Charles Armstrong was a 55 year old labourer from Crossmaglen who disappeared on 16 August 1981. It is suspected that he was abducted and killed allegedly by the

Provisional IRA The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

. No reason, in this case, has ever been publicly given. Armstrong and his wife Kathleen had five children. Armstrong's body was retrieved in July 2010, in a bog near Aughrim More and his funeral took place on 18 September 2010.

Disappearance

On the day Armstrong disappeared, his wife walked with their daughters to

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

, where they had planned to meet him after he drove a friend to it. He did not appear and it was only when they got home that they discovered that he had not met their friend. Initially, it was thought that he had had an accident, so his family and friends searched the area, but there was no sign of him. The next day, a friend phoned the family to tell them that his car had been found outside a cinema in

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

. His name did not appear on a list of nine people whose disappearances the

admitted responsibility for in 1999.

Gerry Adams Gerard Adams (; born 6 October 1948) is a retired Irish Republican politician who was the president of Sinn Féin between 13 November 1983 and 10 February 2018, and served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Louth from 2011 to 2020. From 1983 to 19 ...

, president of

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

, denied that the IRA was responsible, but journalist

Suzanne Breen Suzanne Breen (born 1967) is an Irish people, Irish journalist. Career Suzanne Breen graduated from Queen’s University Belfast with an honours degree in English and Politics in 1989 and went on to take the National Council for the Training of J ...

claimed that she had been contacted by a member of the IRA who said that the IRA was responsible.

Searches

In 2001, a search for his body produced no results. In July 2010, a group searching for Armstrong announced that they had found human remains in

County Monaghan County Monaghan ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of Border Region, Border strategic planning area of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town ...

. The

Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR) was established by treaty between the Her Majesty's Government, United Kingdom Government and the Government of Ireland, made on 27 April 1999 in connection with the affairs ...

said that it had found the remains early on the afternoon of 29 July 2010 in the townland of Aughrim More, on the

side of Cullaville. This search was carried out after the Commission had received anonymously a map indicating an area which had not been searched before for Armstrong's body. In September 2010, the Independent Commission confirmed that the remains found were those of Charles Armstrong.

References

External links

"Looking for Charlie"
guardian.co.uk

thedisappearedni.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Charles 1920s births 1980s missing person cases 1980s crimes in Northern Ireland 1981 deaths 1981 murders in the United Kingdom Deaths by firearm in Northern Ireland Enforced disappearances in Northern Ireland Formerly missing British people Kidnapped people from Northern Ireland Missing people from Northern Ireland Missing person cases in Northern Ireland Murder victims from Northern Ireland People declared dead in absentia People from Crossmaglen People killed during The Troubles (Northern Ireland) Terrorism deaths in Northern Ireland The Troubles in County Armagh Disappeared (Northern Ireland)

Disappearance

Searches

See also

References

External links