Brendan McWilliams: On Monday October 22nd, the best-known voice of Irish meteorology went silent. Brendan McWilliams, science writer and meteorologist of international renown, died after a short illness.
Well known and well loved for his daily Irish Timescolumn Weather Eyeand his weekly slot on RTÉ Radio One's Today with Pat Kenny, Brendan informed and entertained his audience in his own inimitable way on all matters relating to weather, climate and the environment.
Weather Eye, a regular column for almost 20 years, failed to appear on October 4th with the low-key announcement that "Brendan McWilliams is on leave". His more devoted readers may have sensed that something was amiss, since Brendan, as far as his column was concerned, wasn't in the habit of going on leave.
Only those who were close to him knew that he was seriously ill and that, sadly, his column was unlikely to appear again.
Brendan McWilliams was born in Dublin in 1944 and grew up in Waterville, Co Kerry, where his father, Seán McWilliams, also a meteorologist, was in charge of the nearby Valentia observatory.
An only child, Brendan grew up with a large library at his disposal. Of this he made good use, laying the basis for the melding of broad scientific knowledge with a lightly-worn literary and historical erudition that was later to become his hallmark.
Brendan graduated in science from UCC in 1964 and followed in his father's footsteps by joining the Irish Meteorological Service (later Met Éireann).
After spending the then customary year in the Met Service's training school at Rosslare Harbour, he was posted to Shannon airport, where he spent the following six years as an aviation forecaster.
Then came eight years as a forecaster at the Central Analysis and Forecast Office in Dublin and three years as head of the Meteorological Office at Dublin airport.
It was during his years in the central forecast office that Brendan's distinctive speaking voice first became known to the public, when he presented the daily weather forecast on radio and TV.
Brendan was promoted to head of administration in the Met Service in 1981 and to deputy director in 1990. During the early 1990s, he served as director of the Programme of Expert Studies on Climate Change on behalf of the Department of the Environment.
During these years, he also branched out in another direction, obtaining an MBA at UCD. This was to stand him in good stead both in the Met Service, then becoming involved in commercial applications of weather information, and later when in 1998 he took up the position of director of administration at the European Meteorological Satellite Organisation (EuMetSat) in Darmstadt, Germany.
As a member of the management board of EuMetSat from 1998- 2004, Brendan was involved in the planning of satellite surveillance of the atmosphere for the purposes of weather forecasting and climate monitoring.
Though now originating mainly in Darmstadt, Weather Eyecontinued to appear daily in The Irish Times, occasionally telling of events such as Brendan's witnessing the launch of a weather satellite from the European Space Agency's launch site in South America. He and his wife, Anne, travelled widely on the Continent and Brendan would tell of how the transmitting of Weather Eyeto D'Olier Street was sometimes more of a challenge than the writing of it. Long detours were often necessary to find a place with an internet connection in the days before such facilities became commonly available.
During these years, Brendan became well known in the international arena of meteorology, playing an active role on committees of the World Meteorological Organisation and the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts as well as EuMetSat.
He was frequently chosen as committee chairman because of his flair at consensus-building and his well-known ability in finding creative solutions to difficult organisational problems.
On his retirement in 2004, Brendan moved back to Ireland and took up residence in Wexford, where he and Anne had a beautiful house with an extensive garden overlooking the town and harbour. He would joke that the writing of Weather Eye, which was formerly something he did on the side, had now expanded to take up all his time.
Brendan was held in the highest esteem by his colleagues. As a token of this, he was elected an honorary life member of the Irish Meteorological Society on his return to Ireland. The events of the society always received prominent mention in his column. He was similarly elected an honorary life member of the Royal Dublin Society.
Though publicly of reserved demeanour, Brendan was among friends a man of warmth and spontaneous wit, not all of which could be recounted in these pages. He liked his glass of good wine and enjoyed having his friends visit.
Those who were privileged to be his friends will miss him sorely and will always remember him fondly.
A family man first and foremost, Brendan and his talented and charming wife Anne were a devoted couple. They were blessed in their children, Stephen and Laurie, Brendan's stepson Christopher, and their grandson, Adam.
His death at only three score years and three leaves a void that none can fill. He will be sadly missed by so many. Ní feichimíd a leithéad arís.
Brendan McWilliams: born August 7th 1944; died October 22nd 2007.