Garda inquiry continues in hunt for Carna woman missing for 30 years

The painstaking work of probing and digging lands in the vicinity of the Galway home of Barbara Walsh – who disappeared from the townland of Roisín na Mainíoch in Carna 30 years ago – is ongoing as Gardaí try to bring closure to this long running mystery.

Mrs Walsh, who was 33 at the time, had a family of seven ranging from teenagers to an infant.  Her husband, Dara Walsh, died in 2007.

The disappearance of Barbara Walsh goes back to the night and morning of June 21/22, 1985 and a party in the house to which a number of locals were invited.

Most of those who attended had been in the company of members of the Walsh family in a local pub in the hours before the party began.  Barbara Walsh’s disappearance was reported to Gardaí on June2 29, 1985.

Some Garda investigations were conducted at the time and contact was made with Interpol. But there has been no trace of Barbara Walsh ever since.

The investigation into the disappearance of Barbara Walsh was reactivated in January of this year and an incident room was established.

Gardaí in the Clifden Garda District took over sixty statements and summaries of information; those spoken too included people who were at the party in the Walsh household in June of 1985.

As a result of the information gathered, it was decided that a full scale probing and digging investigation would be carried out in the vicinity of the Walsh home.

Upwards of twenty members of the Gardaí including Galway Divisional Chief Superintendent, Tom Curley, Superintendent Seán Glynn and Acting Clifden Superintendent, Inspector Ernie White held a conference in Carna early on Monday morning of this week before setting out for the Walsh home and farm.

The Garda team included members from the Technical Bureau, and the Search Team in the Western region.  They are also aided by a specially trained dog which has been brought in from England.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.