Sir, - Recent letters stating that Irish Coffee was invented in Shannon Airport (Rineanna) are incorrect. It was first served in the terminal building at Foynes during the flying boat era, before Shannon Airport came into service for land planes. A flying boat had to return to Foynes, due to bad weather over the Atlantic, and while waiting for better conditions, the chef entertained the passengers with a new creation - Irish Coffee.
One can drink Irish Coffee now in the place of its invention, as the old terminal building at Foynes houses the Flying Boat Museum. This is well worth a visit, not alone for the Irish Coffee but to see the history of an important part of Irish aviation.
Another Shannon related error occurs in the feature on Energy Awareness Week in the issue of September 24th. The picture captioned as the hydro electric plant at Parteen is, in fact, a picture of the dam and sluices at the top of the head race, several miles from the generating station. - Yours, etc.,
Rathgar Road,
Dublin 6.