Republican News · Thursday 7 February 2002

I was in prison and you came to visit me

Sr Sarah Clarke dies

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams MP has expressed his condolences to the family, friends and Congregation of Sister Sarah Clarke, who died on Monday evening, 4 February. The little nun may have been diminutive in statuture but her work on behalf of Irish political prisoners in English jails and in particular their families was prodigious and will never be forgotten by those whose lives she touched. Apart from republican POWs, she was perhaps most famously associated with the Maguire Seven, the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four. Paddy Joe Hill of the Birmingham Six described her as "the Joan of Arc of the prisons".

Born in 1991 in Eyrecourt, County Galway, Sr Sarah went on to join the La Sainte Union order. She was deeply compassionate and will be remembered with great gratitude and fondness by many hundreds of relatives for whom she provided every assistance possible as they undertook the expensive and arduous business of travelling to England to visit imprisoned loved ones. Sr Sarah incurred the displeasure of both church and state over the years because of her work to highlight the appalling failures of the British penal system but she was a woman of strong determination and fortitude.

Sinn Féin's Gerry Kelly recalled their first meeting: "We had just been scooped in March 1972 and Sister Sarah arrived in to visit us. Even then she was in her 50s. When she introduced herself her hands were full of oil. She explained that her car had broken down en route and she had opened the bonnet to fix it. That was the sort she was. She would take help from wherever she could but whe it came to it, she would do the job herself. She visited me in England and also after I was transferred to Long Kesh. In later years, I used to visit her whenever I was in London and she still insisted on retaining her own flat still with that great independent spirit, even though her eyesight was very poor at that stage."

Kelly remembers a straight-talking woman who would argue her case vehemently, a women of deep convictions who would not hide from hard subjects, and a woman of great patience, who would write letter upon letter to MPs, TDs and people of influence.

Sister Sarah dedicated her auobiography, published in 1995, to Giuseppe Conlon, the ailing miscarriage of justice victim who dies in an English jail, and to "the courageous, loyal, families who were an inspiration to me and others".

Outside of her work, the Irish nun was a self-confessed fan of Johnny Cash, "because he used to sing about gaols" and of Mohammed Ali "although I didn't like boxing, I liked the way he said 'I'm the greatest!'"

Mike Ritchie, on behalf of Coiste na nIarchimí, said that republican ex-prisoners and their families "will mourn the passing of Sister Sarah with a sense of sadness and great loss. For many years she was a source of comfort and solace for many families who travelled to England for prison visits."

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, in a tribute, said: "Sister Sarah was a tireless campaigner on behalf of Irish prisoners in British jails. She was a source of support and strength to the families of many republican prisoners who made the long journey to visit their loved one, often in difficult circumstances.

"Sister Sarah truly lived her faith. She fought for justice and humanity, even in the face of public hostility, because hers was a living, campaigning Christianity. She will be missed by all those who knew and loved her, not least those prisoners and their families for whom she was often the only light in the darkness. Go ndeana Dia trocaire ar a anam dílis."

Sr Sarah's funeral will be held at 2pm on Tuesday, 12 February in Banagher, County Offaly. For additional details contact Coiste n nIarchimí (01) 878 2301.