From the Archives: The Disappearance of Philip Cairns

Mens Rea: A true crime podcast

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Society & Culture

4.7 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 15 August 2022

⏱️ 64 minutes

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Summary

On Thursday the 26th of October 1986, Philip Cairns left his Ballyroan Road home after eating his lunch. He was headed back to school. But he never made it there. An intensive search followed, but there were no signs of the 13 year old. A week later, his school bag was found in a nearby laneway, left there by persons unknown. Despite searches of the Rathfarnham area, including rivers, overgrown areas, large parklands and in the foothills of the Dublin mountains, there was no further sign of the school boy. What became of Philip Cairns? ********* Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks to our supporters on Patreon! Donate today to get access to bonus and ad-free episodes! Check out the Mens Rea Merch Store! ********** Theme Music: Quinn’s Song: The Dance Begins Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Additional Music: Allemande (Sting) by Wahneta Meixsell. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ ********** Sources: “07. Philip Cairns” Scannal RTE (15 September 2020) Find it here: https://www.rte.ie/player/series/scannal/SI0000001504?epguid=IH000391879&seasonguid=76848680318 Michael Lavery and Tom Reddy, “Gardai step up hunt for schoolboy, 13” in The Evening Herald (28 October 1986) p. 1. Willie Dillon, “No sign yet of missing student” in The Irish Independent (28 October 1986) p. 3. Michael Lavery, “A family that waits and prays” in The Evening Herald (29 October 1986) p. 3. Bairbre Power and Tom Reddy, “Philip – Quiz for pupils” in The Evening Herald (29 October 1986) p. 1. “Family, plea to missing boy (13)” in The Irish Independent (29 October 1986) p. 11. Tom Reddy, “Diviner called in to aid boy search” in The Irish Independent (30 October 1986) p. 11. Bairbre Power and Ken Curran, “First Clue: New mystery as Philip's bag is found” in The Evening Herald (30 October 1986) p. 1-2. John Healy and Frank Khan, “Philip's school bag is found in lane” in The Irih Independent (30 October 1986) p. 1. Bairbre Power and Tom Reddy, “Friends in vigil for Philip” in The Evening Herald (3 October 1986) p. 1. Tom Reddy, “Missing boy's bag 'planted' – gardai” in The Irish Independent (31 October 1986) p. 11. “Subauqa Unit used in search” in The Irish Times (31 October 1986) p. 9. Alan O'Keefe, “Philip: 'keep up prayers' plea” in The Evening Herald (1 November 1986) p. 2. Alan O'Keefe, “Prayer vigil for missing boy” in The Irish Independent (1 November 1986) p. 6. Sean Flynn, “Search for missing schoolboy stepped up” in The Irish Times (1 November 1986) p. 2. “Net widens in hunt for missing boy” in The Sunday Tribune (2 November 1986) p. 1. Fergal Keane, “The nightmare of a family who can only sit and wait” in The Sunday Tribune (2 November 1986) p. 5. Bairbre Power and Michael Lavery, “No breakthroughs yet in Philip hunt” in The Evening Herald (3 November 1986) p. 3. Eilish O'Regan, “People afraid to help us: gardai” in The Irish Independent (3 November 1986) p. 9. Bairbre Power, “Phillip: Bid to jog minds” in The Evening Herald (4 November 1986) p. 1. For a full list of sources please see mensreapod.com

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to the mens rea podcast, and this is the story of Philip Karnes.
0:30.0	On Thursday, the 23rd of October, 1986, 13-year-old Philip Karnes made his way home from his secondary
0:48.1	school, Colash de Aina, for his lunch in the quiet middle-class area of Rathpharnam.
0:54.3	He'd started his first year there only the month before and had settled into the routine
0:59.4	nicely, though he preferred to spend his lunch hour at home and make the 15-minute walk
1:04.7	to and from the local boy's school through his mature residential area.
1:11.5	Philip was the second youngest of six, with four older sisters and one younger brother.
1:17.1	He was quiet, a bit shy, and well-behaved.
1:20.4	His mother Alice Karnes was quite religious, and Philip had begun to share this interest
1:24.8	with her, as he'd just made his confirmation.
1:28.4	He was a pious young lad.
1:30.5	Philip was also an avid angler, and had been outfishing with his father Philip Sr. the weekend
1:36.0	before in Wexford, and it asked his dad to go out again together the coming weekend too.
1:42.4	Philip's mother hadn't noticed anything off with Philip while he was eating his sandwich
1:46.5	that she'd prepared for him.
1:48.5	She'd stayed at home that day with one of her daughters who had a toothache, and whom
1:53.1	she was taking to the dental hospital in Dublin City Center that afternoon.
1:57.9	Before leaving the house, Philip had shouted goodbye to his grandmother who lived with
2:02.5	a family most of the time.
2:04.6	No one saw him leave, but they heard the door bang closed behind him.
2:11.4	It was just a short 15-minute walk between Philip's home in Ballerone Road and his school.
2:18.2	He was to walk by a friend's house and meet him to walk back to school together for their
	...

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