23/12/2025
MAUREEN CLARKE REST IN PEACE
Very sad news over the last couple of days when Caroline Woods Cox brought news of the passing of the lovely Maureen Clarke, one of the stalwarts of the Papillon and Toy Dog community over many many years.
Maureen's great friend Caroline has kindly written this lovely tribute to Maureen giving a great insight in to her life and times and her involvement in the dog show scene in Ireland and the fun times had too.
Caroline writes -
Maureen Clarke sadly passed away on 21st. December 2025....the shortest day in the year, which was a sharp contrast to a 90 year life very well lived. Maureen had turned 90 in September. She had not enjoyed a great quality of life in the last five years but still took a great interest in hearing the news from shows and any bit of gossip that I picked up and felt happy to repeat. I always called her on the way back from shows...it was a rite of passage.
Maureen was showing Papillons long before I came into the breed in 1993. We bonded when I gave her a lift home from a show....and that was the beginning of a long history of road trips, training classes and enjoying the ups and downs of showing. Whenever I collected Maureen for a show "out of town",my breakfast would be prepared in a tupperware box...sausage, bacon, toast in bite size pieces and coffee and orange juice...to be consumed on the route to Cork or Kilkenny or wherever. Nothing EVER tasted as good! She was the most uncomplaining passenger ever and we had amazing road trips. Yes, even the time when I forgot which show we were going to and was headed totally in the wrong direction! Luckily. I just realised my mistake and we managed to make it in the nick of time with the help of the late Billy Kilpatrick helping us to unload! On another occasion, we made it from a Cork show to Dublin Airport in three hours, BEFORE the motorway was built, to catch a flight to the UK for the Papillon Club show in 2000. Did Maureen blink?...not once! We spent the journey wondering if my boy had made a five point green star.. back when numbers on the ground on the day were needed to obtain majors! I joked that Maureen alternated between counting those stars and silently praying to her Rosary! We made the flight and got the dogs on board and all was well. What memories! We have lost Joan and Billy Kilpatrick, Liam and Anne Dillon, the Wideras and my own husband, from that era in our breed.....and I cannot help but think back very fondly on the great times and parties we had at shows back in the day.
Maureen showed several Papillons in those years and I was elated that her first Irish Champion was my home bred "Carasweet Here's Merlin" (pet name Tosh). Maureen saw him when he was only a few hours old, said he was her favourite out of the litter of three and that was that! Maureen also made up several Austrene champions from our mutual dear friend Marian Sloan. She had huge admiration for Marian and her lovely dogs and was so happy to have had several gorgeous boys from Austrene! These included Austrene Int. Ch. Ch. Austrene Electrify and Austrene Mr. Bee Carasweet. Her favourite dog of all time was Ch. Austrene Copper Glow....She enjoyed every show she attended, win or lose.
All Maureen's dogs predeceased her at very advanced ages.
Before I met her, she had a love of Cocker spaniels...and I think perhaps she also had a secret longing for another one but the Papillons kept her busy and she kept them in excellent shape and always presented them so beautifully. She enjoyed her time as a committee member with The Irish Toy and Companion dog club and looked forward to helping out at the shows and attending the meetings.
When my husband died in 2001, I stopped showing for a long time. The late (and very sadly missed) Pauline Keegan drove Maureen to shows as did her other good friend Deirdre Lavell. Immediately she got home, the phone would be ringing! For several years, Maureen's late cousin, Tina, helped her at the shows. Tina would be remembered for sitting beside the ring, knitting, minding the dogs, and yes, gathering the "goss"!! What fun!
Maureen was a wonderful family woman. Although she never married, she cared for her mother until her mother died also at a great age and always kept a watchful eye over all the Clarke family and extended family. She idolised each and every one of them, taking particular pride in her nephew, Paul Clarke who played for Dublin GAA. She never missed watching a match when the "Dubs" were playing and woe betide any Philistine (me) who might casually phone her in the middle of a match!! She is survived by her sister, Rose and brothers, Liam and Joe, sisters-in-law Kay and Marie, and brother-in-law Jim, several nieces and nephews and extended family. Her sister Brid predeceased her in May 2010 and her brother Tommy died in October 2024. Tommy was passionate about his Labradors and owned several over the years. He often attended shows, usually focused on the Labs!
Maureen's other great interest was her garden and her plants. Up to very recently, she was reeling off Latin names of various flowers that she had in her garden and her happiest hours were spent out there, with her beloved dogs running around and enjoying the sunshine.
All her life she was a devout Catholic. This faith served her right up to the last days of her life. She bore the last few years of incapacity and illness stoically. I hope she is now enjoying her well deserved Heavenly Rest. On a lighter note, it must have served her well to have survived all those years of road trips with me! Maureen was a very special lady....and a total lady is what she was. I never saw her look less than totally elegant and beautifully turned out, her makeup always pristine. I feel privileged to have called her my friend for all of those precious years. We didn't always see eye to eye and had some great debates over many things throughout the course of our friendship, but that friendship was very solid and I shall miss her and our wonderful long phone calls more than words could ever express. Almost the last conversation I had with her was about not bearing grudges and forgiveness. She quoted her late parents and the example she had been set from her earliest days. She brought loyalty to the highest level. She will be missed by many.
Maureen, dear Maureen, you will always be in my heart.
Caroline Woods Cox (Carasweet)
