The Disappeared are people believed to have been abducted, murdered and secretly buried in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

, the large majority of which occurred during

the Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...

. The

Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR) was established by treaty between the Her Majesty's Government, United Kingdom Government and the Government of Ireland, made on 27 April 1999 in connection with the affairs o ...

(ICLVR) is in charge of locating the remaining bodies, and was led by forensic archaeologist John McIlwaine.

Background

Of the sixteen people investigated by the ICLVR, all were

Irish Catholics Irish Catholics are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland whose members are both Catholic and Irish. They have a large diaspora, which includes over 36 million American citizens and over 14 million British citizens (a quarter of the Briti ...

(

Jean McConville Jean McConville (''née'' Murray; 7 May 1934 – December 1972) was a woman from Belfast, Northern Ireland, who was kidnapped and murdered by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and secretly buried in County Louth in the Republic of Irel ...

was a convert), all except Jean McConville were male, and all are believed to have been abducted and killed by

Irish Republicans Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate. The developm ...

. The

Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish re ...

admitted to being involved in the

forced disappearance An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organi ...

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 The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

officer

Robert Nairac Captain Robert Laurence Nairac (31 August 1948 – 15 May 1977) was a British Army officer in the Grenadier Guards who was abducted from a pub in Dromintee, south County Armagh, during an undercover operation and killed by the Provisional Irish ...

, who disappeared from South Armagh, was a

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

-born Roman Catholic. The organisation said they could only accurately locate the body of one of their victims, but gave rough ideas for the remaining eight. , the remains of three of the victims have still not been found.

History

1970s

Joseph Lynskey (40), a veteran Irish Republican paramilitary and IRA member from Cavendish Street in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

, 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 A safe house (also spelled safehouse) is, in a generic sense, a secret place for sanctuary or suitable to hide people from the law, hostile actors or actions, or from retribution, threats or perceived danger. It may also be a metaphor. Histori ...

County Monaghan County Monaghan ( ; ga, Contae Mhuineacháin) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of Border strategic planning area of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County C ...

in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

(ROI) shortly before his disappearance. In January 2010 the IRA issued a statement that Lynskey had been killed by it as a 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 Garda may refer to: * Police, known as Garda in Hiberno-English * Garda (security company), a security and protection company headquartered in Montreal, Canada * Garda Síochána, the national police of the Republic of Ireland * Garda National Sur ...

was reported to be carrying out a search of an area of Coghalstown Bog in

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the ...

, ROI, for Lynskey's body. Jean McConville, a widowed mother of 10, disappeared in December 1972. Her body was found on a beach in

County Louth County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of County Meath, M ...

, ROI, in 2003; in October 2014 a man was arrested in connection with her murder, and two further men were arrested in December 2014. Peter Wilson, 21, a native of West Belfast, with five siblings, was described as "a vulnerable man with learning difficulties". 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 Waterfoot or Glenariff () is a small coastal village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is at the foot of Glenariff, one of the Glens of Antrim, within the historic barony of Glenarm Lower and the civil parishes of Ardclinis and Layd. The ...

. Columba McVeigh, a 17-year-old from

Donaghmore, County Tyrone Donaghmore (pronounced , Irish: ''Domhnach Mór'' (great church)) is a village, townland and civil parish in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, about five kilometres (3 mi) northwest of Dungannon. In the 2011 Census it had a populatio ...

, disappeared in 1975. The IRA allege he had confessed to being a British Army agent, instructed to infiltrate the IRA. Brendan Megraw disappeared in 1978. In August 2014 a bog in County Meath was searched for his body, with human remains discovered in September.

Gerard Evans Gerard Evans (1955–1979) was one of the "Disappeared" of the Troubles. Having gone missing in March 1979, his body was recovered 31 years later in October 2010. Early life Gerard Evans, known as "Gerry", was a 24-year-old painter and decorat ...

, 24, was a man from

Crossmaglen Crossmaglen (, ) is a village and townland in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 1,610 in the 2011 Census and is the largest village in South Armagh. The village centre is the site of a large Police Service of Northern Ire ...

, South Armagh, who disappeared while hitchhiking in County Monaghan in March 1979. 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. Remains were found in County Louth in October 2010, which were later confirmed as being Evans' in November 2010. An alleged member of the

Provisional IRA South Armagh Brigade The South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) operated during the Troubles in south County Armagh. It was organised into two battalions, one around Jonesborough and another around Crossmaglen. By the 1990s, the South A ...

told the ''

Sunday Tribune The ''Sunday Tribune'' was an Irish Sunday broadsheet newspaper published by Tribune Newspapers plc. It was edited in its final years by Nóirín Hegarty, who changed both the tone and the physical format of the newspaper from broadsheet to ta ...

'' that Evans was executed for being an informer.

1980s

Charles Armstrong was a 54-year-old father-of-five who went missing in Crossmaglen while walking to

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different ele ...

in 1981; his car was later found in

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

, County Louth. 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. They were located in

, Ireland in July 2010. No reason has ever been publicly proffered for Armstrong's abduction and murder.

2000s

In September 2015 the bodies of Seamus Wright and Kevin McKee were found in a bog in Coghalstown, County Meath. In May 2017 a body was found in a forest in northern France identified as that of Seamus Ruddy. There were two further disappearances in the 2000s. Gareth O'Connor, believed to have been a member of the

Real IRA The Real Irish Republican Army, or Real IRA (RIRA), is a dissident Irish republican paramilitary group that aims to bring about a United Ireland. It formed in 1997 following a split in the Provisional IRA by dissident members, who rejected the ...

, disappeared while driving from Armagh to Dundalk in 2003. His body was discovered in Newry in 2005.Draft List of Deaths Related to the Conflict from 2002
cain.ulst.ac.uk; accessed 7 September 2015. In March 2005, Lisa Dorrian disappeared after attending a party at a caravan park in

Ballyhalbert Ballyhalbert (formerly known as Talbotston and Halbertston) is a small village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the east (Irish Sea) coast of the Ards Peninsula between Ballywalter and Portavogie. It is largely residential ...

. She is believed to have been kidnapped by loyalists.

List of Disappeared

Disappearances since 1999

References

External links

The Disappeared
bbc.co.uk {{PIRA The Troubles (Northern Ireland) People killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army Enforced disappearances in Northern Ireland Deaths by firearm in the Republic of Ireland Irish murder victims Irish victims of crime Murder victims from Northern Ireland People murdered in Northern Ireland Kidnapped people from Northern Ireland Deaths by firearm in Northern Ireland Terrorism deaths in Northern Ireland Kidnapped Irish people People murdered in the Republic of Ireland Terrorism deaths in the Republic of Ireland Provisional Irish Republican Army