Flying with Father Browne

Book excerpt: Father Francis Browne SJ, Titanic photographer and much decorated war chaplain, began to take flying lessons at Baldonnell Aerodrome, near Dublin, in 1925. His first aerial photographs were taken in 1926 and he was still flying over County Dublin in light aircraft until the 1930s. It was in the 1940s, however, that Fr Browne took most of his photographs of aircraft and airports. Aviation had developed greatly and grass airstrips gave way to concrete runways, as glorified shacks and Nissen huts made way for sophisticated terminal buildings. During the 1950s Fr Browne took commercial flights to visit family in England. Eddie O'Donnell SJ has once again researched the Father Browne Archive and has put together a truly fascinating collection of photographs telling the story of the early years of aviation in Ireland.