Laois County Council

Tag: Flight

  • Great line up for Festival of Flight

    Great line up for Festival of Flight

    The Festival of Flight is shaping up to be a major event in Laois, with plans for arts and science workshops, talks, music and historic plane fly-overs. The event which takes place in Portlaoise from the 7th to the 10th of April, will celebrate the rich history of flight in Laois.

    Grace and Millie Fennelly at Fitzmaurice Place, Portlaoise for the launch of the new Festival of Flight being held in Laois from Thursday 7 April until Sunday 10 April.
    Picture: Alf Harvey.

    One of the main events of the weekend will be a live performance of the Impossible Dream, the piece composed by Martin Tourish and the young musicians of the Music Generation Laois Trad Orchestra to celebrate the life and achievements of the Portlaoise Aviator James Fitzmaurice. The piece will be performed as part of a special event at St Peter’s Church of Ireland Church in Portlaoise starting at 3pm on Saturday 9th April and will also feature talks on the history and future of aviation and exploration in Laois and Ireland and a special performance by poet Laura Murphy. Tickets for the event are priced at €10 and are available via the Dunamaise Arts Centre, www.dunamaise.ie.

     

    Programme of events

    Thursday 7th April

    Schools workshops on the art and science of flight

    Premiere online of the new video “Science at Home by Midlands Science, featuring the Portlaoise Plane

     

    Friday 8th April

    Schools workshops on the art and science of flight

    Aircraft Professional Technical Networking Meeting, Bloom HQ Mountrath

     

    Saturday 8th April

    Free family workshops on “Flights of Fancy” at the Dunamaise Arts Centre – see Dunamaise.ie for booking

    “The Impossible Dream” Concert with Martin Tourish and the Music Generation Laois Trad Orchestra, featuring talks and poetry. 3pm St Peter’s Church of Ireland Church, Portlaoise, see www.dunamaise.ie for booking

     

    Sunday 9th April

    Wreath laying ceremony and historic planes flyover (subject to weather), 12 mid-day Fitzmaurice Place Portlaoise

    Portlaoise Plane on display, Fitzmaurice Place from 11am to 3pm

    Committee members, from left: Catherine Casey, Laois Heritage Officer; Louise Fennelly, secretary; Ralph James, former GOC Irish Air Corps; Teddy Fennelly, chairman and Michael Parsons, Laois Heritage at Fitzmaurice Place, Portlaoise for the launch of the new Festival of Flight being held in Laois from Thursday 7 April until Sunday 10 April.
    Picture: Alf Harvey.

    Teddy Fennelly, Chair of the Colonel James Fitzmaurice Commemoration Committee, organisers of the festival said “We are so happy to share our love for flight and aviation with the public through this Festival. Portlaoise and Laois have so much to be proud of in the achievements of Col Fitzmaurice and the building of the Portlaoise Plane, we think the story deserves to be better known and we hope this festival l will fire up the enthusiasm and imagination of Ireland’s next generation of young explorers. We are particularly happy that our friends in the Irish Air Corps will be involved again this year – in this the centenary year of the foundation of the Air Corps, the links between Portlaoise and the Air Corps are continuing to strengthen”

     

    Schools and Family Workshops

    As part of the festival, Portlaoise schools have been offered the opportunity to book free workshops looking at all aspects of flight, from how butterflies wings work to how super-heroes fly. Catherine Casey, Heritage Officer with Laois County Council said “We are delighted to deliver science based workshops, exploring the science of flight, and at the other end of the spectrum we want to really open up everyone’s imagination to the creative and playful side of flight, with arts workshops supported by Creative Ireland Laois.  We are allocating workshops to the schools that have applied at the moment and we will also have a workshop for home-schooling families, and public workshops at the Dunamaise Arts Centre on Saturday 9th April as part of the Festival. We really want to inspire children & young people to creatively and imaginatively respond to the theme of ‘flight’. All details are on the festival website, www.laois.ie/festivalofflight”.

    Eva Cahill flying her kite at Fitzmaurice Place, Portlaoise for the launch of the new Festival of Flight being held in Laois from Thursday 7 April until Sunday 10 April.
    Picture: Alf Harvey.

    Col Fitzmaurice Commemoration Committee

    The Festival of Flight is led by the Col Fitzmaurice Commemoration Committee, which is made up of Teddy Fennelly, Alan Phelan, Michael Parsons, Louise Cahill, PJ Kavanagh, Ralph James, Sean Murray and Catherine Casey. The event is being run in partnership with Laois County Council, Laois Heritage Society, Music Generation Laois, the Dunamaise Arts Centre and Midlands Science, and is supported by the Heritage Council and Creative Ireland Laois as part of the Creative Ireland Programme 2017-2022 in partnership with Laois County Council.

     

    For details of all events across the Festival, see www.laois.ie/festivalofflight.

    Bobby and Eva Cahill at Fitzmaurice Place, Portlaoise for the launch of the new Festival of Flight being held in Laois from Thursday 7 April until Sunday 10 April.
    Picture: Alf Harvey.

     

     

  • Major event and exhibition celebrate Portlaoise’s Aviation History

    Major event and exhibition celebrate Portlaoise’s Aviation History

    A major new exhibition at the Dunamaise Arts Centre in October will salute Colonel James Fitzmaurice, the Irish airman affectionately known as ‘Fitz’, who flew into aviation history by co-piloting the first aeroplane to successfully cross the Atlantic in a westerly direction.

    The 90th anniversary of the momentous flight will be marked with a weekend of events in Portlaoise, starting with a celebration evening at the Dunamaise Arts Centre on Friday 5th October, including the formal opening of the exhibition, presentations on the flight and the people behind it, and screening of archive footage.

    The following day, October 6th, will see a fly-past in Portlaoise with historic aircraft by members of the Irish Historic Flight Foundation, established in 2014 to promote the historical aspects of aviation in the State. The fly past will use historic “chipmunk” aircraft, and the event will also feature a guard of honour and wreath laying in memory of the aviators at County Hall, Portlaoise. Fitzmaurice Place – named in honour of Col Fitzmaurice – is currently being upgraded as part of the Heritage Council-funded urban regeneration works in the centre of historic Portlaoise.

    The exhibition of original artefacts from the flight and new works in response to the achievement will be curated by artist, Brendon Deacy, at the Dunamaise Arts Centre for the month of October, in recognition of Fitzmaurice’s accomplishment. Relatives of all three of the courageous adventurers have enthusiastically accepted invitations to attend the Portlaoise events.

    The commemorations have been spearheaded by Teddy Fennelly of Laois Heritage Society, who literally wrote the book on the subject “Fitz and the Famous Flight” and has supplied memorabilia for display as well as acting as historical advisor to the commemorations.

    Teddy Fennelly selecting historical items for the new Fitzmaurice exhibition with curator Brendon Deacy
    Teddy Fennelly selecting historical items for the new Fitzmaurice exhibition with curator Brendon Deacy

    First East-West Transatlantic Flight

    On the 12th of April 1928, the ‘Bremen’ took off from Baldonnell Aerodrome outside Dublin with a crew of three: Fitz, Captain Hermann Köhl and Baron Von Huenefeld. Thirty-six hours later the world changed as they landed on Greenly Island, Canada.

     

    Fitz’s thrilling life story, from his formative years in Laois to his fearless flight and legacy, is told through original artefacts, information-panels and short films designed and curated by Artist Brendon Deacy.

     

    The international dimension of the flight is being celebrated as well, with relatives of the German aviators, and representatives of flying clubs in Bremen in Northern Germany scheduled to attend.

     

    In April of this year a Laois delegation made up of then Cathaoirleach Padraig Fleming, author Teddy Fennelly, Heritage Officer Catherine Casey, artist Brendon Deacy and MDA Manager Patrick Buggy attended the ninetieth anniversary celebrations of the flight in Bremen, where the original aircraft has been restored and is on public display. Since then, close links have been developed with representatives from across Germany, in celebrating the joint Irish German achievement.

    Laois delegation with the “Bremen”, first plane to fly the Atlantic from East to West, in Bremen Airport, April 2018

    European Year of Cultural Heritage

    Michael Parsons, Chair of the Heritage Council, who is on the Fitzmaurice Commemoration Committee, said “in this European Year of Cultural Heritage, it is fitting that the aviation heritage of Ireland and Germany is being commemorated in this co-operative way. The theme of the European Year is connecting local communities with their heritage, and the Fitzmaurice commemoration is a great example of how these connections are being made across Europe. The Heritage Council is delighted to be able to support the events and the exhibition”.

    Artist Brendon Deacy photographs the “Bremen” for his exhibition at the Dunamaise Arts Centre in October

    Booking

    Attendance at the events on 5th and 6th October is free and all are welcome. For more information on the event and to reserve your ticket, please contact the Dunamaise Arts Centre, 057 866 3355, www.dunamaise.ie. Brendon Deacy’s exhibition runs at the Dunamaise Arts Centre from October 1st to 25th.

     

    The commemoration of Col Fitzmaurice and the first East- West Transatlantic flight are supported by Laois County Council, the Heritage Council, Creative Ireland Laois, Laois Heritage Society and the Dunamaise Arts Centre. This is a project of the European Year of Cultural Heritage.

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