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But it is on this spot that the family of Gerry Evans is pinning its hopes in the latest search for a missing son and brother.

The 24 year old, from Crossmaglen, vanished in 1979 as he hitch-hiked home from a night out in Castleblayney. Nothing more was heard of him. He and a neighbour, Charlie Armstrong, who disappeared two years later were not on the original list of the Disappeared acknowledged by the IRA in 1999, and the organisation has always denied murdering them.

Gerry Evans

"Shot and secretly buried"

But earlier this year, a Sunday Tribune reporter met with a person who described himself as a former IRA man, who claimed he’d been involved in the kidnap and killing of Gerry Evans. This man directed the reporter to a bog at the site near Hackballscross and said Mr Evans had been shot and secretly buried there after being exposed as an alleged informer.

The Evans have had their hopes raised before. Last year they got an anonymous map claiming to show the spot in Castleblayney where his body lay. The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains searched the site, but found nothing.

Now the expanse of County Louth bogland is to be drained and surveyed later this year. The team of experts which will conduct the search was established some 18 months ago. First they’ll drain the site, then they’ll walk it for evidence on the surface of a grave. Next they’ll use poles to push deep bore holes into the peat, and then let sniffer dogs, trained to find human remains, cover the site.

Anonymous map

The penultimate stage of the process is to carry out a geophysical survey of the site, essentially an x-ray, to search for signs of ground disturbance which suggests a grave. Then, to complete the process, they may dig the ground.

Charlie Armstrong

It’s a process Charlie Armstrong’s family watched unfold before them last year. For several months the team of experts concentrated on an area of bog and gorse at Inniskeen, just a couple of miles from the family home. The commission was prompted to act by an anonymous map, sent to the family, which claimed he’d been buried there.

It was the second map the family had received. The first showed a slightly different location. It’s the fact that both maps highlight the same area that gives the Armstrongs hope that they’ve been directed to the right place. All they need now is help to pinpoint the exact location.

Bodies found in bog

The area where it’s believed Charlie Armstrong’s body is hidden had been used for that very purpose before. In 1999, the remains of two of the Disappeared, John McClory and Brian McKinney were found in a bog across the road from the site searched for Mr Armstrong.

Charlie Armstrong disappeared in 1981. A man who sometimes taxied for neighbours, he was on his way to pick up a lady for Mass when he went missing. Many believe he stumbled into an IRA operation and that his killing was neither sanctioned nor intentional. His family think he may have been killed by accident when he tried to stop his car being hijacked by armed men.

The death of a well-known and popular man would have caused major embarrassment for the republican movement in an area where it enjoyed substantial local support. It’s perhaps for that reason that the death was covered up and responsibility for it – even to this day - has never been acknowledged.