Missing: Missing without Trace in Ireland

by Barry Cummins

Examines the cases of Ireland's women and children who have vanished in sinister and mysterious circumstances. Looking at who may be responsible for these disappearances, this book outlines the fact that some of Ireland's most cold and calculating killers have not been caught.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Ireland, Irish Literature, Crime, Audiobook

Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Vanessa Meachen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting, but I found the writing a bit repetitive at times and there was a lot of assumption about the fate of the missing people which was presented as fact at times. Cummins' second book on missing people in Ireland is much better.

[Meaghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the title indicates, this is a group of case studies of several women and children who have disappeared without a trace in Ireland and Northern Ireland. While the writing is rather dry, the individual cases are very detailed and the author also includes personal information about the missing people and their families, which makes them come to life for the reader.

My only real objection is that Cummins invariably declares that the people he is writing about have been murdered. The book jacket, for instance, mentions "Annie McCarrick who was murdered in the Dublin-Wicklow mountains." Annie's remains have never been found, no suspects have been arrested, and there are no witnesses and no hard evidence to indicate that she is in fact dead, let alone murdered. Granted, she probably was, but the assumptions about the missing people's fates seriously detract from the author's credibility. Still, in spite of this the book's details making it worth looking at.

[Alice Chau-Ginguene · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subject is interesting. The author is a reasonably good writer. However, there are a lot of repetition in the book. And each chapter has no smooth connection with other chapters. It is probably the editor's fault. Also, I saw a few typo. I got a feeling that the book was rushed out to the market.
It's such a pity because this book could be a very interesting read on an amazing subject matter.

[Suzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting but perhaps a little dry. packed with facts, figures and stories but very little of the author's voice in it.

[Mairead Hearne (swirlandthread.com) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Missing is not an easy read. The women and children discussed in this book are still very present in the hearts and minds of their many relatives today. Most Irish people over a certain age have a very strong memory of the images of the disappeared, these women who just vanished into thin air. these high-profile cases that were an all too common news item during the 1990s. There was a terror in the air, a tangible fear at the time that a serial killer was on the loose but as the bodies were never discovered, our lives moved on….and while we never really forgot, we put it to the back of our minds.

But for Barry Cummins, this was not the case. For decades he has followed very closely any new developments and leads. He wrote the original edition of Missing in 2003 and now Gill Books have just released the updated version containing new insights and updated facts.

‘Close to 9,500 people are reported missing in Ireland every year. That’s more than five times the annual figure when I wrote the first edition of this book in 2003. The vast majority of those reported missing will eventually be found, but many will not….Amid calls for more action to be taken by the State and the gardai, the devastating effects of the loss of a loved one are evident in the homes and the hearts of Ireland’s missing….’

Missing is most certainly a hard-hitting book with a very comprehensive overview of dates and times. It is obvious, as you turn the pages, that Barry Cummins has gone to great lengths in researching all of these cases, with his own personal frustrations evident from the pages. I did, at times, find sections a little repetitive and I did get a little perplexed with the use of the word murder, when no body has been recovered to date in some of the more high-profile cases, but, as I am clearly not an expert in this area, this could be just my own issue.

Missing is quite an exhaustive, almost encyclopedic study of a very frightening period in Ireland’s history. For the families involved, books like Missing, are the oxygen for them to keep their stories alive and in the public eye, making Missing quite a significant and important book for all.

[Tara R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book. Kind of boring at some points.

[Bill reilly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aye; the luck ‘o the Irish went missing along with six lassies, ages ranging from seventeen to twenty six, between 1993 and 1998. The first victim was Annie McCarrick, an Irish-American from New York, my home state. An early 1993 Annie went for a walk in Wicklow, never to be seen again. The New Yorker took a bus and was last seen at a table in a pub with a man described in his twenties. The gardai led an exhaustive search at the Wicklow Mountains, but Anne has never been found. Chapter two profiles Jo Jo Dillard. The twenty-one year-old spoke with a friend from a phone box (it was 1995 with no cell phones) at 11:37 PM. She was hitch-hiking and a car stopped to pick her up, and like Annie, she was never seen again. Operation Trace was formed to investigate the ongoing missing person’s cases. The FBI was asked for advice for techniques involving serial killers. The land that spawned Ted Bundy has the most experience with psychopaths, after all. Several suspects were arrested, but none were charged, due to a lack of evidence. A cold body would have helped the cold case. Victim #3 was Fiona Pender, a 21 year-old model who was 7 months pregnant when she vanished without a trace. Fiona’s father committed suicide two years later. Another unsolved mystery. In February of 1997, 17 year-old Ciara Breen snuck out the window of her mother’s house. She had previously run away but had returned shortly thereafter. Her mother Bernadette was divorced from her father who had moved to America and had no contact with his daughter. No one saw Ciara go out the window and the gardai did extensive did extensive interviews, but with no witnesses or bodies, they were lost. A man in his 30’s was arrested. He denied knowing Ciara, but her mother had chased him away from the front door of her house as he was attempting to pick up the teenager. He was released due to a lack of evidence. The fifth victim to go missing was 19 year-old Fiona Sinnott, the mother of an 11 month old girl. She had been previously abused by a boyfriend, but refused to press charges. The baby daddy, Sean Carroll, was the last person to see her alive in February of 1998. A sixth woman vanished, an 18 year-old whose parents asked the author to keep nameless. She was last seen only 300 yards from home. Operation Trace was formed in 1998 and it was based on a Canadian system relying on computer data bases. Even after 5,000 interviews, no links could be established. A number of violent criminals were questioned, and a good portion of them were family men. The book takes a detour to the case of Mary Boyle. The six year-old disappeared in 1977 and it is the strangest of the cases. The little girl had followed her Uncle Gerry part of a 450 yard walk to a neighbor’s house. The ground was marshy and she turned back. Not a trace of Mary has ever been found. The most promising suspect was a convicted child killer from Scotland, Robert Block. He drove a delivery van and was near Donegal in March of 1977. He was imprisoned for murdering four girls ranging from ages five to eleven. Under U.K. law, he could not be questioned without his consent. The final mystery involves a thirteen year-old boy walking to school in Dublin in October of 1986. Philip Cairns vanished without a trace. The last chapter recounts several missing persons cases. Some were found and some are still missing. I was surprised by the large number of murders in the land of saints and scholars. It could be worse, as here in America we have a homicide rate 3-1/2 times that of Ireland. Maybe it’s the Catholic guilt. Missing is a below average entry in the field of true crime.

[erindoeshistory · Rating 3 out of 5]

I truly like this book. I enjoy true crime and I recently moved to Ireland and wanted to learn more about it’s true crime stories.
Pros:
•many cases to learn about
•respectful to the victims and their families
•doesn’t shy away from the facts but doesn’t exploit them for shock value
•an enjoyable writing-style with an intriguing tone

Cons:
•like many others have said: the writing does get repetitive, to the point it’s kind of annoying at points. The author could’ve lessened this by better organizing chapters and their narratives
•this may just be a personal thing but I think it relies far too heavily block quotes. The flow of the chapters were split for me because of this. I think the information in the block quotes could’ve been woven into the chapter contents in smaller chunks, which could have in turn led to the chapters being less repetitive in nature as the author would have had more content to work from
•wish it had been set up chronologically. It seems as though the first half of the book focuses on the missing persons cases of the 1990s and tries to establish whether or not there was a serial killer, but soon diverts into very old cold cases. I think the book could have benefited from showing earlier methods of Garda investigative methods and then 1990s stuff to show how there had/hadn’t been an improvement in how the Garda operated.

I give the book 3 1/2 stars because I liked it more than I disliked it.

[Niamh May · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well researched book, but already requires an update due to developments since the original publication in 2020 (for example, the developments in the Annie McCarrick case and the discovery of Tina Satchwell). I did like that it linked in with cases in the U.K that I was unfamiliar with before reading this book.

[Retrobot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writing was extremely bland and repetitive, however, the book involves very important subject matter to which I must give my appreciation to the author for writing about.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bookclub read

[Noeleen Cregg · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book highlighted the missing people in ireland and looked into different suspects, I, at times, found the book to be repetitive and at times had to take breaks in reading it.

[Alesha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chapter 4 .
Pg 141 'Hi mam '
(I cried)

[Izzy Eastick · Rating 3 out of 5]

6.5/10

[Cortnei · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was a good book if you like true crime then I do recommend this book. I listened to it as an audio book and it was good.

[Brendan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good collection of information about some of Ireland’s missing persons, giving some insight into the lives of these people before they went missing.

[Aoife O' · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was familiar with quite a few of these cases however, there was quite a lot of repetition in the the audio version & also the authors pronunciation of a lot of areas in Dublin were mispronounced .

[Clodagh Ní Mh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really insightful book covering many of Ireland’s unsolved missing persons cases as well some solved cases.

A large portion of the book covers the vanishing triangle and Operation TRACE. It also goes into detail about the disappearances of Mary Boyle and Phillip Cairns, the only long term missing children in the country.

The cases of Trevor Deely, Amy Fitzpatrick, Bettina Poeschel, Tina Satchwell, and Elaine O’Hara are touched on among others.

It’s painstakingly repetitive, however I think the purpose of this is so that a reader can pick one or two cases to read up on without missing out on information previously shared. But as someone reading the book as a whole it does waste a bit of time.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book fascinating in its content about people who vanish without a trace and are never seen again especially in the cases where no one saw, heard or found a thing about the person when they went missing or were taken. It raises the issue several times that police often don't take missing people cases seriously enough and sometimes fail to take quick drastic action when it is needed. This is not always the case but the book continuously outlines the need for change in this area. The book raises awareness on missing people in Ireland and their families stories.
This book probably isnt for everyone as the writing is very factual and dry but it is a fascinating and important read.

[Holly Forsyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most utterly heartbreaking books I’ve ever read, and my thoughts are with all the affected families.

Would’ve been 5 stars, but lost a star due to a tendency to be repetitive, which probably could’ve been tightened during editing. I did listen to the audiobook, so there’s a chance it wouldn’t have been as noticeable in the print form.

I would’ve liked more context at certain points, eg at what point it was determined that cases were murders, although I appreciate that those questions might’ve had legal implications.

[Sarah O'Riordan | travelseatsreads · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book complies the stories of a lot of the missing women and children of Ireland. And while it is an essential topic to examine unfortunately this book doesn't do the topic justice. The book itself is riddled with speculation and is painstakingly repetitive. In addition there is a whole unnecessary chapter that is pretty much bashing the Gardai. The audio-book also if full of mispronunciations of major Irish towns relevant to each case.

[teddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

very well narrated and covers a lot of intriguing cases. incredibly emotional and thought provoking. highly recommend!

[Anna Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is similar to Barry Cummins book. I found this hard to get into reading it.

[Catherine Keyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's odd to say I enjoyed this book thinking of the families who loved ones still remain missing.