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THIS WEEK, AN inquest into the death of Claire Collins, who gardaí found smothered to death with a pillow in her home, left one central question unanswered.
On Tuesday at the County Clare Coroner’s Court in Kilrush, a jury returned an open verdict into the death of Claire, who was 50, and a verdict of suicide into the death of her husband, Joe Collins (54) at their home at Crossard, Killinaboy, Co Clare on 9 November 2023. The jury stated in their findings that a “third party” killed Claire.
The jury’s verdict came after a recommendation from Clare County Coroner Isobel O’Dea that they were the appropriate verdicts to make.
Regarding the open verdict for Claire Collins, O’Dea said that there will be no criminal trial into her death. She noted that there was no evidence that Claire’s death was self-inflicted or an accidental death.
But the inquest didn’t explicitly say who this “third party” was.
The Journal spoke this week to a number of garda sources, all of whom said that the investigation at the time found that Claire Collins was murdered by her husband Joe Collins who then died by suicide soon after – leaving a note behind.
That note said for the guards to “check upstairs and out the back”.
The garda investigation, classified as a homicide, found that no one else was involved.
Inquests can’t make findings of guilt or culpability. Instead, they examine the circumstances surround the death and make findings of fact around how someone died, such as in an unlawful killing, accidentally or by misadventure, for example.
At the hearing this week O’Dea said that an open verdict simply means that the evidence doesn’t fully disclose the means by which the cause of death occurred or doesn’t meet the required standard of proof for another verdict. It is used often: an open verdict is most commonly used when none of the other verdicts are appropriate.
The verdict can be challenged by way of judicial review – but from the various sources we spoke to, there is no indication of that happening.
At the inquest, Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster said that Claire Collins’s cause of death was asphyxia due to smothering.
Presenting her post-mortem findings, Dr Bolster stated that “the findings are consistent with pressure by a pillow over a face put in place by a third party” but did not name Joe Collins.
Dr Bolster said that Claire fought her attacker. There were forensic pathology signs of bruising on the victim’s right wrist joint and on the back of her right hand, indicating defensive type injuries.
Dr Bolster said that there was no evidence of bruising to the neck and no evidence of strangulation.
The pathologist said that the cause of death for Joe Collins was also asphyxia – he was determined to have died by suicide.
To get a broader understanding of those findings and the impact of such a verdict we first contacted the Women’s Council of Ireland but they said: “We suggest getting in touch with Women’s Aid for a comment as they are the experts on femicide.”
Women’s Aid keeps track of femicides in Ireland, and has found that 275 women have died violently between 1996 and today.
On their website they list all the names of the women since 1996 – Claire Collins’ name is there at number 266.
When we contacted the organisation this week they would not comment on the case, stating that it was “too sensitive” to comment.
The facts and figures are stark: 179 women, just like Claire Collins, have been killed in their own homes over the past three decades. 87% of women, just like Claire Collins, were killed by a man known to them.
One in every two femicide victims, just like Claire Collins, was killed by a current or former male partner.
The website states: “In almost all murder-suicide cases (23 out of 24) the killer was the woman’s current or former male intimate partner.” Just like Claire Collins.
The Journal sought to find a way to explain what happened and the impact on the isolated rural community of Killinaboy.
It is a tight-knit community, located in rural Clare, north of Ennis and Corofin in the heart of the stark beauty of the Burren. It is not even a village, just a coppice of houses and an old ruined church on the road between Kilfenora and Ballyvaughan.
The townland of Crossard, where the house is located, is even more isolated – it is off a rising narrow country boreen lined with stone walls and a smattering of farms and single houses.
We contacted a number of local councillors and TDs – none of them were willing to speak on the record about the murder of Claire and the death of Joe Collins. All of them said it was too sensitive.
One local representative said that people living in the area were still trying to process what happened in 2023. They were still trying to find a way to talk about Claire Collins.
“I think everyone in the area is just wondering why they couldn’t give the verdict [of unlawful killing],” they said.
“It is just so fucking raw. No-one wants to talk here. It’s the connections of it – everyone knows everyone and everyone is connected to each other,” they said.
They said that people had been hoping to get answers from the inquest, but were still left with questions.
One local representative recalled an incident at the funeral of Claire and Joe Collins when a sports group linked to Joe Collins attempted to do a guard of honour as a tribute to the man. This idea was quickly and firmly quashed by locals.
Another local representative in the area would only say: “It’s so sad and a sensitive time for the family and community recovering. I think best for me not to comment.”
That local representative offered the number of another councillor to talk about the local feeling to the verdict in the inquest.
We contacted that councillor and the answer was no, again.
“I know all the parties involved. I knew the lady and the guy involved so I know the families well – I’d prefer not to [comment], to be honest,” he said.
His comments echo something that came up repeatedly: this may be a societal issue, but there is also a family at the centre of it – and the family has sought to grieve privately.
At the inquest coroner Isobel O’Dea extended her sympathies to the families of Claire and Joe Collins including their daughters. She said that she hoped the hearing would give them “a little bit of closure.”
A statement was read into the record by O’Dea of behalf of the grieving families.
The families stated “while we take in the findings of the inquest we are still processing the grief and loss we feel every day for both Claire and Joe”.
The families stated “this is a deeply personal, painful matter for both the Meere and Collins families and we sincerely ask for privacy” as they continue to mourn “the loss of two irreplaceable people who we love so very much”.
O’Dea told The Journal that “it was a jury verdict and I do not propose to comment” when asked if there was anything more she wanted to say about the case.
Verdicts in an inquest can closely mirror the sentiments of rural Ireland – keep the more difficult things ill-defined, the horror unchallenged.
But the murder of Claire and subsequent suicide of her killer Joe Collins leaves few official answers for what happened in that house in rural, isolated north Clare.
Besides the reporting on the inquest and the initial few articles on the discovery of their bodies, there has been little public outcry or comment. No outpouring on social media, no Dáil debates, no marches, no calls for an inquiry.
The reality is that the list from Women’s Aid will have, almost certainly a 276th name, or maybe more than that, on it by the end of the year – just like Claire’s name was added to the list.
If you have been impacted by the issues in this article, contact Samaritans – tel: 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.ie
Additional reporting from Gordon Deegan.
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