Gerard Evans
Gerry Evans | |
---|---|
Born | Gerard Evans 1955 Crossmaglen, County Armagh, Northern Ireland |
Disappeared | County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland |
Died | March 1979 (aged 24) County Louth |
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.[1]
Early life
Gerard Evans, known as "Gerry", was a 24-year-old painter and decorator from Crossmaglen, County Armagh, in Northern Ireland.[2]
Disappearance
Evans was kidnapped by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in March 1979 whilst hitch-hiking in the Castleblaney neighbourhood in County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland. After a lengthy questioning involving a party of twelve local PIRA members on the accusation of being an intelligence agent for the British Government in the Armagh/Monaghan district, Evans was taken at night into the County Louth landscape, where, after pleading for mercy from his kidnappers, and being permitted to make a last prayer, he was shot in the back of the head.[3] His body was afterwards illicitly buried in an unmarked grave in a peat bog at Carrickrobbin, near Hackballcross in County Louth, five miles from his home in Crossmaglen,[4] the decision having been taken by the Provisional IRA to deny involvement with his disappearance and conceal the evidence of his murder to avoid alienating the community of the village of Crossmaglen, where the surname of Evans was common.[5]
Recovery of the body
In October 2010 the Sunday Tribune journalist Suzanne Breen published a story that she had received information about the location of Evans' body from an ex-member of the Provisional IRA's "South Armagh Brigade",[3] the source also giving the details of Evans' kidnap and murder. After an extensive search of the vicinity indicated the Garda Síochána located Evans' body on 15 October 2010. The source stated that their decision in coming forward with the information was influenced by the 2007 murder of Paul Quinn.[3]
Evans' funeral took place at St. Patrick's Church in Crossmaglen on 4 December 2010; he was buried in the church's graveyard.[6]
See also
- Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains
- List of solved missing person cases
References
- ^ "Remains of Disappeared victim found in Co Louth". Irish Independent. 15 October 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
- ^ "Remains were 'Disappeared' Crossmaglen man Gerry Evans". BBC News. 29 November 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
- ^ a b c Suzanne Breen (17 October 2010). "Masked IRA man's map leads to body in Louth". Sunday Tribune. Archived from the original on 21 October 2010. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
- ^ "Remains were 'Disappeared' Crossmaglen man Gerry Evans". BBC News. 29 November 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
- ^ "Disappeared but not forgotten: the grim secrets the IRA could not bury". the Guardian. 10 May 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
- ^ "'Disappeared' man Gerry Evans funeral takes place". BBC News. 4 December 2010. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
- v
- t
- e
- Anti-Treaty IRA
- Sinn Féin
- Republican News
- An Phoblacht
- The Green Book
- The Troubles (Timeline)
- Haughey arms crisis
- IRA campaign
- Chronology of Provisional IRA actions
- Arms importation
- Weaponry
- Barrack buster
- Improvised tactical vehicles
- Mountjoy Prison helicopter escape
- Blanket protest
- Dirty protest
- HM Prison Maze
- Anti H-Block
- 1981 Irish hunger strike
- Maze Prison escape
- Armalite and ballot box strategy
- Punishment attacks
- Disappeared
- Smithwick Tribunal
- Northern Ireland peace process
- Good Friday Agreement
(Volunteers)
- Paddy Agnew
- Martina Anderson
- Declan Arthurs
- Thomas Begley
- Ivor Bell
- Patricia Black
- Charles Breslin
- Edward Butler
- Paul Butler
- Joe Cahill
- Liam Campbell
- Fergal Caraher
- Malachy Carey
- Owen Carron
- Gerard Casey
- Carál Ní Chuilín
- Gabriel Cleary
- Peter Cleary
- Kevin Coen
- Eamon Collins
- Eddie Copeland
- Marion Coyle
- Gerard Davison
- Matt Devlin
- Hugh Doherty
- Joe Doherty
- Kieran Doherty
- Martin Doherty
- Pat Doherty
- Colin Duffy
- Rose Dugdale
- Dessie Ellis
- Mairéad Farrell
- William Fleming
- Kieran Fleming
- Bernard Fox
- Angelo Fusco
- Michael Gaughan
- John Francis Green
- Dessie Grew
- George Harrison
- Brendan Hughes
- Francis Hughes
- Martin Hurson
- Pearse Jordan
- Brian Keenan
- Gerry Kelly
- John Kelly
- Patrick Joseph Kelly
- Sean Kelly
- Jim Lynagh
- Proinsias Mac Airt
- Breandán Mac Cionnaith
- Antoine Mac Giolla Bhrighde
- Joseph MacManus
- Seán Mac Stíofáin
- Patrick Magee
- Paul Magee
- Donna Maguire
- Larry Marley
- Paul Marlowe
- Leo Martin
- Alex Maskey
- Pearse McAuley
- Daniel McCann
- Fra McCann
- Jennifer McCann
- Raymond McCartney
- Martin McCaughey
- Raymond McCreesh
- Joe McDonnell
- Séamus McElwaine
- Thomas McElwee
- Brendan McFarlane
- Tom McFeely
- Gerry McGeough
- Pat McGeown
- John Joe McGirl
- Martin McGuinness
- Pádraig McKearney
- Tommy McKearney
- Billy McKee
- Kevin McKenna
- Laurence McKeown
- Michael McKevitt
- Thomas McMahon
- Jackie McMullan
- Martin Meehan
- Ian Milne
- Arthur Morgan
- Danny Morrison
- Conor Murphy
- Thomas "Slab" Murphy
- Kieran Nugent
- Ruairí Ó Brádaigh
- Ed O'Brien
- Dáithí Ó Conaill
- Éamonn O'Doherty
- Joe B. O'Hagan
- Siobhán O'Hanlon
- Rita O'Hare
- Diarmuid O'Neill
- Dolours Price
- Marian Price
- Liam Quinn
- Paddy Quinn
- Billy Reid
- Bobby Sands
- Seán Savage
- Pat Sheehan
- Frank Stagg
- Jimmy Steele
- Bobby Storey
- Gerard Tuite
- Seamus Twomey
- Roy Walsh
- Séanna Walsh
Supergrasses
killings
- Jeffery Stanford Agate
- Johnathan Ball
- Anthony Berry
- Robert Bradford
- Joe Bratty
- Matthew Burns
- Martin Cahill
- Eamon Collins
- Raymond Elder
- Gerard Evans
- Christopher Ewart-Biggs
- Joseph Fenton
- Billy Fox
- Maurice Gibson
- Ian Gow
- Heidi Hazell
- Donald Kaberry
- Andrew Kearney
- Baroness Brabourne
- William "Frenchie" Marchant
- Martin McBirney
- Jerry McCabe
- Robert McConnell
- Jean McConville
- Columba McVeigh
- Ross McWhirter
- Stephen Melrose
- Lord Mountbatten
- Lenny Murphy
- Robert Nairac
- Thomas Oliver
- Tim Parry
- Paul Quinn
- Robert Seymour
- Robert McCartney (allegedly)
- Joseph Rafferty (allegedly)
- Ray Smallwoods
- Sammy Smyth
- Nick Spanos
- James Stronge
- Norman Stronge
- Richard Sykes
- Stephen Tibble
- Sammy Ward
- Michael Willetts