Maureen O’Hara exhibition opens in Limerick

An exhibition featuring the costumes, dresses and personal items of Irish-American actor Maureen O'Hara has opened in Foynes, Co Limerick.

The exhibition cost €100,000, and includes O’Hara’s Oscar statuette, costumes and correspondence between her and various movie stars.

In 2014, O’Hara received an honorary Academy Award for her contribution to Hollywood. She died a year later, aged 95.

The Dublin-born actor, famous for her distinctive red hair, starred in the 1952 film The Quiet Man alongside John Wayne.

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The exhibition is hosted in the Foynes Flying Boat and Maritime Museum, which the actor opened 29 years ago.

Margaret O’Shaughnessy, manager of the museum, said the exhibition was “designed to show a very, very small selection of the entire collection”.

New wing

The museum is designing a new wing to permanently host the full collection of items from O’Hara, which were donated by her grandson Conor Beau Fitzsimons.

“Ideally we would love to open the new wing on August 17th, 2020, on the centenary of the birth of our late patron, Maureen,” Ms O’Shaughnessy said.

“It has been a tough year for the museum as we have fought to overcome damage caused by serious flooding this past winter. An investment of €580,000 to repair the damage means the museum is even better than ever.”

The exhibition was opened by Minister of State for finance Patrick O’Donovan.