Actor Maureen O'Hara was in Co Limerick yesterday for the official opening of the newly refurbished Foynes Flying Boat Museum.
A regular visitor to the town, the 86-year-old said: "My husband's heart was in Foynes and I followed his heart here. I will continue to do so to keep his memory alive, for as long as I'm alive."
Her husband, the late Captain Charles Blair, was the first to fly the non-stop route from Foynes to New York. The former actor said she was married to the "best pilot in the world".
Foynes is the only dedicated flying boat museum in the world, and the B314 Yankee Clipper, which landed at Foynes in 1937, is one of the main attractions in the renovated €2 million museum, opened yesterday by Tourism Minister John O'Donoghue.
The Yankee Clipper was regarded as the Concorde of its day and it carried all the top Hollywood stars across the Atlantic between 1939 and 1945, It was the largest and fastest civil aircraft operated between the US and Europe.The main attraction inside is the Honeymoon Suite, which was in great demand by the Hollywood stars.
According to museum curator Margaret O'Shaughnessy, the Yankee Clipper has already begun to attract attention. "The museum is now set to become a major tourist attraction in the southwest, generating an estimated €6 million cash boost for the region and 50,000 visitors per season." The new development at the museum also includes three flight simulators which will give visitors the hands-on experience of flying the Yankee Clipper.