The disappearance of Jean McConville 'destroyed' her children, mourners are told as son Thomas is laid to rest following a short illness

Thomas 'Tucker' McConville died after a short illness in the Royal Victoria Hospital last Wednesday (January 3) at the age of 59.

His funeral took place at St John's Parish on the Falls Road in Belfast before interment at Milltown Cemetery on Tuesday (January 9).

Mother-of-ten Jean McConville was abducted, murdered and secretly buried by the IRA in 1972 and whose remains were not found and recovered until 2003.

Parish priest Fr Martin Magill told those in attendance: “The question which some people ask came to mind, ‘why do bad things happen to good people’?" before adding, “the horror of her (Jean’s) murder, and to use the phrase ‘disappeared,’ had a devastating impact not only on Tucker but on the whole McConville family.

“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.

“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.”

Thomas is the fourth sibling of the McConville family to die in recent years after Billy passed away in July 2017 aged 50, Agnes in November 2018 aged 59 and Archie in October 2021 aged 65.

Furthermore, his sister Ann died in 1992 aged 40.

Dr Sandra Peake, chief of the Wave Trauma Centre, which has supported the families of the disappeared since the mid-1990s, described Thomas' death as "yet another tragic blow to the McConville family.”

She said: “"While working in the garden and doing the fundraising marathon walks with Wave were good times for Tucker, like others in the family - what happened to his mother irreparably damaged his life.

"His brother Michael often says that when the IRA murdered their mother they may as well have murdered them too, such was the devastating impact of the horror of her murder and being Disappeared.

"It destroyed their childhood and has blighted the rest of their lives."