Maeve Fitzgibbon:Maeve Fitzgibbon, who died last weekend on reaching her 93rd birthday, was in February 1958 appointed the first public relations officer for the Shannon Sales and Catering Organisation and later Shannon Development.
She was the first person at Shannon to hold a public relations title.
Maeve belonged to a Limerick family with a long connection with the newspaper industry. Her father, Michael Fitzgibbon, became a part-owner of the Limerick Chronicle, the oldest newspaper in the State. It was founded in 1768 by historian John Ferrar.
Her brother, playwright Paddy Fitzgibbon, had one of his plays, The Fire Burns Late, performed by the Abbey Theatre. He was for many years editor of the Chronicle and later the Limerick Leader.
Maeve began her career in aviation at Foynes, Co Limerick, with Pan American Airways, in the flying-boat days. Later the company appointed her to the sales staff at their Dublin office. She returned to Shannon to join KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) as an administration assistant with responsibility for public relations.
In the mid-1950s, Fitzgibbon attracted the attention of Brendan O'Regan, who then headed the sales and catering organisation at Shannon and was becoming conscious of the importance of public relations for the airport. He sent Fitzgibbon to the United States for a few weeks to learn more about the market.
In 1958 she went to the US for a longer period, during which time she took a course in journalism and public relations. She opened an office in the consular building in New York, which she shared with the Irish Tourist Office and the Irish Export Promotions Board, before setting up her own quarters at the corner of 42nd Street and 5th Avenue.
During her time in the US, she built up a major public relations profile for Shannon. Richard Joseph of Esquire magazine, one of the three major travel writers in the US, did a feature on Ireland that encouraged his editor, Arnold Gingridge, to spend a fishing holiday in Cong, Co Mayo.
Fitzgibbon returned to Shannon to set up the tourist bureau, staffed by half-a-dozen outstanding young women. Their work was to meet and talk to some of the VIPs passing through Shannon and offer them an Irish coffee. One of the staff recruited by Fitzgibbon married a leading surgeon and later became president of the Irish Ladies Golf Union. Another married the head of Aer Lingus.
When she retired in December 1977, Mr O'Regan described Fitzgibbon as "one of the company's greatest servants, who can be held up as a model to people who will shape and develop the role of Shannon Development in the years ahead". He said she brought charm and graciousness to all her roles in the development of Shannon.
He described Fitzgibbon as "not just a great Shannon woman but a great Irish woman, indeed a woman who, like Shannon, won international repute and recognition".
She died at Cahercalla Community Hospital. Before moving to the hospital she had lived with her niece, Michelle Dowling, since her retirement 17 years ago.
Maeve Fitzgibbon: born November 13th, 1914; died December 1st, 2007