In this episode of Radio Espial, we have news and updates on three murder cases and one missing person case in Ireland. This episode was recorded on March 28th, 2024. The cases Ciaran and I cover are: Annie McCarrick Tina Satchwell Emer O'Loughlin Brian Kinsella  

Eva Brennan, 39, of Rathgar, County Dublin, went missing on Sunday, 25th July 1993 after leaving her parents’ home in Terenure, South Dublin and walking the 15-18 minute distance back to her apartment at Madison House on Rathgar Road. Her missing person cold case is often included in Ireland's so-called Vanishing Triangle of women who went missing on the East coast of Ireland from the early to late 1990s. Eva was formally reported missing to An Garda Siochana on Tuesday, July 27th by her father Davy Brennan when relatives had not heard from her since the recent Sunday afternoon. While it is believed Eva did return to her apartment on the Sunday afternoon, because the jacket she was wearing to her parents’ house was later found in her apartment, no witness sighting or CCTV footage recorded her on the journey home. A delayed missing person inquiry was opened in the first week of her disappearance, thorough and forensic searches (of land and water) for Eva in the locales of Rathgar

At the time of her disappearance Fiona Sinnott was living in the rural village of Ballyhitt, Broadway, County Wexford, Ireland, some 120 kilometres south of Dublin City. Fiona was a young single mother, and her daughter Emma was eleven months old at the time of her mother’s disappearance. 19 year old Fiona Sinnott spent the night of Sunday February the 8th 1998 socialising with a group a friends in Butler’s Pub in Broadway Co. Wexford not far from her rented home. Fiona’s friends described Fiona as being happy that night, and in good spirits. However, her friends would later tell Gardai that Fiona was also complaining of pain in one of her arms. Fiona had been the victim of domestic violence in the past and the report of pain in her arm raised the suspicions of Gardai when examining the case. Also in Butler’s Pub that Sunday night was Fiona’s ex-boyfriend and the father of her child, he did not join Fiona and her friends and spent the night drinking at the bar alone. At roughly midnigh

Ciara Breen, 17, from Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland went missing on 13th February 1997, on Bachelor’s Walk where she lived with her mother in a small terrace house. She was last seen by her mother Bernadette, who said at the time that they had both gone to bed just after midnight. That day they had gone to a local café for evening dinner then returned home. According to Bernadette, she was due to get the results of a biopsy the following morning from Blackrock Clinic and Ciara was worried about this. The two had a short conversation on Bernadette’s bed before both going to sleep just after midnight. After 2 am, Bernadette got up to go to the bathroom and discovered Ciara was not in her room, nor her own bedroom. It was not the first time Ciara had snuck out during the night. She had left a window on the latch on the bottom storey of the house and it is believed she did so, so that she could climb back in. It is considered the most likely scenario in Ciara's case that she decided

The Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home (also known as St Mary's Mother and Baby Home) operated between 1925 and 1961 in the town of Tuam, County Galway, Ireland. It was a maternity home for unmarried mothers and their children and run by the Bon Secours Sisters, a religious order of Catholic nuns, that also operated the Grove Hospital in Tuam. Unmarried pregnant women were sent to there to give birth and interned for a year doing unpaid work. In 2012, the Health Service Executive (HSE) raised concerns that up to 1,000 children from the Home might have been sent to the United States for the purpose of illegal adoptions, without their mothers' consent. Subsequent research discovered files relating to a lower number of 36 illegal foreign adoptions from the home and concluded that allegations of foreign adoptions for money were "impossible to prove and impossible to disprove". Local historian Catherine Corless published an article documenting the history of the home in 2012

Sophie Toscan du Plantier, a 39-year-old French woman, was killed outside her holiday home at Toormore, Goleen, County Cork, Ireland, on the night of 23rd December 1996. Her badly beaten body, still dressed in white nightwear and outdoor boots, was discovered by a neighbour the following morning close to an entrance gate at the bottom of her holiday home driveway. British journalist Ian Bailey, who lived several kilometres from Toscan du Plantier's home in Ireland, was a suspect arrested twice by the Garda Síochána, yet no charges were laid as the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) found there was insufficient evidence to proceed to trial. Bailey lost a libel case against six newspapers in 2003. He also lost a wrongful arrest case against the Gardaí, Minister for Justice, and Attorney General in 2015. In 2019, Bailey was convicted of murder by the Cour d'Assises in Paris, and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He was tried in absentia in France after winning a legal battle aga

Fiona Pender (25) was last seen around 6am at her ground-floor flat on Church Street, Tullamore, County Offaly, Ireland on the morning of Thursday August 23rd 1996. She shared the flat with her boyfriend John Thompson. Following a several-month spell living in London from November 1995, the couple had returned back to County Offaly, Ireland in the spring. Fiona left school at 15 years of age after her Intermediate Certificate. A hairdresser by trade and occasional part-time model, Fiona was a bright, outgoing and positive young lady who always wore a smile on her face. She had trained with Kassard’s Salon and also taken up some modelling work with a friend’s agency (Emer Condron). At the time of her disappearance, Fiona was seven months pregnant and had spent the previous day out shopping with her mother. She was reported last seen by her boyfriend at the couple’s flat before he left for work. Fiona vanished without trace and for over 27 years has never been located. Following cold cas

Elaine O'Hara went missing from her home on 22nd August 2012. It was initially assumed she had disappeared while volunteering at the 2012 Tall Ships' Races in Dublin. Inside her house, however, she had left her bag, purse, and mobile phone, and security footage would later reveal her leaving her home with a different phone. She was last seen by a jogger in Shanganagh Park in the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown just to the south of Shankill, Dublin. It was later determined that she had gone to Shanganagh Cemetery, where her mother was buried. A woman was heard crying loudly in the graveyard by another witness. This witness saw a woman, fitting O'Hara's general description, crying beside an old grave, but she could not positively identify her as Elaine O'Hara. Elaine’s car was later found nearby, and it was assumed she had, given her psychological history, committed suicide by jumping off the nearby cliffs. In September 2013, more than a year after Elaine’s disappear

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

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

Dan Foley and Maurice ‘Moss’ Moore were neighbours and friends in Reamore, about 26 kilometres from Listowel Town, County Kerry, Ireland. Moore was 12 years younger, a bachelor living alone with two dogs for company; Foley lived with his wife and her brother. Their houses were separated by just 90 metres. As farmers with small holdings in a tight-knit community, they worked together cutting turf and harvesting hay. The pair would meet daily at the local creamery and also played cards with each other in the evenings with other friends. Dan Foley worried his cattle were wandering away from his house towards the bog, and concerned about welfare of his livestock on such ground, he put down a boundary fence along the sliver of land between his land and Moore’s. However, Moore felt the fence was encroaching on his land so he decided to moved it. Foley, likewise, moved it straight back to where he had first placed it. Moore eventually took a court action so the fence would be moved back indef

Eileen Costello O’Shaughnessy (47), from Corofin in Co Galway, Ireland was brutally murdered on November 30th 1997 while working as a taxi driver. Eileen started work at 8am, worked her shift throughout the day, and around 8pm she informed her taxi base that she was taking her last fare to Claregalway. Approximately 20 minutes later the taxi base attempted to contact Eileen but received no answer. At 9pm Eileen was due to meet the owner of the taxi in Galway to handover the car and keys however she failed to meet as agreed. The last known contact with Eileen was at 8pm. The following morning the 1st of December 1997, the body of Eileen Costello O’Shaughnessy was discovered at Tinkers Lane, Knockdoemore just off the N17 motorway. Eileen had been assaulted and murdered. A murder investigation commenced. After almost 26 years, her killer has never been found. Irish police (An Garda Síochána) have always had one prime suspect identified in the area at the time and responsible for two othe

On the 23rd of February 2011, 38-year-old Esra Uyrun leaves her home in Clondalkin, Dublin, Ireland in the small family car. It’s around 7.20 am and she has told her husband Ozgur that she is just popping out briefly to pick up milk and some bits and pieces for the day at the local early-opening shop in nearby Nielstown. Her husband is busy getting ready for work and looking after their two and a half year old son. He has decided to visit the gym today and will take the car that day. Most often, Esra takes him to work in and picks him up when he finishes later in the day. It’s cool and cloudy and Esra wants to make sure she has everything and won’t have to go out without the car. The couple have been living in Dublin for almost four years since Ozgur secured a better paid job and they moved to Ireland from London. Originally, both are of Turkish heritage and met in the UK. That’s where their families still live. Esra Uyrun was born into a Turkish family in London in 1972. When she li

At the time of her disappearance Claire Boylan was 36 years of age, single and living with her parents in Terenure, an upmarket South Dublin suburb in Ireland. Terenure is the same neighbourhood where Eva Brennan attended church on the day she disappeared. Claire, like Eva, was a similar age and described by her family as “shy and retiring and a creature of habit.” On the morning of Sunday the 2nd of March 2003, Claire informed her family that she intended to travel to Tullamore Co. Offaly to meet an old school friend, and left her family home. However, Claire’s friend informed Gardai (Irish police) that Claire never made contact with her to arrange a visit on the 2nd of March, nor did Claire contact her friend subsequently to the day she disappeared. No evidence has emerged that Claire ever travelled the 100 kilometre distance from South Dublin to Tullamore. She was formally reported missing by her brother, Bernard, on Tuesday, 4th March 2003. No evidence or substantive leads in her m

Patricia Doherty, aged 29, was a prison officer at Mountjoy Prison in Dublin, Ireland. She had returned to her home in Tallaght, Dublin just before 9 pm on the evening of 23rd December 1991, following a busy day of Christmas shopping. But that evening, on a last minute spur of the moment thought, she decided she wanted to get Santa hats for her two young children. Time was of the essence. It was reported that she had a long work shift on Christmas Eve and this was her last chance to have everything organised. She was spotted at two locations, one near the Old Bawn Shopping Centre just before it closed and another by a local pub called Bridget Burke’s. But Patricia never returned home that evening. On Christmas day, Patricia's husband formally reported his wife missing. The Irish police were able to find a witness who reported seeing Patricia at around 9:20pm on the 23rd of December walking past Bridget Burke's Pub towards the Old Bawn Shopping Centre. Then, a second witness cam

In this episode, Radio Espial looks at the unsolved cold case of Antoinette Smith from 1987. I'm delighted to say that I was joined by Ciaran McConnell from Irish Cold Cases and the website Ireland's Vanishing Triangle to review this case. CASE SUMMARY Antoinette Smith and her friend Marie attended a David Bowie concert at Slane Castle in County Meath, Ireland on Saturday, July 11th, 1987. The pair returned by bus to Dublin City centre arriving at Parnell Square around 11pm that night. They decided to finish their long day out after the concern at the La Mirage Discotheque on Parnell Street a short distance away. It was there that they met two men they knew. Having remained in the two men’s company for the rest of the night, they all left the nightclub shortly after 2am. Antoinette’s friend parted company with the group, deciding to head home while Antoinette stayed on speaking to the two men until all three walked the short distance to a taxi rank on O’Connell Street. The men

Deirdre Jacob is an Irish woman who disappeared very near her parent’s home just outside Newbridge town, County Kildare on the 28th July 1998 at the age of 18. In August 2018 the Garda Síochána (Irish police) announced that her disappearance was being treated as a murder case. CASE SUMMARY Deirdre Jacob was born on October 14th, 1979 to Michael and Bernadette Jacob and she spent her childhood growing up in a bungalow just outside Newbridge, County Kildare in an area called Roseberry. During the 1980s, it was a quiet place that had yet to see the sprawling housing developments that would soon come. When she completed school, Deirdre had developed a passion for writing, playing the piano, and she quickly decided she want to teach. She left Ireland in 1997 and began studying to be a primary level teacher at St. Mary’s College in Twickenham, London to qualify. By May 1998, her first year of study was completed and she returned back to her parent’s home in Newbridge, Ireland. During her tim