Jimmy O'Neill letter to be forensically examined 77 years after his disappearance 

Jimmy O'Neill was last seen on December 15, 1947, at Leamy Street, Waterford, where he lived with his family. File photo

Gardaí are to use a specialist forensic team to examine a letter sent by a man after he disappeared from his home in Co Waterford 77 years ago.

James “Jimmy” Malachy O’Neill was last seen on December 15, 1947, at Leamy Street, Waterford, where he lived with his family. 

He was 16 years old at the time and working for a local shipping company. It is believed he stowed away on one of their ships and was never seen again.

Forensic Science Ireland will undertake the task of trying to retrieve Jimmy’s DNA from a letter he wrote to his mother Bridget after he ran away.

His only surviving sibling, Frank O’Neill, told the Irish Examiner that a detective in Waterford, now deceased, had falsely accused his brother of stealing a postal order and “ran him out of the country”. 

It was a family secret Mr O’Neill kept for decades.

The message from Jimmy to his mum. Forensic Science Ireland will undertake the task of trying to retrieve his DNA from it. Picture: Patrick Browne

After his disappearance Jimmy O’Neill sent a letter to his mother saying he would drown himself and that he did not want to be branded a “robber”. This week, Frank O’Neill said he has formally given the letter to Gardaí in the hope that there will be a breakthrough in the case.

“The letter was handled by the family, so I don’t know what will come of it, but it is worth trying,” he said. “I have done more research on my brother than anyone. Most families of the missing people do the work themselves and that is the reality of it.” 

The letter, which was written by Jimmy in pencil, to his mother said: "Mama, don’t keep my dinner hot; I’ve drowned myself." 

It also tells Jimmy’s former boss to get a new messenger, adding that he is not a robber. "I don’t want to disgrace my family being treated like that," it said.

Frank, who was only five years old at the time of his brother’s disappearance, recalled a conversation his mother had with a woman at his home a few years later.

“The woman said, ‘Jimmy is fine’ and my mother was crying. She said to the woman in front of me ‘Can you not take a card to him for me?’ and the woman said ‘No, no, I’ll get the other woman in trouble.’ 

“The idea that Jimmy took his life after the letter, I don’t believe that, because of that conversation. I found the letter myself, but I didn’t bring it up with my mother.

The truth about it all is, my family was harassed and abused by that one bad detective in Waterford who took a dislike to my brother Jimmy.

“He bullied my mother for years, calling to the house and saying ‘I know you know where Jimmy is’. And he went at my brother Jack, but Jack was no fool and not afraid of anyone.

“I want an apology from the Garda Commissioner for my brother and the despair my family was left in, and I wrote to him on January 26 asking for a formal apology.”

Mr O’Neill has also found a marriage cert in Liverpool that appears to match the details of his missing brother. “A relative told us Jimmy got married in Liverpool, and had a child, I’m following up on that.”