The son of Jean McConville, a victim of the Troubles who was murdered and secretly buried by the IRA, has passed away. Thomas ‘Tucker’ McConville, aged 59, died in hospital on Wednesday following a brief illness. His mother, Jean McConville, was wrongfully accused of being an Army informer and was forcibly taken from her home in front of her children in 1972. She was shot and her body was buried by the IRA. Her remains were later discovered on a beach in Co Louth in 2003.
Dr Sandra Peake, a victims campaigner who has supported the families of the Disappeared, expressed her condolences for the McConville family, describing Tucker’s death as another tragic blow. The timing of his passing holds additional significance, as it falls on the 52nd anniversary of his father Arthur’s death in 1972. Tucker McConville is the fourth member of the McConville family to pass away in recent years, following the deaths of Billy in 2017, Agnes in 2018, and Archie in 2021. Their sister Ann McConville also passed away in 1992.
Dr Peake fondly remembered Tucker’s involvement with the Wave Trauma Centre, stating that he enjoyed working in the garden and tending to a hawthorn tree he had chosen to honor his mother’s 80th birthday. Tucker also helped care for the flowers and plants at the home of the center’s late chair, Professor Jean Orr.
Anne Morgan, who lost her brother Seamus Ruddy to an abduction and murder by the INLA in 1985, described Tucker McConville as a gentle soul who always sought to help others and lighten their burdens. His absence will be deeply felt.
While Tucker found solace in his work with the Wave Trauma Centre, the devastating impact of his mother’s murder and the trauma of being one of the Disappeared irreparably affected his life, according to Dr Peake. She noted that the McConville children felt as if their lives had been destroyed alongside their mother’s. The deaths of Billy, Agnes, and Archie, followed now by Tucker’s passing, have brought unimaginable suffering to a family already burdened by tragedy.
The Funeral Mass for Thomas McConville will be conducted by Father Joe Gormley on Tuesday at 1pm in St John’s Parish on the Falls Road in Belfast.
Despite extensive efforts to locate victims’ remains, four out of the 17 individuals listed by the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains are still missing. Columba McVeigh, Joe Lynskey, Seamus McGuire, and Army officer Robert Nairac have yet to be recovered. Thirteen other bodies have been located by the commission.
The passing of Thomas ‘Tucker’ McConville serves as a poignant reminder of the lasting pain and trauma inflicted by the Troubles in Northern Ireland. As his loved ones mourn his loss and continue to honor his mother’s memory, it is a solemn call to never forget the suffering endured by so many during that troubled era.
