He was born in January 1916 at Ballykeel in Aghagallon, the youngest of seven children to William and Mary Smyth.

For his secondary education he attended Lurgan Technical College, William Street and attended the Armistice Ceremony on November 11, 1929. There Dickie Arnold, vice-principal, art teacher and veteran of World War One, marshalled the entire assembly of Tech boys that day.

He entered the NI Civil service at the age of 19 and spent his first years in Omagh. His duties in the National Assistance Board included travelling around the hills of Tyrone visiting isolated homes where poverty and isolation often lurked behind the cottage door.

He was known as the "assistance man" and with the help of his colleagues and staff assisted many families trapped in poverty during the depression of the early 1940s.

In 1953 he transferred to Lurgan and worked in the National Assistance Board offices over Gilchrist's shop in Market Street until they eventually transferred to newly built offices in Kitchen Hill, where they shared with the Department of Health and Social Services.

He eventually transferred to the Department of Commerce and worked in Chichester Street, Belfast. He rose to the Deputy Principal grade until he retired at age 60 to practise as a marketing and PR consultant.

He was a founder member of the Spina Bifida Association, served on the management committee of Lurgan Hospital, was a member of PACE (Protestant and Catholic Encounter) and was a very active member of his parish – St Peter's, North Street.

Pat always had an eye for detail and in his early days in Lurgan he was a member of the local camera club. Indeed, he often picked up prizes for his photography at the Lurgan Show and some of those pictures he later used in his books.

From his earliest days, Pat had an interest in people and in local history. He took up freelance journalism in the early 1980s writing a weekly feature for the Lurgan Mail. The weekly features became a page and, on occasions, a two-page spread. He also wrote for the Ulster Star and Belfast Telegraph. His pen name Alfie Tallon: The Rambler will be familiar to many.

He was persuaded to write a book, and his first book "Memories of Old Lurgan" was published in 1987. It was enthusiastically received by reviewers and other readers. It was also eagerly snapped up by emigrants home on holiday and people going abroad to visit former local residents. In six months the first two editions of 850 copies were sold out.

Pat also continued to add to his publications; "Fireside Gleanings", Osier Culture and Basket-making", "Whipping the Cat", "Cregganconroe", "Fly Men" and his final book "Friends in Need, Friends Indeed: An Ulster Memoir 1920-1980" published by the Stationery Office in 2006.