Liam Ó Réagáin: Liam Ó Réagáin, who has died aged 88, was a former secretary of the Department of Posts and Telegraphs, lifelong Irish language enthusiast and latecomer to mountaineering.
Born in Janesville, Wisconsin, he was the son of Irish-born parents, John Regan and Mary Sheehan; his father was from Roscommon and his mother from Waterford. Liam attended the Convent of Mercy in the town, and his earliest memories were of summer tornadoes, farmers presenting bundles of corn to townspeople, heavy winter snowfalls and the Ku Klux Klan marching.
When he was nine the family moved back to Ireland after his father, as the eldest son, inherited the farm at Carrigeenroe, Boyle, Co Roscommon.
He continued his education at the local national school and at Summerhill College, Sligo. There his interest in the Irish language, first sparked by his uncle Martin, grew.
His distinguished career as a civil servant began when he joined the postal service in Carrick-on-Shannon. Transferred to departmental headquarters in Dublin, he worked his way up the ranks. He held senior positions at a time of momentous change that saw responsibility for the broadcasting, postal and telephone services transferred from the department to the RTÉ Authority, An Post, and Telecom Éireann respectively. He retired in 1982.
Having founded a branch of Conradh na Gaeilge in Carrick-on-Shannon, in Dublin he joined Craobh na gCúig gCúigí (sometimes known as the Branch of the Five Protestants because of its denominational make-up) where he taught Irish. He was a member of Glún na Bua, which grew out of Craobh na hAiséirí, and was associated with the magazine Comhar and Inniú, the weekly newspaper that laid the foundations of modern Irish-language journalism.
With Prof Liam Ó Briain, lexicographer Niall Ó Dónaill and radio producer Proinsias Ó Conluain, in 1948 he founded An Club Leabhar, which fostered the reading of Irish-language literature by secondary school students. It was he and Niall Ó Dónaill who persuaded Liam O'Flaherty to prepare for publication a collection of short stories in Irish he had written (Dúil, 1953).
Mountaineering was another great interest. In 1948 he was one of the founders of the Irish Mountaineering Club. Already a hill-walker, and although somewhat older than many club members, he quickly took to rock-climbing and Alpine mountaineering.
"Liam and I became climbing friends, though he was modestly content to be second on the rope," fellow club-member Joss Lynam said this week. "His trustworthy presence at the other end of the rope was a boost to my own confidence."
He was on three Alpine meets with IMC groups, climbing the Zinal Rothorn and the Aiguille du Peigne; in 1951 a failed attempt on the Dent Blanc in the Valais led to a risky descent in a storm. By the 1960s he was no longer a serious mountaineer, though he continued hill-walking for many years, not only in Ireland but also in mainland Europe and once in Morocco.
He was co-editor, with Proinsias Mac Aonghusa, of a series of political writings, The Best of Connolly (1967), The Best of Pearse (1972) and The Best of Tone (1976). Modest and possessed of a quirky sense of humour, he spoke and read French and had a working knowledge of German, Italian and Spanish.
His wife Aileen (nee Hanrahan), sons Seán and Niall and daughter Máire survive him.
Liam Ó Réagáin: born April 3rd, 1917; died February 9th, 2006