Manus Joe McClafferty: Donegal man famous for contacting Mir

Manus Joe McClafferty, who died at the age of 62 after a very brief illness, was a Falcarragh, Co Donegal man known throughout his home parish for his enthusiastic community spirit and sense of generosity and volunteerism.

However, he became known much farther afield in 1991 for his activities as a ham radio enthusiast, when he made contact with Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, who was onboard the space station Mir while the Soviet Union was collapsing back home on Earth.

The men stayed in radio contact for months, and the story made national headlines. Later, their radio friendship – "with embellishments", as McClafferty said – was the basis of the Irish film, Mir Friends.

Born in Errarooey, Falcarragh to Johnny and Annie (nee Brogan) McClafferty, McClafferty attended Ballyboes National School and the vocational school in Gortahork, where he sat his Leaving Cert. McClafferty was not interested in sport at school, but did develop a love of radio that stayed with him throughout his life.

Valued presence

“When you visited him he had that radio on,” said Rosemary Grain of Pobail le Chéile, the Falcarragh community development project where McClafferty was a valued and beloved presence for the past 14 years, volunteering at the charity shop and various events. “He never let anyone down,” she said.

McClafferty worked at a local shop, Greene’s hardware, until it closed, and cared for his mother and father until their deaths. In his later years, McClafferty lived in Carrowcannon, Falcarragh.

Widely read, McClafferty had a particular love of poetry and classical music. He was a member of the Pobail le Chéile board and a founding member of its active age group, Cumann Cairdeas. In 2004 he addressed the first cumann meeting to discuss his conversations with Krikalev.

He was delighted to have met former president Mary McAleese twice, when groups to which he belonged were invited to Áras an Uachtaráin.

Pobail le Chéile co-ordinator Paul Kernan said: “It isn’t just in our heads: he’s a star.” The group plans to establish an annual award for community and voluntary work in his name.

An only child, McClafferty is survived by many cousins, including the McCallions in Falcarragh; the McClaffertys and the Brogans in Creeslough; and the McHughs and additional cousins in the United States.