Career
A native of Monaghan town, and previously a clerk, Clerkin joined the force in 1972. However it was a deliberate lure by the Ireland Republican Army, who had the farmhouse with explosives in a calculated response to the newly signed Emergency Powers Bill. Clerkin entered the farmhouse via an open read window, and opened the front door from inside.
This triggered the booby trap, killing him instantly and all but demolishing the house.
Gardas Cannon, Thornton, and Bohan survived relatively uninjured, but Tom Peters was rendered deaf and blind. Number one has ever been charged in relation to the incident.
