Philip Cairns' house

This is the former home of Philip Cairns.

It is located at 38 Ballyroan Road in Rathfarnham, Dublin.

Disappearance

At 1:30 p.m. on October 23, 1986, the 13-year-old left this house to return to school.

Cairns was a first-year student at the Coláiste Éanna secondary school in Hillside Park.

The school was approximately 1.2 kilometers (0.75 miles) south of his home, a walk that would typically take around ten minutes.

However, Cairns never made it back to school that day.

After walking out his front gate and turning the corner to walk down Ballyroan Road, he was never seen again.

Despite a highly publicized, large-scale search, no trace of the teenager has ever been found.

Investigation

Although dozens of sightings were reported following his disappearance, none provided a viable lead.

Early in the investigation, a woman in Tipperary reported picking up a child matching his description.

The boy claimed he was from Waterford and had spent the previous night sleeping in a guesthouse.

The report was later determined to be a false lead.

Searches of rivers, lakes, and forests failed to find anything of note.

Six days after Cairns went missing, his schoolbag was discovered in a nearby alley.

Investigators believe it was left there several days after he disappeared, as it was dry despite recent rainfall.

The bag may have been placed in the alley to mislead investigators, an act known as "staging."

Eamonn Cooke

In 2016, a woman contacted the Gardaí, stating she believed former pirate radio DJ and convicted pedophile Eamonn Cooke had murdered Cairns.

The woman, who claimed to be a victim of Cooke, was so terrified of him that she stayed silent until she learned he was dying.

She said she was in Cooke's car when they picked up Cairns and drove to the DJ's pirate radio station at 58 Inchicore Road in Kilmainham.

At the time, she was just nine years old.

At the studio, an argument reportedly broke out, and Cooke allegedly struck Cairns with an object.

Upset by the incident, she left the room but returned later to find the boy lying on the floor.

After seeing blood, she reportedly fainted. Later, she woke up in the back of Cooke's car and realized that Cairns was gone.

Cooke reportedly confirmed parts of her story to detectives. However, he was receiving palliative care for dementia at the time and did not reveal the location of Cairns' remains.

Cooke died just as investigators believed he was finally going to confess.

Despite his condition, he confirmed key details when asked open-ended questions. Most of his information also lined up with the woman's story.

DNA

Investigators retrieved "touch DNA" from the schoolbag using new technology. However, testing failed to link it to Cooke or any other person of interest.

The Gardaí hope that it may one day help identify the person who placed it in the lane.

Cairns' parents, Alice and Philip, have both since passed away. Philip died in 2014, and Alice in November 2025.