Sandra Collins was 28 years old when she went missing from Killala, Co. Mayo, Ireland on Monday 4th December 2000. She is the eldest of six children in her family. She was born to Eleanor and Francie who also had James and Bridie together. Francie, her father, died in 1978 and Eleanor remarried Joe Collins in the mid 80’s. They went on to have Patrick, David and Mary together. The family experienced an earlier tragedy. Sandra’s younger brother James was killed in a workplace accident just six months before she disappeared. Her mother Eleanor passed away not knowing what happened to her daughter. Sandra moved from her family home in Crossmolina at 16 years of age, temporarily to care for her aunt, but weeks became months and she soon became her full time carer. At the time of her disappearance, she was still living with her aunt at Courthouse Street, Killala. She left her aunt’s home at 7.30pm to buy groceries, calling in on their elderly neighbour, William Johnston, to see if he needed

Welcome to Episode 10 (HOST: VINNY McHALE) My guest this week is Mick Rooney. Mick is an investigative journalist from Dublin. He is also the founder of Radio Espial. Mick has had an amazing career over the past three decades. Beginning as a court reporter he has published many books on several topics. He moved into self-publishing and is now the host of Radio Espial which is a talk radio channel that covers poetry, aviation, true crime and missing people cases. In this episode we discuss Mick’s start as a court reporter. Mick tells us how he moved from the world of self-publishing into world of youtube and the fascination of the public with cases of Missing people.

Raonaid Murray was an Irish teenager from Glenageary, South Dublin who was stabbed to death at the age of 17 years just a few hundred metres from her home in the early hours of 4th September 1999. As of October 2023, this murder case remains one of Ireland’s most high-profile unsolved cases. The murder weapon has not been located and no one has ever been charged with her murder. Each year her family and the Garda Síochána (Irish Police) issue new appeals for fresh information. The case has been compared in the media to other unsolved incidents such as the disappearance of schoolboy Philip Cairns in 1986 for its length and so many unanswered questions. BACKGROUND Raonaid Murray (Rainy to many of her friends) was born on 6th January 1982 to parents Jim and Deirdre Murray and she lived and grew up in Glenageary, a relatively middle-class suburb of South Dublin, Ireland. Her father was a teacher and had just become a school principal. Her mother had a career background in care therapy. Rao

Life was good for art student, Emer O’Loughlin. At age 23 years, she and her boyfriend, Shane Bowe, had just returned from a dream trip across the world over months that took them through Europe and into Asia during 2004. On their return to County Clare, Ireland, the young couple decided to save money for a house and a family life together. Emer’s dad, Johnny, hauled a mobile home into a picturesque area called Ballybornagh, in the heart of the Burren, Clare. It was a plot of land owned by Emer’s boyfriend’s family. She wanted nothing more than to continue her studies in art and design. No sooner had she arrived back in Ireland in 2005, she received word that her application had been accepted to the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) in Dublin. She was excited for the coming year. But the life of two families changed on Friday, April 8th. The couple had experienced some power supply issues to their mobile home that morning and, just before heading off to work, Shane suggested th

You’ll be intrigued by our guest today – he’s a photojournalist for more than 25 years for provincial, national and international media by day, a paranormal investigator by night, and he is a survivalist trainer and instructor to cadets in the police and defence forces. Some refer to him as the Irish Bear Grylls. It's a perfect mix where Radio Espial combines our true crime features with paranormal explores and survivalist techniques. We will also demystify the mainstream belief that every trained survivalist is a crazy 'prepper' living in a log cabin in the woods, complete with 200 cans of beans and an underground concrete bunker, ready for the next zombie apocalypse. MAIN PRE-INTERVIEW BIO INSERT From Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland, Shayne Phelan has had a life-long interest in Survival and some in the field would consider him an expert and somewhat of a father figure in Survival training in Ireland. He has served as a trainer and consultant for media outlets such as radi

Sister Philomena was born Christina Lyons in Rahan, Mallow, Co Cork, Ireland in 1932. In 1950, she entered the order of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. She also trained as a primary school teacher in Carysfort Training College, Blackrock, Dublin. She spent six years teaching in New Jersey, in the United States. On returning to Ireland, she taught for 35 years at St Brigid's National School in Ballybay, County Monaghan, close to her convent home. On December 23rd, 2001, at 8.10 am, she departed the convent to take a trip to Dublin. She was looking forward to celebrating Christmas in another convent with friends. Shortly after breakfast, "in jovial mood", Sister Philomena was accompanied to the gates by the head nun, Sister Aloysius, to catch a bus. She had two small suitcases and a plastic bag, but she forgot her mobile phone charger, so she returned to the convent to get it, leaving Sister Aloysius to mind her luggage. When she got back, she insisted her co