Family mark scene of son’s freak wave tragedy

Sean McMahon

A young Kilnaleck man tragically swept out to sea in the US has been remembered and honoured by his grieving family on the second anniversary of his passing.
The family of the late Thomas Clarke from Foxfield, Kilnaleck, visited the location of his untimely death, Monhegan Island, Maine, and had a plaque erected on a cross, simply stating ‘In Loving memory of Thomas Clarke, 1979 to 2011’.
Thomas was a son of Maura and Thomas Clarke and had returned to America just over 15 months earlier looking for work.
Maura told The Anglo-Celt this week that “the whole family were very devastated over the situation – it was a call we will never forget, the night we received it,” she said.

Plaque
Thomas had travelled to attend the wedding of a friend, Orca Bates, who had a house on the island. Orca put up the cross at the location and was present for Thomas’s second anniversary.
“We brought out a little plaque to put up on the cross on the Gull rock where it happened with his name on it,” said Maura.
Recalling the tragic occasion, Maura said the cliff Thomas was standing on was about two storeys high. “The wave came in and took him away – it came out of nowhere, because all the rest of the people who were with him, were covered with water as well.
“The man who was standing beside him was home here (in Ireland) and told me that he did not know where he was when the water came in. When the wave went back out, Thomas was in the water and they could see him for fifteen to twenty minutes.
“So they were saying to him to stay on his back and not to swim against the wave but then there came a current and swept him away. The body was never recovered.
“We got his camera bag and his shoes and a few little pieces back – they came back into shore,” she said.
Maura was accompanied on the trip to commemorate his second anniversary by his brothers, Kieran and Stephen; sisters, Catriona and Sharon; cousin Catriona Keogh; his girlfriend Kerry Morgan, and friend Karen Legget.

Peace
They went to on the island on Saturday, September 7, and were present for his anniversary on September 9.
“When I was on the boat out to the island, I thought, what a remote place to go to die. Then when we went on the island we saw how peaceful it was and how friendly the people were – there are only about fifty or sixty people living on the island all year. There are no cars on it and there is only a little shop or two – it is a very scenic place for artists,” said Maura.
“It is a very humble and peaceful place – I felt when I was on the island for the few days, that it was a lovely peaceful place. Thomas was always exploring and he would have to see every angle and every end of it with his camera. For the thirty-two years he was here, he lived life to the full and he was a carpenter by trade.
“It was very tough leaving the island – you felt that you were leaving him behind,” said Maura.
“He lived in Brooklyn with his girlfriend, Kerry, and he was only after returning to America, fifteen months prior to it (the accident) happening. He had been in America for nine years before that and he came home with his other brother, Padraig”, said Maura.
“He was home for about five years and with the recession, he decided he would go back.

Memorial
“The island people were very good – they all came out to meet us and we had Mass that morning outside on the day of his anniversary. They had a barbecue for us – they were very nice,” said Maura.
Maura added that the community in the Kilnaleck area organised a memorial walk on August 18, last year and a memorial seat was placed in his memory near the Realtog Centre. A total of €10,500 was raised on the day for different charities.
“It is nice to have the memorial seat there, I get a lot from it, I pass it a hundred times a day – he went to school there, it is a very appropriate place to have it.”

Fun-loving
“He was a fun-loving fella and lived life to the full. He was a very good son and very good natured. He would always be looking out for you and always kept in touch when he was away. I used to speak to him nearly every night on Skype.
“My computer was giving up on me and he said to me on the Saturday night before this happened, I must get you a laptop. I got a text message the next night – Sunday night - that he had got the laptop, with it all set up for me.
“I had the laptop home here on Thursday morning. The man he was working for was coming home to Mullingar and he sent it with him – I had it Thursday morning and he was dead on Friday.
“I said I will be able to Skype him on Tuesday or Wednesday when he came home – he never came home.
“He put a lovely note on the laptop. He used to write home to me in longhand – he was a fierce lovable young fella. I have them all here – I laminated them all.
“I thank God everyday that I was in great communication with him. I feel he is with me and that I have to keep myself together,” she said.