Gardaí appeal for information to solve 30-year mystery of Fermoy couple who vanished

Conor and Sheila Dwyer were last seen at St Patrick's Church in Fermoy 30 years ago

Gardaí have appealed for information on the disappearance of Conor and Sheila Dwyer from Fermoy, 30 years ago. File picture.

Gardaí have issued an appeal for information in a bid to solve the 30-year mystery of a couple in their 60s who vanished without trace from Fermoy, Co Cork, on April 30, 1991.

Conor and Sheila Dwyer lived at Chapel Hill in Fermoy. They were last seen at St Patrick's Church in the town 30 years ago.

The inside of the Dwyers' house on Chapel Hill, Fermoy, as they left it before they disappeared. Picture: Richard Mills

Some days later, Gardaí were notified that the couple was missing. They went to the Dwyer home and found the house secure and all personal items, such as clothes, passports and money, still in the property.

However, their car, a white Toyota Cressida registration number 5797 ZT, was not at the house.

Conor was 62 at the time of the disappearance, and Sheila was a year younger. No trace of the Dwyers or their car has ever been found.

Mystifying

Their disappearance remains one of Ireland's most mystifying missing persons cases. Despite a major Garda probe, both gardaí and the couple's family have been unable to determine their fate.

The field opposite Chapel Hill, Fermoy, overlooking the river Blackwater, that was sold by Conor and Sheila Dwyer for a record sum of £67.000 shortly before they disappeared. Picture: Richard Mills.

Investigating garda Sgt Joe Watkins, who is now retired, told Virgin Media News that the couple basically went to a funeral, got in their car, and were never seen again. He says the disappearance of the married couple still haunts him.

“All of their property was there [in the house]. There was money. There was passports. All of their possessions. If something was missing you would say they were emptying the wardrobe or something. That wasn’t the case.

They have two sons. There is no closure for them. Their parents were never located. The car is the link. That distinctive Toyota Cressida.” 

Conor and Sheila were known locally as a nicely dressed, polite couple who were well-liked. They were quiet people who kept to themselves.

Mr Dwyer, a handyman, had worked for a time for a German businessman.

Last sighting

The last sighting was by a neighbour near their Chapel Hill home at 9.30am on April 30 as the couple left to attend a funeral.

On May 22, the alarm was raised when Sheila's sisters, Maisie and Nellie, became concerned at their inability to locate the couple and alerted gardaí.