‘King of the Travellers’ stops traffic for last time

Charlie "The Great" Clarke has stopped traffic in his hometown for the final time, as seven horse-drawn carriages and a dozen sulkies escorted his coffin to his final resting place.

Thousands of the Travelling community, from home and abroad, journeyed to Limerick on Saturday to pay respects to the 81-year-old “King of the Travellers”.

His niece, Joanne Clarke said: “It’s a sad time for all the family but we are also remembering Charlie as a great character. He was known for causing traffic jams when he was on the road with his horses, and he did it one last time on his final journey; we all smiled at that.”

Mr Clarke will be fondly remembered as the “three card trick man” who annually wowed crowds at the Galway Races as well as festivals across Ireland with his breathless card skills.

It took dozens of men to take it in turns to carry his gold-plated casket carrying his remains from St Patrick’s Church, Dublin Rd, to Mount St Oliver Cemetery.

“We laid a huge wreath at the grave which said, ‘Charlie Clarke lived and died everybody’s friend’,” Joanne added.