Joss Lynam (born as James Perry O’Flaherty Lynam; 29 June 1924 – 9 January 2011) was an Irish civil engineer who was well known as a mountaineer, hillwalker, orienteer, writer and sports administrator. He was one of Ireland's most influential figures in outdoor activities.
Early life
Lynam was born in London to Irish parents Edward and Martha (née Perry). Lynam and his older sister; Biddy, were both raised in London where his father worked as curator of maps in the British Museum. This is where Lynam was first introduced to orienteering and cartography. The family would frequently return to the West coast of Ireland to holiday because the parents were Galway natives. Here, Lynam found his love for mountaineering, and climbed his first mountain - Knocknarea, County Sligo - with his aunt.
At 18, Lynam joined the British army and trained as an officer. He was deployed to India in 1944 under the Corps of Royal Engineers where he spent the remainder of World War II. While there, he participated in his first, of many, Himalayan expeditions, climbing Kolahoi Peak. When Lynam returned in 1947, he immediately moved to Dublin and enrolled in Trinity College Dublin, after encouragement from his parents, where he began to study engineering. Lynam graduated and received his degree with Upper Second Class (2.1) Honours.
Biography
Lynam was a civil engineer by profession but devoted most of his life developing the sport of mountaineering in Ireland. He climbed extensively in Ireland, Britain, the Alps and in India. He was leader, or deputy leader, of expeditions to Greenland, the Andes, Kashmir, Tien Shan, Garhwal, Tibet and India, including the 1987 expedition to Changtse, that was the forerunner to the successful first Irish ascent of Everest in 1993.
With his involvement in developing adventure sport in Ireland he was active in promoting access and developing waymarked trails. He was involved in the creation and administration of the Federation of Mountaineering Clubs of Ireland (now Mountaineering Ireland), the Association for Adventure Sports, Bord Oiliúint Sléibhte (Irish Mountain Training Board), Tiglin (National Outdoor Training Centre [now defunct]), Outdoor Education Ireland, and Cospóir (now the Irish Sports Council) and the National Waymarked Ways Advisory Committee ( part of the Irish Sports Council).
He was a founder member of the Irish Mountaineering Club, IMC, serving as president from 1982 to 1984. and he was also a founder member of both the Irish Orienteers and Three Rock Orienteering club. He was president of the Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme's expeditions commission in the 1990s.
He wrote and edited many guide books to walking and climbing in Ireland. He helped create and was editor of The Mountain Log (the journal of Mountaineering Ireland).
Family life
Joss Lynams met his future wife Nora Gorevan when she joined the IMC, the mountaineering club founded by Joss and Bill Perott in 1948. The couple got married on his graduation in 1951. Nora was the first women to join this club.
During their marriage Joss and Nora had two daughters, Ruth and Clodagh. They also had a son Nicholas who died in 1987. Joss is survived by his two daughters and three grandsons, Chris, Ruairi and Conor. Nora died in Bray on 6 November 2019, and was buried in the family plot at Shanganagh Cemetery alongside Joss and son Nicholas (Nick).
Joss's father, Edward, was a map curator and author of numerous books about maps and map-making. Joss’s parents loved the outdoors, and there were frequent family outings to destinations such as Connemara. His sister, Biddy, died aged 76, just missing her 75th birthday in 2013.
Career
Joss Lynam, otherwise known formally as James Perry O’Flaherty, had multiple careers. A military career, a engineering career and a mountaineering career that was the contribution he is best known for.
At just eighteen, Lynam arrived in India in order to carry out military service. However, Joss described his time there as “quiet”.
In 1948, upon arriving back to Ireland, he began to study engineering at Trinity College Dublin. During his time there, Lynam and a friend, Bill Perrott, founded the Irish Mountaineering Club. One of Lynam’s main priorities was for the club to be open to both men and women. This feministic approach served Lynam well as one of the first female members of the club would be his soon to be wife. Lynam led to the club's first expedition to the Alps after just eight months of its founding.