food and hot drinks. Sheridan added Irish whiskey to coffee to warm them. The drink became a lasting part of Foynes's identity, linking a small act of airport hospitality with a recipe later served internationally.[3]
People & connections
Maureen O'Hara's lasting patronage
Maureen O'Hara's connection with Foynes came through her husband, the aviator Charles Blair, who flew flying boats into the town between 1942 and 1945. She opened the museum on 8 July 1989 and remained its patron until her death in 2015, returning for major events. Her grandson subsequently donated an extensive collection of her belongings. The museum's exhibition includes the honorary Academy Award she received in 2014. These objects connect her Hollywood career with the aviation history that brought her family to Foynes.[4]
Both counts use the 2016 settlement boundary, allowing like-for-like comparison. CSO supplies the 2022 count on this older boundary for comparison only. The official 2022 Built Up Area has different boundaries.
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Foynes — Census 2016 settlement footprint — census population
These are the historical areas published in the 2006 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
View population figures
Foynes, Limerick — Census town, CSO 2006 report — census population
These are the historical areas published in the 1996 census report. Boundaries may differ between censuses and from modern settlements. Legal towns, environs and suburbs are shown separately; none has been combined into a modern settlement total.
View population figures
Foynes, Limerick — Census town, CSO 1996 report — census population
Figures cover the historical town area printed in the 1986 report. Boundaries may have changed between censuses. Legal town, environs and suburb totals remain separate and differ from modern settlement boundaries.
View population figures
Foynes, Limerick — Census town, CSO 1986 report — census population
These figures use different area definitions. Read the boundary note before comparing them.
Foynes, Limerick
Published census settlement populations
520people · 2016
Settlement boundaries changed during this period. Differences may reflect boundary changes as well as population change. Where a 2011 legal-town-and-environs count is shown, it has not been recalculated onto the 2016 settlement boundary.
Foynes Flying Boat Museum and former terminal building illustration: based on a Foynes - N69 - Flying Boat Terminal & Museum by Joseph Mischyshyn. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
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