Alan Ruddock Sensei founded the Aiki No Michi, and attained the rank of 6th Dan in his studies of Aikido during his lifetime. He was born in Dublin in 1944, and after many travels, and living in the Isle Of Man for many years died in Dublin in 2012, on his journey home from one of his many aikido courses.
Alan became interested in martial arts in his teens, taking up Judo and then Karate, formally introducing the latter to Ireland as detailed in the book, Shotokan Dawn Over Ireland. He met Tetsugi Murakami sensei, who introduced him to Aikido.
In 1966 Alan travelled to Japan to study Aikido at the Hombu dojo, studying under O-sensei and many of his top students, training daily for 3 years. During this time he also trained with contemporaries such as Terry Dobson sensei and Henry Kono sensei.
When Alan returned to Europe he lived in Dublin and London for a time before moving to the Isle of Man in 1975, and established the Isle of Man Aikikai. He eventually formally left the Aikikai and founded the Aiki No Michi.
A more detailed account can be found on his Wikipedia entry, and in Alan’s own autobiographical account of his time in Japan. Here is one of Alan’s numerous interviews.