Eddie Gaffney in alpine boots flashing up "Speir Bhean" and "Sarcophagus", two routes in Glendalough, in 1966, are my first and abiding memories of this energetic and irrepressible rock-climber. His best climbing was done in the company of Pat Higgins and Emmet Goulding in Glendalough and Donegal - new routes "Celia", "Jackie" and "Symbol" first bore their bootmarks in the early 196Os.
He partnered Emmet in 1963 to climb the Dru north face in Chamonix, going straight from the train station to the bivouac site after the 48-hour journey from Dublin by sea and train. This was a golden patch in Irish Alpine climbing, as Emmet added the Allain classic to his previous climbing of the Bonatti Pillar and west face ascents of the Dru.
Eddie joined IBM in 1966 in the engineering, section and held many position in relation to customer and engineering services. At the time of his death, he was senior parts professional and his loss is a considerable blow to the company and its clients.
He married Celia (his best friend) in 1967 and was less active in climbing. He took up squash and quickly progressed to A-level ran with the Liffey Valley club, and completed nearly forty marathons and half-marathons, including nine Dublin City Marathons and the Boston Marathon, with a best time of 2.51 for the distance.
Eddie in his youth was famous for his Heinkel scooter and in recent years commuted on an 800cc BMW motorcycle. A regular Saturday walker with some old IMC and other veterans, he was always a character. In recent years, he travelled to the Alps for summer holidays with his family and friends, climbing and walking. In 1994 he soloed the Marmolata in the Dolomites, the Gross Glockner in Austria and the Matterhorn from Zermatt.
I last climbed with Eddy in late July, in Glendalough and Luggala. He was as always, superfit and looking forward to his summer in Brigalia, Italy, where he fell and died on August 3rd in the descent of Monte Disgrzia (3,678m). The Irish climbing community shares the great loss with his wife Celia and his daughters Andrea, Niamh, Aoife and Jayne, his son Ian and sister Deirdre and all his IBM and other colleagues and neighbours.