Cork man Finbarr honoured for his 40 years of compassion to Air India victims

A Ballyphehane man who has, for 40 years, tended the grave of a mother and daughter killed in the Air India disaster has been described as the personification of Cork decency by his childhood friend, the Taoiseach.

On June 23, 1985, a bomb exploded on board Air India flight 182, killing all 329 passengers and crew, and bringing down the aircraft off the south west coast of Cork.

Of the 132 bodies recovered from the sea, only two went unclaimed — Annu Alexandra and her 10-year-old daughter, Rena. Ms Alexandra’s husband and son had also perished in the bomb attack, and they were never found.

Finbarr Archer was working with O’Sullivans Undertakers at the time — he is in the iconic photograph snapped through an open window at Cork University Hospital by Denis Minihane — and he was given the job of cataloguing the remains recovered.

He quickly realised Annu and Rena had no-one left to claim their bodies, and he took it upon himself to take care of them.

Buried together

They were buried together, mother and daughter, in St Michael’s Cemetery in Blackrock, and Mr Archer has tended their grave ever since.

These days, Mr Archer is best known as the lord mayor’s official driver, and he is a familiar sight as a calm and discreet presence beside Cork’s first citizen.

Last weekend, Mr Archer was honoured by Cork’s Indian community as part of the Hindu Durga Puja celebrations.

At a special ceremony on Saturday, the Cork Sarbojonin Durgotsab, a group that celebrates members of the Indian community in Cork, presented Mr Archer with its inaugural Shamrock Lotus Award, describing him as “a light of kindness in Ireland”.

Commenting on the award, Taoiseach Micheál Martin told The Echo he had known Finbarr all his life and they had been friends since childhood.

“Finbarr lived in Ballyphehane, and we were around the corner in Turner’s Cross. We were in school together in Scoil Chríost Rí,” he said.

Compassion

The Archer family were good sportspeople, Mr Martin added, playing with Nemo, and the young Martins played soccer with them in Ballyphehane Park and the greens around Ballyphehane for many years.

“Finbarr always had great wit, but also great humanity and compassion.

“He’s a personality in his own right, certainly as the Lord Mayor’s driver, but he is quintessential Cork decency, and he always looks out for people,” Mr Martin said.

“I was aware of him tending to the graves of those two people, and that would be Finbarr, he is the personification of decency, humanity and kindness.”

Mr Archer said the Taoiseach’s words meant a lot to him, and he said he felt he had only done something small for a mother and daughter who were far from home.

Remembered

“It was when Annu and Rena were buried, I couldn’t bear the idea that nobody would visit them and that nobody would know where they were, that’s why I’ve looked after the grave for 40 years, so that they wouldn’t be alone,” he said.

“They were always remembered by me, but hopefully now they are remembered by the people of Cork too.”