‘Disappeared’ Brendan Megraw died from shot to head hears inquest

IRA Disappeared Brendan Megraw, 22, died of a gunshot wound to the head fired at close range, Dublin Coroner’s Court has heard.

His body was recovered at the edge of a peat bog at Oristown, near Kells, Co Meath, on October 1, 2014. An inquest into his death heard how he was abducted from his Belfast home on April 8, 1978, and shot either on that date or immediately after it.

His body was found bent over at the waist with ankles crossed a metre below the surface of the bog, State pathologist Marie Cassidy told the court. Asked if the gun was fired at close range, Dr Cassidy said it was difficult to be precise due to the time that had passed.