Mary Boyle: The case of Ireland’s youngest ever disappeared

The arrest today of a man in connection with the alleged kidnapping of six-year-old Mary Boyle in 1977 has brought the case of Ireland’s youngest ever disappeared back into the public spotlight. Stephen Rogers chronicles the background to the case.

When Mary Boyle went missing from near her grandparents’ home in Cashelard, Ballyshannon, Co Donegal on March 18, 1977 she was one of the country’s youngest ever disappeared.

More than 37 years later the six year-old from Belcruit, Kincasslagh has the dubious title of being Ireland’s longest missing person.