Eva Brennan 

Despite being reported missing just three months after Annie McCarrick vanished, Eva Brennan’s disappearance did not seem to garner as much attention from the Gardi, media and general public. At the time of her disappearance Eva was 39 years old, single and residing in the upmarket South Dublin suburb of Rathgar. Standing at 5'7 and wearing her hair short, Eva appeared much younger than her 39 years, it has been widely reported by her family and friends that Eva appeared ten years younger than her actual age.

According to Eva’s family she was a creature of habit, and enjoyed a quiet life based on routine. Hence Sunday the 25th of July 1993 was just a normal Sunday for Eva; it is presumed she attended mass at St Joseph’s Terenure as she did every day, she then, it is presumed, walked from church to her parents’ home in Rathgar via the Templeouge road arriving at her parents’ house at roughly 1pm. Eva visited her parents’ home almost every day, this particular bank holiday Sunday the family planned to have dinner together. Before Eva and her family could have dinner a small argument broke out between Eva and some of her siblings an insignificant argument that all families have throughout their lives together, this particular argument was about the choice of food for dinner.  After the small argument had taken place Eva decided to leave her parents’ home.

By Tuesday the 27th of July none of Eva’s family had heard from her, this was highly unusual as Eva and her family spoke every day without fail. When Eva’s father called to her apartment and got no response, he became highly worried. Mr David Brennan along with a barman from the pub he owned, The 108, decided to break into Eva’s apartment by smashing a window. Eva’s father recounted how spotless the apartment was, everything was in place and that there was no sign of a struggle. Nothing it seemed was astray. Later that Tuesday David Brennan informed Gardi that his daughter was missing. Unlike the cases involving Annie McCarrick and Deirdre Jacob, Eva Brennan’s sudden disappearance did not seem to alert Gardi.

The last confirmed sighting of Eva was when she was seen leaving her parents’ home as she walked along Templeouge Road. However, it almost definitely appears that Eva did return to her one bed apartment at Maddison House Rathgar later that day; Eva’s family confirmed that her handbag, keys and money were not in her apartment, however the coat she was wearing at her parents that Sunday afternoon was found in her apartment by her family. The pink tracksuit Eva was wearing that afternoon was nowhere to be found at her home, it is presumed that this is what Eva was wearing when she left her home. Where Eva went to after leaving her apartment has never been confirmed, nor has a reason emerged as to why she left.

​

According to Eva’s sister the family were told by Gardi that Eva was over 21 years of age and that they did not believe that her disappearance was the result of a crime. When the Gardi were informed that Eva sometimes suffered from depression they suggested that Eva may have committed suicide. Eva’s family disputed this theory and with good reason it seemed; Eva was a staunch catholic, there was no suicide note and Eva’s remains were never found. As the Gardi seemed to have little interest in pursuing the matter David Brennan, who was a member of the Finna Fail party, used his connections to enlist the help of the then Irish Head of State Albert Reynolds in compelling the authorities to act on his daughter’s disappearance.

Thanks to Mr Brennan’s persistence detectives began to investigate, unfortunately Eva had already been missing for over a month. A forensic examination of Eva’s apartment was conducted, but her family had already cleaned up as the apartment had begun gathering dust and was becoming unkempt. Thus the examination uncovered no evidence. The rather late investigation unfortunately shed no light on what may have happened to Eva. 

It is not known what time Eva returned to and left her home that Sunday, but what is most remarkable is that there is no reported sightings of Eva since she was seen leaving her parents’ home. To get from her parents’ home to her apartment Eva would have to walk along the populated Templeouge Road, through the centre of Terenure which contains several restaurants, pubs and businesses, before reaching her home at Maddison House Rathgar Avenue. Eva would also have had to pass through Rathgar town centre a busy crossroads also containing several pubs, restaurants and businesses. Despite presumably travelling through such busy places on a clear summer afternoon no sightings of Eva were ever reported. Eva’s family are prominent members of their community, her father was a successful businessman who owned two pubs in the area and was involved in politics, Eva had six siblings and had grown up in the vicinity making it all the more bizarre that nobody saw Eva that Sunday. No trace of Eva has been found since she left her parents’ home in 1993.