Missing Youth Sought in Ireland 

By Georgina Brennan

THIS week marks a one-year anniversary that nobody in one family will celebrate. One year ago Matthew Mullaney, then a 21-year-old American, left an Irish pub in Florence, Italy where he had been attending art school and disappeared. 

Matthew had taken a leave of absence from Fairfield University in Connecticut and arrived in Florence on January 11, 2003 to begin art school. For the month of January he called home and e-mailed friends regularly. 

To all appearances, Matthew was enjoying himself in Florence, his biggest worry being a little trouble sleeping, something he said could have been jet lag, or could have been excitement about being in a new country.

Either way it was the only thing his family could say was wrong with Matt. “He simply said how much he was enjoying his stay in Florence, even though he was studying very hard. He had decided to take some time off on that Friday night since he was spending all his evenings studying at home and going to bed at 10 p.m.,” said Mullaney’s father Michael of an e-mail they had received. 

“There weren’t any hints to any possible problems.”

Everything seemed fine.”

On January 31, 2003, Matthew told his roommate that he was heading to The Lion’s Fountain, a popular Irish pub with Americans such as Matthew. She said he seemed fine. It all seemed like just another night with Matthew and his flaming shamrock tattoo heading off to an Irish pub for pints. 

At 2:30 a.m. on February 1, Matthew was spotted talking to a group of young people outside the door of the pub as he was leaving. Then he vanished without a trace. He never returned to his apartment that morning and he was not heard from again. 

“Matt was missing one year last Sunday and we have been relentless this past year in our search. We have faith we will find Matt and won’t stop searching until we have our answers,” his mother Terry Mullaney told the Irish Voice. 

But there are so many questions. His credit card was never used, nor were his phone cards prepaid for international calls. He had his wallet with him with his Massachusetts driver’s license and a health insurance card with his name on it, but his passport was left behind at his apartment. 

Still, there have been various, unconfirmed sightings of Matthew around Florence and also in Ireland and England, the latest just a few weeks ago in Galway. 

In April 2003, a 24-year-old Dutchman noticed a poster of Matthew taped up by his distraught father near the Central Station in Amsterdam. The young man went to the American Consulate office to report that he had been on a three-hour train ride from Dover to London on April 5 with a young man he believed to be Matthew. The Dutchman reviewed a videotape of Matthew which was left at the consulate and confirmed it was the young man he had traveled with. 

Matthew’s parents talked with the Dutchman twice and came away convinced their son was on that train that day. During the train ride, the Dutchman recalled, Matthew revealed a travel plan that included Ireland, probably Dublin. 

“His intention, according to this young man, was to try and find work there,” told Terry. 

Later the Dutchman reported a terminated cell phone call that may have come from England. It may have been Matthew. In any case, Michael Mullaney decided that since Matthew had always said he wanted to visit Ireland, his son may in fact have ended up there. So armed with fresh posters and the numbers of police and local authorities, Michael went to Dublin last summer.

Once the publicity broke one Irish woman told police that she had seem Matthew on July 23 on the ferry from Holyhead in Wales to Dublin. “She said Matthew became quite nervous when it was announced that there would be an immigration check upon departing the ferry. She remembered him because she saw a poster of him when she arrived in Dublin,” said Terry. 

She subsequently viewed a videotape and requested additional photos that she used to confirm the sighting. The sighting is being treated as authentic.

On January 3, 2004, three Scottish men reported that they too had met Matthew this time in Galway. “They had a three-minute conversation with a young man they believed to be Matthew when he asked for directions to a hostel. They saw his poster within hour of speaking to him. We are still waiting for more possible information regarding this sighting,” said Terry. 

The parents and authorities believe there is a definite chance Matthew is in Ireland. He is a good looking young man of about 175 pounds, 5’10” with dark brown, wavy hair and hazel eyes. He has pierced ears but no earrings, and a surgical scar on his left ankle. And he is missed.

For those with information on Matthew Mullaney, even if it is uncertain, there are a few ways to contact the family. On e-mail:  info@missing.ws  or    sightings@missingpersons.org  or on the phone: (In Ireland) 1-6660000 (in the U.S.) 0500700700.