[Promotional head shot for an unidentified Maureen O’Hara film]
Maureen O’Hara is synonymises with the Golden Age of cinema. Without doubt her most well-known film is the Quite Man released in Ireland in 1952. Perhaps less well-known is her connection to Foynes in County Limerick. Her third husband, Charles F. Blair, was a pilot who flew flying boats out of Foynes during World War Two. He was the last pilot to fly out of the village in 1945 when aviation operations moved across the river to Shannon in County Clare. Through this connection, Maureen O’Hara developed a life-long friendship with the town and the Foynes Flying Boat and Maritime Museum.
[The Maureen O’Hara Exhibition at the Foynes Flying Boat and Maritime Museum]
The museum was able to acquire a portion of her personal papers and effects following her death in 2015. In 2024 I was commissioned to catalogue the collection. This was a significant collection that needed to be catalogued and archived within five-weeks. within this large collection were papers (including business papers related to Antilles Airways) and personal effects of Charles F. Blair’s. A decision was made to create a small archive out of this collection.
[A selection of promotional headshots of Maureen O’Hara]
The Maureen O’Hara archive contains both personal and professional material. The personal material includes correspondence, Maureen’s family papers, and a extensive collection of clothes as well as household effects. The professional material includes numerous awards she received over her life time and an extensive portfolio of promotional material.
[Promotional headshot of Maureen O’Hara from an unidentified film]
[A work in progress: putting together the Maureen O’Hara Archive]
All photographs taken by Dr Martin Walsh and are copyrighted.
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