Ireland's aviation community last night expressed shock and sadness at the untimely passing of Ryanair's Cathal Ryan.
The eldest son of the recently deceased Dr Tony Ryan, Cathal was aged just 48 years when he passed away yesterday after a very short battle with cancer.
Having trained as a pilot in Sri Lanka in the early 1980s, Cathal had aviation in his blood long before his father set up Ryanair in trust for his three sons in 1985.
Passion
The eldest Ryan boy embraced his father's new business with boyish passion, leaving the Far East to become one of Ryanair's first pilots, while younger brother Declan entered the managerial ranks and youngest son Shane was still in school.
Former colleagues remembered a "well-heeled chap", one of the only fellows in early Ryanair who owned a good suit and a flash car to go with it.
Indeed, his flash credentials were to become very useful for the fledgling Ryanair, which was frequently cash strapped.
Colleagues fondly recall one incident where Cathal was piloting a plane out of an airport, when he was told the plane couldn't take off because of an unpaid bill. The account was promptly settled with the Ryan boy's gold card.
His Ryanair journey also saw him catapulted into the executive ranks to head up London European Airways in 1986, in which Ryanair had just taken an 85pc stake.
The venture was to be short-lived (it was eventually rebranded Ryanair UK and then brought into the Ryanair fold completely), but it still gave Cathal a chance to cut his executive teeth and by mid-1997 he was describing Ryanair's upcoming "substantial profits" to journalists.
He later returned to flying before resigning in 1996, just before Ryanair's stock market flotation propelled the airline to dizzying financial heights.
Success
He eventually left the airline's board in 2002, having watched the family business become one of the world's biggest aviation success stories and having become a millionaire in his own right several times over in the process.
In later years, Cathal was best known for his focus on the family stud farm and was a regular feature at buying events around the country. He also acted as a director of family investment vehicle Irelandia, which has been involved in the launches of Tiger Airways in Asia and AeroBus in Mexico, to name but a few.
Recently, he had begun spending a lot of time in Italy, and developed a keen interest in the performing arts.
The aviation industry was last night stunned by news of his passing, with those who had work with him commenting that he had "seemed fine" when paying tributes at his father's funeral just 10 weeks ago.
Long-serving Ryanair director Ray MacSharry last night paid tribute to Cathal as "invaluable" to the airline's "continuing success".
Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary last night described the Ryan heir as "one of life's originals".
"He was bright, charming, witty and tremendous company," Mr O'Leary said.
"He was also an extremely skilled pilot, having become one of the youngest ever captains on the Boeing 747 aircraft, which he flew for Air Lanka in the early 1980s. Cathal's vision, his expertise and his dedication to aircraft safety was pivotal to the development of Ryanair, and to our 22-year safety record.
"Cathal was one of Ireland's aviation pioneers. He was a comet who shone brightly in our lives and has passed away at a tragically early age. We will all be much the poorer for the loss of his talent, his ability and his friendship," Mr O'Leary added.
- Laura Noonan
Cathal Ryan, an early board member of Irish non-designated flag carrier, and son of late co-founder Tony Ryan, has died. He was 48, and had been diagnosed with cancer.

Cathal bacame one of Ryanair's first pilots, having trained as one in the 1980s in Sri Lanka, when his father set up the airline in 1985 in trust for his three sons, of which Cathal was the eldest. He left the Far East specifically to join the airline.

In 1986 he became the head of London European Airways, a business in which Ryanair had bought an 85% stake. This position, however, quickly disappeared as the carrier became Ryanair UK and was then merged entirely with Ryanair.

Over the next decade, Cathal worked both on the executive board of the airline and as a pilot, although he resigned from the latter by 1996. He remained with Ryanir until leaving the board 2002, by which time he was a multi-millionaire due to the success of the airline.

He continued to be actively involved with business ventures, taking an active role in running his family's stud farm, as well as being a director for Irelandia, a family-owned investment company. With Irelandia he was involved in the launches of such airlines as Tiger Airways and AeroBus.

Cathal died yesterday at his home in Celbridge, Co Kildare, in the company of his children Cillian, Claudia, Danielle and Cameron, his mother Mairead and brothers Declan and Shane.

Friends and colleagues expressed surprise at his passing, commenting that at the funeral of his father, who had also been diagnosed with cancer, ten weeks previously he had "seemed fine." Cathal had also recently begun regular trips to Italy, where he had become interested in the performing arts.

Ray MacSharry, a long-serving Ryanair director, described Cathal as "invaluable" to the air carrier's "continuing success". Michael O'Leary, CEO of the company, called him "one of life's originals". 

"He was bright, charming, witty and tremendous company," Mr O'Leary went on. "He was also an extremely skilled pilot, having become one of the youngest ever captains on the Boeing 747 aircraft, which he flew for Air Lanka in the early 1980s. Cathal's vision, his expertise and his dedication to aircraft safety was pivotal to the development of Ryanair, and to our 22-year safety record. 

"Cathal was one of Ireland's aviation pioneers. He was a comet who shone brightly in our lives and has passed away at a tragically early age. We will all be much the poorer for the loss of his talent, his ability and his friendship," Mr O'Leary concluded. "His vision, his expertise and his dedication to aircraft safety was pivotal to the development of Ryanair."

His former fiance Michelle Rocca, mother of Claudia, expressed her sadness at his passing: "He was a wonderful father to Claudia; he and I had a very good relationship over the past number of years and he will be greatly missed by all of us."

Others described him as a "well-heeled chap", and one of the few members of Ryanair early in the airline's history to be able to afford expensive items, such as his luxury car and his high-quality suit. Cathal's prosperity had often helped Ryanir through financial problems in it's early stages.

Several colleagues recalled one famous incident where airport authorities had refused to allow an aircraft he was piloting to be refueled unless it was paid for up front due to an unpaid bill. When Cathal was informed of the issue, he produced his gold credit card to pay for the fuel.