Memorial Tribute at Funeral Service by his old friend – Noel Brown

We are here on this inexpressibly sad day to offer what support we can to Alan’s wife, Thelma, to his daughters Rachel, Jennifer and Muriel and to his ten grandchildren who have lost their grandfather.  We know how special grandfathers can be in the lives of young people.  To Alan’s brother Norman, we offer our most sincere condolences.

My first meeting with Alan took place nearly a half century ago and was rather unusual: one day the chief accountant in the company where I worked came into my office, accompanied by a young man.  He said, “Noel, I want you to meet our new accountant, Alan Pope.”  Then he turned to Alan and said, “Alan, this is Noel Brown.” Alan looked surprised and said to me “Are you the same Noel Brown who is a member of the Irish Mountaineering Club?”  I told him I was and asked him how he knew about that.  “I’m a member of the IMC too,” he said.  We immediately formed a friendship which only time, that great enemy of all that seems permanent, could extinguish.

Alan was a great adventurer and always seemed to be highly accomplished in anything he put his mind to, if I may use that expression.

Mountaineering:  During his years as a mountaineer, Alan climbed countless mountains all over Europe – the French Alps, the Swiss Alps, the Italian and Austrian Alps and mountains farther afield.  The famous Matterhorn, said to be the most photographed mountain in the world, the Eiger, infamous for its North Face – these were also climbed by Alan, although the Eiger was climbed by a less dangerous route than the North Face.  Alan also climbed the Forbes Arete on the Aiguille du Chardonnet, a fine climb, I had the pleasure of doing with him.

Yachting: Alan was a very experienced yachtsman who owned six boats during his yachting career.  He came to me one year and told me that a trip he was planning was short a crew member.  When he asked me if I would be interested in filling the vacancy, I told him that I would love to go, but I had to tell him that I didn’t know the front of a boat from the back.  I was delighted when Alan said “Don’t worry about that, we’ll sort things out as we go along.” The result of my loose talk e

Resulted in me being one of Alan’s crew as we set5 out one sunny morning from Belfast Lough, heading for the North Channel and the wild Atlantic Ocean, by way of the Mull of Kintyre.  We spent several days at sea and visited some strange and beautiful places like Rhum and Staffa.  When the great German composer Felix Mendlessolm visited this area in the 1840s, he was so impressed with all that he saw that he composed “The Hebrides” which is still played by orchestras all over the world today.

Looking back over the years, I think of that sea trip with Alan and his crew as one of the most memorable experiences of my life.  Perhaps all of the crew (except me!) did their share of navigating but I only remember Alan at the controls, supremely confident and inspiring.

As well as all his other activities, Alan was artistic and liked to paint.  He may have been encouraged in this by his mother who was artistic and mother and son had the distinction of exhibiting their work in the R.H.A. at the same time.

When the physical demands of serious climbing became too much for most of us, we started to explore Europe on bikes and Alan eventually joined us “on the road.”

For ten years of more now, although less active that in days of yore, we had kept our friendship alive by meeting once a month in Finnegan’s pub in Dalkey for lunch.

We last met in February, which was the last time I saw Alan, that quiet, imperturbable mountaineer and yachtsman whom we all loved.

Noel Brown

16^th March, 2019.

Thanks to Patricia Murray who typed up the original handwritten text and to Michael Scott for the photo of Alan on Zinal Rothorn in 1998.