The CEO of Shannon Chamber has attributed the commercial success of the region to Brendan O’Regan ahead of the unveiling of a statue in his honour this afternoon.
The life-size statue, which was sculpted by Kilbaha’s Seamus Connolly, will be revealed at a public ceremony in the legendary innovator’s home village of Sixmilebridge shortly.
Born in 1917 between Sixmilebridge and Cratloe, Brendan O’Regan became one of the leading figures of the “golden age” of Irish commercial and industrial development.
After attending Blackrock College in Dublin, he studied hotel management in Germany, France, Switzerland and the UK.
Brendan first became involved in aviation when he was appointed as catering comptroller at Foynes flying boat base in Limerick, which was a refueling point for transatlantic seaplanes between Britain and the US.
Two years later, he acquired the same position at Shannon Airport and it was during his tenure that he invented the concept of the airport duty-free shop.
He would follow this with the establishment of the Shannon College of Hotel Management and the Shannon Free Zone which would lead to the birth of Shannon town.
Helen Downes, CEO of Shannon Chamber, says she did not have to think twice when approached by Sixmilebridge Historical Society about erecting a statue to celebrate the businessman’s legacy.
Brendan has been widely-acknowledged for his contributions at a local and national level, having been named Clare Person of the Year in 1984, receiving the Freedom of the City of Limerick in 1995 and being voted Clare’s Greatest Ever Person in 2018.
Brendan’s daughter, Margaret O’Regan, believes that aside from his business achievements, her father’s primary legacy is that of someone who was “loving and caring”.
The unveiling of the statue will take place in the Square of Sixmilebridge this afternoon at 2pm.
Its sculptor, Seamus Connolly, says he was honoured to have had the opportunity to work on a piece of such local importance.
You can listen to the full interview with Margaret and Andrew O’Regan below:
