A wealth of information here folks - thank you all very much.
I'm currently swaying towards going for it with Aer Lingus and hoping for the best with 80 mins to transfer. Hopefully the Aer Lingus staff will do all they can to help us through the whole process! I remember the excitement of landing at JFK being quickly eroded by waiting at customs so I'd like to try and avoid that. Of course, if we miss the connection...
My mum turned 60 last week - nobody offended! - so this is her present (going to see Billy Joel at MSG hence need to go in August). She is in good health but would always welcome a solution that reduces the time she needs to spend without a cigarette!