THOMAS ‘TUCKER’ MCCONVILLE, son of Jean McConville who was “disappeared” and murdered by the IRA, has died aged 59.

Tucker McConville died on Wednesday in the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast following a short illness.

His mother Jean McConville was taken from her home by the IRA in December 1972.

Undated file photo of Jean McConville. PA PA

She became known as one of the “Disappeared” who had been abducted, murdered, and secretly buried by the IRA.

In 1999, the IRA admitted its role in Jean McConville’s murder and her body was found at a beach in Co Louth in 2003.

File image of a memorial to Jean McConville at Templetown Beach close to Shellinghill Beach in Co Louth Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Tucker is the fourth member of the McConville family to die in recent years: Billy died in 2017 aged 50, Agnes in 2018 aged 59, and Archie in 2021 aged 65.

The WAVE Trauma Centre is the largest cross community victims’ group in the North, and Tucker McConville volunteered with the centre.

In a statement today, the CEO of the WAVE Trauma Centre Sandra Peake said Tucker loved working outside in the WAVE remembrance garden in Belfast.

“It was Tucker who chose the hawthorn tree to mark what would have been his mum’s 80th birthday and he tended it while he was able,” said Peake.

She added: “While working in the garden and doing the fundraising with WAVE were good times for Tucker, 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.

“Tucker’s death following so closely on Billy, Agnes and Archie is another tragic blow to a family whose suffering is almost beyond endurance.”

‘Gentle soul’

Seamus Ruddy, from Newry in Co Down, was abducted and murdered by the INLA in France in 1985, and his remains were recovered in 2017.

His sister Anne Morgan today described Tucker McConville as a “gentle soul who always had time for everyone”.

“He was someone who wanted to help people and lessen their load,” she added.

“He will be sorely missed”.

Tucker McConville’s funeral Mass will be held on Tuesday 9 January in St John’s Parish on the Falls Road in Belfast.