The first search for the remains of Captain Robert Nairac, a 29-year-old British soldier kidnapped and murdered by IRA members in May 1977 during The Troubles, has begun in the Faughart area of Co Louth.
This will be the first search for the remains of Robert Nairac since he was murdered and secretly buried by the IRA in May 1977, the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains (ICLVR) said on Monday.
The search is being led by the ICLVR, which was established via an agreement by the Irish and British governments in 1999.
The ICLVR says its purpose is to "obtain information, in confidence, which may lead to the location of the remains of victims of paramilitary violence ('The Disappeared') who were murdered and buried in secret arising from the conflict in Northern Ireland up to the signing of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement" on April 10, 1998.
“Robert Nairac is one of the highest profile Disappeared and yet his case is one in which we have had very little to go on," Jon Hill, the Lead Investigator of the ICLVR, said on Monday.
“We believe that we do now have sufficient credible information to warrant a search.
“This search will differ in a number of respects from that recently completed - regrettably without success - for Columba McVeigh at Bragan Bog, Co Monaghan."
Hill said the exact location of the new search for Nairac's remains is not being released as the landowner and tenant farmer have asked for privacy.
“I want to make it clear that neither the landowner nor the tenant have any connection whatsoever with our decision to search in this particular location," Hill said.
He continued: “The area itself is relatively small, less than one acre, and farmland is inherently more stable than the bogland we have had to work on in other searches for the Disappeared.
“And so while the weather is always a factor we have to deal with I would hope that we will get a relatively clear run at this one.”
Hill went on to explain that the site was part of an area of significant archaeological interest.
“We are grateful for the support and co-operation of the National Monuments Service who have an interest in the wider area in which the Hill of Faughart has been identified as a 14th-century battle site.
“Given that, we may uncover archaeology or even historic remains.
“We have taken additional measures to cater for that eventuality and so we don’t anticipate that causing any insurmountable issues with our search.
“In terms of timescale, as with all our searches, it will continue until we have found the remains that we are looking for or are satisfied that they are not there.
“We are not time limited but given the relatively small area by our standards, I do not anticipate a protracted search period of many months."
Hill said the Nairacc family has been told that a search is about to commence and that they will be kept informed of developments.
He concluded: “I am not going to put a number on the degree of confidence that we have that we will find the remains of Robert Nairac but what I can say is that if they are there we have the skills, ability and experience to find them."
Separately, Hill said on RTÉ Radio on Monday that it is not his place to confirm whether or not the new information came from people in the IRA.
"There's been a system in place for many years providing information to the Commission and that's worked very effectively in a number of cases and less effectively in others.
"In this one in particular, no information has been provided via that source. Information has come to us from let's say Republicans within the area and equally from other directions, not just Republicans.
"Whether those people were in the IRA or not isn't really for me to say here and now."
As the new search begins, the ICLVR continues to appeal for information relating to not only the disappearance of Nairac, but also of Joe Lynskey, Columba McVeigh, and Seamus Maguire.
To date, the remains of 13 of The Disappeared have been recovered, 11 of whom have been recovered through the ICLVR’s efforts.
The ICLVR, which says all information is treated in the strictest confidence, can be contacted by telephone at +353 1 602 8655 or email at Secretary[at]iclvr.ie, or by mail at ICLVR PO Box 10827.
The murder of Robert Nairac
Captain Robert Nairac was a British officer with the Grenadier Guards on a tour of duty in Northern Ireland. He was last seen on May 14, 1977, in The Three Steps pub in Dromintee, South Armagh where he introduced himself as a mechanic and member of the IRA. He went under the name 'Danny McAlevy' and stated he was from West Belfast.
He got up on stage and sang an IRA song - "The Broad Black Brimmer" - but the locals were suspicious. Later, a scuffle broke out in the nearby parking lot and he was abducted, sparking one of the largest searches of The Troubles.
Nairac was tortured and then shot dead. Rumors that his body was put through a meat grinder have since been dismissed by Geoff Knupfer of the ICLVR.
Local IRA commander Liam Townson confessed to killing Nairac, telling officers around the time of his arrest: "I shot the British captain. He never told us anything. He was a great soldier." Townson was convicted of murder in November 1977 and sentenced to life in prison, though was released in 1990.
Three other men - Gerard Fearon, Thomas Morgan, and Daniel O'Rourke – were also charged with Nairac's murder. Fearon and Morgan were convicted, while O'Rourke was acquitted but found guilty of manslaughter.
Michael McCoy, who was charged with kidnapping, was jailed for five years, and Owen Rocks, who was accused of withholding information, was jailed for two years.
In 2008, Kevin Crilly, who had been on the run in the US, was arrested by the PSNI after he returned to Northern Ireland under an alias. He was charged with the kidnapping and false imprisonment of Nairac in 2008 and additionally charged with the murder of Nairac in 2009. He was cleared on all counts in 2011.
Two other men - Terry McCormick and Pat Maguire - are reportedly still 'on the run' in connection with Nairac's murder. McCormick, however, reportedly died in 2021.
Nairac was posthumously awarded the George Cross, the second-highest decoration for bravery in the British Army and a rarely given one at that.
His citation described how “he was subjected to a succession of exceptionally savage assaults in an attempt to extract information which would have put other lives and future operations at serious risk. These efforts to break Captain Nairac's will failed entirely.”
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