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Violence - Details of 'the Disappeared'
Page Compiled: Martin Melaugh; and Fionnuala McKenna (1996-2000)
Material is added to this site on a regular basis - information on this page may change
Details of 'the Disappeared'
The following table contains DRAFT information on those people who were abducted and killed, mainly by the Irish Republican Army (IRA), in Northern Ireland between 1972 and 1986, and their bodies secretly buried. They are referred to as 'the Disappeared'. As part of the peace process the IRA passed information on the location of six graves containing eight bodies to the Independent Commission for the Recovery of Victims' Remains. Work to identify the sites and recover the bodies began in late May 1999.
Malcolm Sutton, who compiled the Index of Deaths, has suggested that 'the Disappeared' could be defined as:
Persons abducted, killed and secretly buried during the 1970s and 1980s, whose bodies had not been recovered when the Independent Commission for the Recovery of Victims' Remains (ICLVR) was set up in 1999 following an IRA statement about 'the Disappeared'.
Sutton List of 'the Disappeared' from his Index of Deaths
Name
Age
Home
Killed By
Date Disappear
Date Recovery
Joseph Lynskey
(45)
IRA
Sep 1972
Seamus Wright
Andersonstown, Belfast
IRA
2 Oct 1972
25 Jun 2015
Kevin McKee
(17)
Andersonstown, Belfast
IRA
2 Oct 1972
25 Jun 2015
Jean McConville
(37)
Divis Flats, Falls Road, Belfast
IRA
7 Dec 1972
27 Aug 2003
Peter Wilson
(21)
St James's, Belfast
IRA
Aug 1973
2 Nov 2010
Eamonn Molloy
(21)
North Belfast
IRA
1 Jul 1975
28 May 1999
Columba McVeigh
(17)
Dungannon, County Tyrone
IRA
31 Oct 1975
Robert Nairac
(29)
Stationed in County Armagh
IRA
May 1977
Brendan Megraw
(24)
Twinbrook, Belfast
IRA
8 Apr 1978
1 Oct 2014
John McClory
(18)
West Belfast
IRA
25 May 1978
29 Jun 1999
Brian McKinney
(22)
West Belfast
IRA
25 May 1978
29 Jun 1999
Gerard Evans
(24)
Crossmaglen, County Armagh
IRA
27 Mar 1979
15 Oct 2010
Danny McIlhone
(19)
West Belfast
IRA
Jul 1981
11 Nov 2008
Charles Armstrong
(55)
Crossmaglen, County Armagh
IRA
16 Aug 1981
30 Jul 2010
Seamus Ruddy
(33)
From Newry - abducted in France by INLA
INLA
9 May 1985
6 May 2017
ICLVR additional death listed as disappeared (body recovered pre-1999)
Eugene Simons
(26)
IRA
1 Jan 1981
24 May 1984
The following tables contain other related information on disappearances where the body was recovered prior to the setting up of the ICLVR, and also information on two disappearnces in the mid-2000s.
Cases not on official lists
Name
Age
Home
Killed By
Date Disappear
Date Recovery
John McIlroy
Andersonstown, Belfast
1974
Sean Murphy
(25)
Cregganduff, County Armagh
1986
Examples of cases where bodies were recovered pre-1999
Name
Age
Home
Killed By
Date Disappear
Date Recovery
Hugh McVeigh
(36)
UDA
7 Apr 1975
1 Sep 1975
David Douglas
(20)
UDA
7 Apr 1975
1 Sep 1975
Samuel Miller
(71)
UDA
14 Jan 1976
21 Sep 1977
James Galway
(33)
UVF
Sep 1982
24 Nov 1983
Brian O'Raw
(31)
UVF
19 Aug 1997
26 Sep 1997
Recent cases of disappearance that may be paramilitary related
Name
Age
Home
Killed By
Date Disappear
Date Recovery
Gareth O'Connor
(24)
Armagh
11 May 2003
11 Jun 2005
Lisa Dorrian
(25)
Bangor
28 Feb 2005
Sources:
'The Disappeared' in The Irish News, 29 May 1999
'Group seeks Information about the 14 Disappeared' in The Irish Times, 1 September 1998
Letter from Shaun Woodward, then Secretary of State, 14 January 2009
Web site of the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains (ICLVR)
Web site of 'The Disappeared of Northern Ireland'
Additional Material:
British and Irish Governments. (2006). Joint Statement by the British and Irish governments announcing the next steps on location of 'The Disappeared', (3 August 2006). Belfast: Northern Ireland Office (NIO).
BBC. (2022). 'Seamus Maguire: New 'Disappeared' case opened into murder', (3 February 2022). {external_link}
Great Britain. Parliament. (1999). Northern Ireland (Location of Victims’ Remains) Act 1999. London: HMSO. {external_link}
Great Britain. Parliament. (1999). Northern Ireland (Location of Victims' Remains) Bill, (13 May 1999). London: HMSO.
Republic of Ireland. Dail. (1999). Criminal Justice (Location of Victims' Remains) Act, 1999. Dublin. Stationery Office. {external_link}
Republic of Ireland. Dail. (1999). Criminal Justice (Location of Victims' Remains) Act, 1999 (Independent Commission For The Location of Victims' Remains) (Privileges and Immunities) Order, 1999, (26 May 1999). Dublin. Stationery Office. {external_link}
Irish Republican Army (IRA). (1998). Irish Republican Army (IRA) Statement on 'the Disappeared', (10 December 1998). Dublin: Irish Republican Publicity Bureau.