Nostalgia in the air at airport wedding anniversary celebration

NOSTALGIA was very much in the air recently when a local couple marked their 60th wedding anniversary at Dublin Airport.

Pat and Evelyn Leonard celebrated 60 years of marriage on April 22. Enjoying a trip down memory lane organised by their daughter Susan, the couple attended Mass at St Columba’s Church on Iona Road in Glasnevin where they got married in 1953.

Susan then surprised her parents with a trip to Dublin Airport where, 60 years earlier, they had hosted their wedding breakfast at

‘The Collar of Gold’ restaurant.

Evelyn, who worked for Aer Rianta at the time, said the

‘Collar of Gold’ was a very popular place to hold your wedding reception and would have been thought of as being quite exclusive and glamorous – the perfect beginning to a lifelong romance.

The communications team at Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) was delighted to help mark such a momentous event by welcoming the couple, who now live in Glenageary, to the Old Central Terminal Building.

During a mini-reception, DAA presented Evelyn with some flowers, two canvas prints from their original wedding day, and toasted their Diamond wedding anniversary in style.

The only element missing was the honeymoon flight they took 60 years earlier to Paris after their reception. For 60 years they have kept the flight report, which Pat has cherished to this day.

The flight report was issued to each passenger, detailing in handwritten notes the altitude of the aircraft, the location they were currently flying over, and the time they would reach their destination – closing with a signature from the captain of the flight.

The couple celebrated their anniversary at the airport with their daughter Susan, granddaughter Kate and daughter-in-law Anka, before travelling to the Shelbourne Hotel for lunch.