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The restaurant it’s optional.
The Flying Boat Museum is a truly amazing place, rich with history and a unique charm that captures a fascinating era of aviation. The museum delves deep into the story of the flying boats, which were a marvel of their time. These aircraft, which combined elements of boats and planes, were developed and widely used during the 1930s and 1940s. They played a crucial role in transatlantic flights before being phased out as more advanced aircraft took over. The museum beautifully captures this history, bringing to life an era when these massive flying boats were the height of luxury and innovation in air travel.
What sets this museum apart is how interactive it is. It’s not just about reading plaques and looking at artifacts; visitors can engage with the exhibits in various ways. There’s a cinema that shows a short film, providing a comprehensive overview of the flying boats and their significance. Additionally, the museum houses an impressive replica of one of these iconic boat-planes, allowing you to step back in time and imagine what it was like to travel in such a majestic aircraft.
Whether you’re an aviation enthusiast or just someone with a curiosity for history, the Flying Boat Museum offers an educational and engaging experience that is well worth the visit.
Also includes a mini museum of...
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This is a very varied museum as it also includes a section on Maureen O'Hara and another on the origin of Irish coffee, also interesting in their own right.
There are lots of displays giving the history of Foynes as a passenger and cargo port, including the flying boat. You can go to the top and see the port and train station outside from the original radio control tower.
The undoubted star of the show is the flying boat itself which was clearly for the wealthy only and was equipped with kitchen, dining room spacious bathroom facilities, beds and a VIP lounge for the super wealthy. The upstairs cockpit and navigation area was fascinating, as everything was mechanical including pedals.
The connection with Maureen O'Hara is that her husband was a businessman and pilot who had his own flying boat.
And the Irish coffee apparently was created in the bar in Foynes.
If I had one slight criticism, it would be a need to have a person at various points to ask questions of and get more detail. The only people present that I could see were in the cafe and at reception and a lot of the information came from films, which were good but often people have anecdotes that aren't in films. The entrance fee should be sufficient to have a guide on hand.
Oh, and a sample of the Irish coffee would've been great too 🙂.
Otherwise it was...
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This is a must visit if you're into aviation! Welcoming the flying boats back in the 1930's, Foynes had the benefit of a great location on the River Shannon and shelter provided by Foynes Island. Today it's a lot quieter, but this really is a great museum with very friendly staff.
Starting with a video explaining the whole history (don't miss, there's fantastic footage from the era) before heading into the displays on the history and progress of the flying boats. It then heads into the Maureen O'Hara exhibit (her husband flew them) with outfits, video footage and even the pony trap from The Quiet Man. Back to the flying boats with an interactive game to fly them and then the real attraction- a recreation of the flying boats and it's interior. It's so cool to walk through and you get a real appreciation of the size and luxury of these planes. There's a section on Irish Coffee too and through the gift shop, there's a maritime museum and lookout from the control tower. The restaurant attached is fantastic, great food at a reasonable price and of course, the Irish coffee! If you buy your ticket online, it'll give you the chance to pre order the Irish coffee at a...
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