On Sunday, April 16th a special ceremony was held at Fitzmaurice Place in Portlaoise to mark the 95th anniversary of the first east-west transatlantic flight in April 1928. Representatives from the Irish Air Corps, the Irish United Nations Veterans Association Post 27 Portlaoise Branch, elected representatives of Laois County Council, the Col Fitzmaurice Commemoration Committee and the Laois Heritage Society were present. Some consider the flight to be one of the seeds of the growth of the aviation industry in Ireland.
Col Fitzmaurice was raised in Portlaoise and it was there he revealed in his memoirs that he got his inspiration to become a world-famous aviator by observing the construction of the Portlaoise Plane, the first aeroplane built in the Republic, and watching it take flight in what is known locally as the Golden Croft which was an expansive meadow beside the railway station.
Alan Phelan, Fitzmaurice Commemoration Committee, Chairperson spoke at the event. “Today we mark the 95th anniversary of the flight of the Bremen, which on 12th April 1928 crewed by our own Col James Fitzmaurice, Capt. Hermann Köhl & Baron Gunther von Hüenfeld completed the First successful East to West Crossing of the Atlantic by Air. This flight is considered worldwide to be a landmark achievement in aviation history.”
Cllr Thomasina, Cathaoirleach of Laois County Council laid a wreath at the Col Fitzmaurice Sculpture in memory of Fitzmaurice and his co-pilots of the flight, Captain Hermann Kohl and Baron Von Hüenfeld. General Officer in Command Brigadier General Rory O’Connor laid a wreath on behalf of the Air Corps, in memory of former Commanding Officer of the Irish Air Corps Colonel James Fitzmaurice. Fitzmaurice was one of the first pilots in the Air Corps and it was at Baldonnel that The Bremen took off on its fateful flight on 12th April 1928.
Teddy Fennelly, President of the Col Fitzmaurice Committee thanked everyone for attending the event. “This annual commemoration will continue each year for the years ahead, all the way up to the Centenary of this historic flight, which we will celebrate in style in 2028. I want to thank you all here present for taking the time out to remember and commemorate a very momentous moment in world aviation history and in particular to remember one of Laois’s and Portlaoise’s favourite sons. We hope that his memory and contribution to aviation in Ireland will continue to grow in the Irish psyche as we move closer still to the 100th anniversary in 2028,” he said.
At the Laois Festival of Flight held last year, the Fitzmaurice Commemoration Committee committed itself to mark each anniversary of the flight with special events up to the centenary year in 2028 and beyond. Already in 2023, the Committee has had a successful outing and tour to the Air Corps in Baldonnel by the Festival Of Flight Schools Project winners organised jointly by the Laois Heritage Society and the Fitzmaurice Commemoration Committee in conjunction with the Laois Education Centre.
The Committee has announced that several more events are planned in 2023. Firstly, there will be a public display of The Portlaoise Plane at the Abbeyleix House and Farm estate open day on Saturday 3rd June in conjunction with the Gordon Bennett Rally. On the day there will also be an Air Display (weather permitting) and a collection of other planes to view.
It is also hoped the display a working model of The Portlaoise Plane which was expertly crafted and recreated by Dermot Gannon. Later in the year, possibly during Heritage Week in August, the committee will organise the inaugural flight of the Portlaoise Plane model amongst other activities in the planning stage. In the longer term and with the 100th anniversary in mind, a full-length feature documentary on the life and times of Col. James Fitzmaurice has been commissioned and work has commenced putting this project in motion.
Main photo above: Teddy Fennelly, President of Laois Heritage Society and The Col James Fitzmaurice Commemorative Society, Cllr Thomasina Connell, Cathaoirleach Laois County Council, Alan Phelan, Chairperson of The Col James Fitzmaurice Commemorative Society and Michael Parsons, Former Chair of Laois Heritage Society.
