The Tuam Herald marked the 75th anniversary of the death of Columban Missionary Fr Frank Canavan on 6th December with a feature highlighting his life and tragic death during the Korean War.
The article was written by historian Mairéad O’Brien who wrote a number of articles in local newspapers and the Far East magazine over the course of 2025 to honour both the Columbans who died in Korea in 1950 and those who died in the Philippines in 1945.
Fr Frank Canavan was one of 800 prisoners in Korea forced to march 146 kilometres across freezing, mountainous terrain in what became known as the Tiger Death March.
Having survived the savage Tiger Death March, Fr Frank developed a persistent cough and a fever. Pneumonia set in rapidly.
He died on 6th December 1950, the feast of St Nicholas, the patron saint of Galway City, to whom he was deeply devoted. He was buried in a hastily dug grave in the frozen earth.
Fr Frank is one of seven Columban Fathers whose beatification the Korean Church is promoting. In 2014, they were declared Servants of God, a title granted to individuals at the first stage in the canonisation.
Mairéad O’Brian has put most of her articles on the Columban Martyrs together into a digital booklet. The articles can be read here: https://online.fliphtml5.com/trshl/Front-page/#p=1