Why We Chose The Name:
Foynes Landing Irish Pub & Restaurant

Foynes Landing Irish Pub & Restaurant is named for the port village of Foynes, Ireland whose seaplane port was the terminus for the long, trans-Atlantic flying boat flights from New York.  Foynes is where some of the world’s elite came ashore (landed) in Europe during the late 1930’s and early 1940’s on the Pan American Airways Boeing 314 flying boat. 

Foynes is also the birthplace of Irish Coffee – first served by Chef Joe Sheridan at the Foynes Terminal Building in 1943.  When he was asked about his creation of coffee,cream and Irish Whiskey, a passenger asked, “Is that Brazilian coffee?” he replied, “No.  That’s Irish Coffee.”   

We hope to honor the people of the village of Foynes in our name and recognize their contribution to early air travel in general, and specifically to the success of Pan American Airway’s and the Boeing 314 flying boat during the “Golden Age of Aviation”.

Foynes, Ireland, was the center of the aviation world from 1939 to 1945. On July 9, 1939, Pan Am's luxury Flying Boat, the "Yankee Clipper" landed at Foynes. This was the first commercial passenger flight on a direct route from the USA to Europe. During the late 1930s and early 1940s, this quiet little town on the Shannon became the focal point for air traffic on the North Atlantic.

During this period, many famous politicians, international businessmen, film stars, active-service-men and wartime refugees passed through Foynes. In fact, the site was initially surveyed in 1933 by Colonel Charles Lindbergh and his wife Ann, who landed in Galway Bay flying his Lockheed Sirius. In December 1935, the Irish Times announced that Foynes would be the site for the European Terminal for transatlantic air services. Colonel Lindbergh returned again representing Pan Am in 1936 to inspect the facilities and also in 1937 to view the departure of "Clipper III".

Before the war, the Flying Boats were THE way to travel in luxury to, Europe, South Seas, South America, the Caribbean, The Orient, etc. Anybody that was anybody flew on the Flying Clippers - travel from the Unites States west coast to Hawaii and beyond was cut from weeks by ship to days by flying boat. Swashbuckler Errol Flynn was a "frequent flyer" as was Colonel Charles Lindbergh and his wife, Anne.

Once war broke out the US Armed Services bought the planes for use in the war effort. In 1942 Winston Churchill flew in the British version of the plane to meet with President Franklin Roosevelt. In 1943 Roosevelt flew in the Dixie Clipper to Casablanca for a secret meeting with Churchill to discuss the impending invasion of NAZI-controlled Europe. It was also FDR's 61st birthday and he celebrated in style!

The era of the flying boats was colorful but brief. In 1945, hundreds of people watched as Captain Charlie Blair (also known as the husband of actress Maureen O'Hara) piloted the last American Export flying boat out of Foynes to New York. Upon arrival, he turned around and piloted the first landplane, a DC-4, back to open the new airport at Rineanna, later to become the Shannon International Airport. Shortly afterward, Pan Am, after 2,097 Atlantic Crossings through Foynes, made their last flight to Lisbon from Foynes. Only a day before, their first landplane had also landed at Rineanna.

The last of the Boeing 314's was retired in 1951 and sold for scrap. None of the planes remain.

The story doesn't end here however... more will follow. Stay tuned.