THE funeral of a Belfast man whose mother was killed and secretly buried by the IRA has heard how he would often run away from a children’s home to get back to his old life.
Thomas ‘Tucker’ McConville died at the Royal Victoria Hospital on Wednesday following a short illness.
As one of Jean McConville’s ten children, he suffered greatly after her murder in 1972 and the decades long wait until her remains were recovered from a beach in Co Louth in 2003.
Mr McConville is now the fourth member of his family to die in recent years after his siblings Anne, Billy, Agnes and Archie.
A father of six, his funeral Mass took place on Tuesday at St John’s Parish on the Falls Road followed by interment in Milltown Cemetery.
Parish priest Fr Martin Magill praised Mr McConville for how he tried to use his traumatic experiences to help others.
He began: “The question which some people ask came to mind, ‘why do bad things happen to good people?’”
Born on July 16, 1964, Mr McConville first grew up in east Belfast before the outbreak of the Troubles forced his family to move to the Divis area in the west of the city in 1970.
Two years later in December 1972, his mother was abducted and murdered by the IRA.
“The horror of her murder, and to use the phrase ‘disappeared,’ had a devastating impact not only on Tucker but on the whole McConville family,” said Fr Magill.
“Destroying his and their childhood and blighting the rest of their lives. It’s understandable that Tucker’s life had many dark times, especially in November, December and January each year which were always difficult months given the circumstances of his mum’s abduction and death.”
His sibling all had to be taken into care in various children’s homes, the longest for Mr McConville being in the De La Salle Brothers’ home along the Ards Peninsula in Kircubbin.
“The days in the childrens’ home had painful memories for him and along with his brother Michael, he used to run away nearly every day in an effort to get back to their home.”
He added: “Looking back now, it has to be said, the McConville family were let down by everyone.
“Particularly those who were to care for them, and sadly this included the church.”
Starting his working life in the Coca Cola factory in Lambeg, Mr McConville then moved to Armagh to work on various farms before taking up the trade of painting and decorating.
Developing a love of gardening later in life, he tended to the Wave Trauma Centre’s garden in north Belfast for over ten years.
Such sad news as Tucker McConville, son of Jean McConville has died after a short illness. Tucker was only 59 years of age.
— WAVE Trauma Centre (@WAVETrauma) January 5, 2024
Tucker volunteered for WAVE for many years helping out in the garden & in the men’s group. Everyone knew Tucker. He was a character. May he rest in peace pic.twitter.com/B6Z2nO6TCn
Often planting flowers in memory of those who died in the Troubles, Fr Magill also said he had a “speciality” of cutting down listed trees.
When a neighbour reported Wave to the council, he said Mr McConville greeted an official by asking him if he needed any logs.
A keen soccer fan, he was a lifelong Liverpool supporter and had played on his childrens’ home football team.
He was said to have imagined himself to be like George Best, even if his siblings thought he was actually more like Best’s father Dickie.
“It’s understandable that over the years, Tucker’s faith had been tested. And yet he still believed in God and found solace in the mass for the Disappeared and other remembrance events,” Fr Magill said.
With a commitment to helping other people through the Wave Trauma Centre, he was especially proud of his efforts to educate others.
“He found it immensely beneficial to able to use the hugely traumatic experience of losing his mum for positive ends.
“What a powerful testimony.”
