The Disappeared are people believed to have been abducted, murdered and secretly buried in Northern Ireland,[1] the large majority of which occurred during the Troubles. The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR) is in charge of locating the remaining bodies,[2] and was led by forensic archaeologist John McIlwaine.[3]
Of the sixteen people investigated by the ICLVR, all were Irish Catholics (Jean McConville was a convert), all except Jean McConville were male, and all are believed to have been abducted and killed by Irish Republicans.[4][5][6]
The Provisional IRA admitted to being involved in the forced disappearance of nine of the sixteen – Eamon Molloy, Seamus Wright, Kevin McKee, Jean McConville, Columba McVeigh, Brendan Megraw, John McClory, Brian McKinney, and Danny McIlhone. British Army officer Robert Nairac, who disappeared from South Armagh, was a Mauritius-born Roman Catholic.[7][8] The organisation said they could only accurately locate the body of one of their victims, but gave rough ideas for the remaining eight.[9][10] As of September 2017[update], the remains of three of the victims have still not been found.
Joseph Lynskey (40), a veteran Irish Republican paramilitary and IRA member from Cavendish Street in Belfast, disappeared during a violent internal IRA feud in the city in August 1972. In 2009 Dolours Price, a former IRA member, stated in an interview with a newspaper that she had driven him in a car out of Northern Ireland to an IRA safe house in County Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland (ROI) shortly before his disappearance. In January 2010 the IRA issued a statement that Lynskey had been killed as part of an internal disciplinary process, and his body had subsequently been buried in an unmarked grave. In December 2014 a specialist team from the Garda Siochana was reported to be carrying out a search of an area of Coghalstown Bog in County Meath, ROI, for Lynskey's body.[11]
Jean McConville, a widowed mother of 10, disappeared in December 1972. Her body was found on a beach in County Louth, ROI, in 2003; in October 2014 a man was arrested in connection with her murder,[12] and two further men were arrested in December 2014.[13]
Peter Wilson, 21, a native of West Belfast, with five siblings, was described as "a vulnerable man with learning difficulties".[14] He was abducted by the IRA in the summer of 1973, somewhere in the St James area of Belfast, killed and secretly buried at Waterfoot, County Antrim.[15]
Columba McVeigh, a 19-year-old from Donaghmore, County Tyrone, disappeared in 1975. The IRA allege he had confessed to being a British Army agent, instructed to infiltrate the IRA.[16]
Brendan Megraw disappeared in 1978. In August 2014 a bog in County Meath was searched for his body,[17] with human remains discovered in September.[18]
Gerard Evans, 24, was a man from Crossmaglen, South Armagh, who disappeared while hitchhiking in County Monaghan in March 1979.[19] In March 2008 a map was given to Evans' aunt. In 2008, the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains appealed for more information regarding his disappearance.[20] Remains were found in County Louth in October 2010,[21] which were later confirmed as being Evans' in November 2010.[22] An alleged member of the Provisional IRA South Armagh Brigade told the Sunday Tribune that Evans was executed for being an informer.[23]
Charles Armstrong was a 54-year-old father-of-five who went missing in Crossmaglen while walking to Mass in 1981; his car was later found in Dundalk, County Louth.[19] The IRA denied any involvement in his disappearance at the time. Armstrong's family began a fresh, private search for his remains in October 2003.[24] They were located in County Monaghan, Ireland in July 2010.[25] No reason has ever been publicly given for Armstrong's abduction and murder.
In September 2015 the bodies of Seamus Wright and Kevin McKee were found in a bog in Coghalstown, County Meath.[26]
In May 2017 a body was found in a forest in northern France identified as that of Seamus Ruddy.[27]
There were two further disappearances in the 2000s. Gareth O'Connor, believed to have been a member of the Real IRA, disappeared while driving from Armagh to Dundalk in 2003. His body was discovered in Newry in 2005.[28][29] In March 2005, Lisa Dorrian disappeared after attending a party at a caravan park in Ballyhalbert. She is believed to have been kidnapped by loyalists.[28][30][31]
Name | Location[a] | Age | Year of disappearance | Year of body being found | Suspects | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Charles Armstrong | Crossmaglen | 54 | 1981 | 2010 | Republicans | [32] |
Gerard Evans | County Monaghan, Ireland | 24 | 1979 | 2010 | Republicans | [32] |
Joe Lynskey | Belfast | 40 | 1972 | Still missing | Republicans | [19][33][34][35] |
John McClory | Belfast | 17 | 1978 | 1999 | Republicans | [19][36] |
Jean McConville | Belfast | 38 | 1972 | 2003 | Republicans | [19][37] |
Danny McIlhone | Belfast | 21 | 1981 | 2008 | Republicans | [19][38][39] |
Kevin McKee | South Armagh | 17 | 1972 | 2015 | Republicans | [19][40][41] |
Brian McKinney | Belfast | 22 | 1978 | 1999 | Republicans | [19][42] |
Columba McVeigh | Dublin, Ireland | 17 | 1975 | Still missing | Republicans | [19][43][44] |
Brendan Megraw | Belfast | 24 | 1978 | 2014 | Republicans | [18][19] |
Eamon Molloy | Belfast | 22 | 1975 | 1999 | Republicans | [19][45][46] |
Robert Nairac | Dromintee, South Armagh | 28 | 1977 | Still missing | Republicans | [19][47][48] |
Seamus Ruddy | Paris, France | 32 | 1985 | 2017 | Republicans | [19][49][50] |
Eugene Simons | Castlewellan, County Down | 26 | 1981 | 1984 | Republicans | [19] |
Peter Wilson | Belfast | 21 | 1973 | 2010 | Republicans | [19][51][52][53] |
Seamus Wright | South Armagh | 25 | 1972 | 2015 | Republicans | [19][40] |
Name | Location | Age | Year of disappearance | Year of body being found | Suspects | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lisa Dorrian | Ballyhalbert | 25 | 2005 | Still missing | Loyalists | [28] |
Gareth O'Connor | Newtownhamilton | 24 | 2003 | 2005 | Republicans | [29] |