Commemorations were held in Portlaoise, Dublin and Germany this week to mark the first airplane flight across the Atlantic from Europe to North America.
In Portlaoise, the contribution made to the flight by Portlaoise man Col James Fitzmaurice was commemorated with contributions from a number of speakers and a wreath laying ceremony at the Sculpture entitled Eitilt, at Fitzmaurice Place, Portlaoise.
There was a Guard of Honour by the United Nations Veterans Association Post 27 Portlaoise and Anthony Byrne, piper with the 1UNVA played a Lament and Amhrán na BhFiann.
Speakers included Cllr Willie Aird, Leas Cathaoirleach with Laois County Council, Michael Parsons, Chair of Laois Heritage Society and Chair of the Heritage Council, Lieutenant Colonel Frank Byrne, Irish Air Corps and Seán Finlay, 6th Year student in St Mary’s CBS, Portlaoise.
Wreaths were laid on behalf of Laois County Council, Laois Heritage Society Irish Air Corps and the United Nations Veterans Association Post 27 Portlaois. Following the commemoration, refreshments were served in the Dunamaise Arts Centre.
The MC for the evening was Muireann Ní Chonaill. In her opening remarks she invited the audience to remember the late Councillor Jerry Lodge, who passed away last week. A keen and support of heritage and culture in the town and county, he will be a tremendous loss.
Joining the commemorative celebration were staff and members of Laois County Council, members of Laois Heritage Society, The Heritage Council, the Air Corps, the United Nations Veterans Association Post 27 Portlaoise, the Men’s Shed and Portloise CBS where Fitzmaurice attended school.
Amongst the audience were Rudi and Jean Naegali, aviation enthusiasts from Germany and Tim Costello, historian of the flight and a former Producer in RTÉ.
Speaking at Fitzmaurice Place, Cllr Willie Aird, Leas Cathaoirleach of Laois County Council, said “Portlaoise and Laois are rightly very proud of Colonel James Fitzmaurice and the part he played in this historic event, linking the continents of Europe and America and paving the way for transatlantic exchange, travel and trade.”
The first aeroplane crossing of the Atlantic from the West took place 99 years ago, in June 1919, and many people are familiar with the story of Alcock and Brown, landing in Derrygimlagh Bog near Clifden in Connemara.
But the difficult winds and weather patterns meant that it was a further 9 years before anyone successfully undertook the journey from Europe to America.
Many had tried unsuccessfully, and many had written the journey off, saying it would never be attempted successfully. At dawn on the morning of April 12th 1928, the Junkers aircraft the Bremen took off from Baldonnell Aerodrome in Dublin, with Baron von Hünefeld, a wealthy German aristocrat, pilot Captain Hermann Köhl and navigator, Major James Fitzmaurice, of Ireland.
On the evening of the following day, they crash landed on Greenly Island near Newfoundland, making history and grabbing the headlines on both sides of the Atlantic for weeks on end.
The 90th anniversary was also commemorated by the Irish Air Corps at Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnell, where from where the famous flight took off, and where James Fitzmaurice was General Officer in Command. Among the guests in Baldonnell were representatives of Portlaoise Mens’ Shed, and the Laois Fitzmaurice Commemoration Committee.
The anniversary has also been commemorated in Germany, at a ceremony in the museum in Bremen which now houses the original plane, a Junkers W33, called the Bremen.
Laois were represented by Cathaoirleach of Laois County Council Padraig Fleming, who joined the Mayor of Bremen and the Mayor of Pfaffenhofen in Bavaria in commemorating the achievement of the Irish and German aviators.
Also in attendance in Bremen were Laois Heritage Officer Catherine Casey, Teddy Fennelly of Laois Heritage Society, Paddy Buggy of Mountmellick Museum and visual artist Brendon Deacy. The exchange visit was supported by the Heritage Council as part of European year of Cultural Heritage.
Later this year Brendon Deacy will curate an exhibition in the Gallery of the Dunamaise Arts Centre in Portlaoise, on the flight and the men who made it possible. The exhibition will run from October 1-10, with a celebration evening on Friday, October 5, with guests from Germany and the Irish Air Corps.
Photographer Michael Scully was on hand to capture a selection of images.
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