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Updated 9.04am
A THOROUGH GARDA search is expected to commence today of the Co Cavan property where five members of the one family lost their lives yesterday morning.
A Garda forensic examination has already taken place at the house at Oakdene, Barconey, near Ballyjamesduff.
The deaths are being treated as a likely murder suicide. The five family members have been named as father Alan Hawe, aged in his 40s, his wife of about 15 years Clodagh Hawe, aged in her 30s, and their three sons Liam (13), Niall (11), and Ryan (6).
Both parents were teachers in nearby national schools.
At present gardaí are trying to establish a motive for the crime. However, investigating officer Assistant Garda Commissioner John O’Driscoll has said that he believes “the answers lie within that house” and that gardaí are not seeking anyone else in relation to the crime.
Last night the local Bishop of Kilmore Leo O’Reilly expressed his “heartfelt sympathy” to the relatives and friends of the deceased and the local community.
“I know that I speak for all people of faith and of goodwill when I express my heartfelt prayerful sympathy to the relatives, friends and neighbours of the deceased,” Bishop O’Reilly said.
The sudden loss of one young family, in such a shocking way, is unbearable and near impossible to comprehend.
Especially now, as the new school year begins, my thoughts and prayers are with the school friends and the teachers of the children who have died in this family tragedy.
Impact
The Bishop of Kilmore, Leo O’Reilly said that he was deeply shocked and saddened at the terrible tragedy.
“I was speaking to the local parish priest Phelim Kelly last night, and the people there [are] just numbed,” he told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
“He knew the family well, they were very much involved in the community, deeply involved in the parish as well. It’s shocking in such tragic circumstances, a young couple and three small boys, young boys.
The death of a child has to be the most difficult cross for any parent to bear. Three children it’s just unbearable.
“Our hearts go out to everybody touched by the tragedy, first and foremost to the families of the parents and their friends, the schoolfriends of the children.
“It’s had a huge impact on the children.”
Time of hope
He said the principal and the staff in the school have been receiving assistance from the Department of Education psychological services in helping the students cope.
Bishop O’Reilly also asked people to keep the community who have been affected in their thoughts and prayers, and to think, too, of the gardaí and emergency services who had to deal with the “horrendous situation” with which they were confronted.
O’Reilly is also patron of St Mary’s National School in Castlerahan, near Ballyjamesduff.
“Going back to school time is a time of new beginnings, a time of hope,” he added.
And just on the day before, the children themselves were to go back to school, for this tragedy to happen, it really is a huge, a huge… it’s going to have a huge impact on the school community.
He added: “And I think hope is very important in this situation, we have our faith that death is not the end, and that in even the greatest tragedy, that God can use this in some way that we don’t understand and all and bring good out of it.”
The community will be asking themselves questions as to how this happened, he added.
“We’ve heard of situations like this before, but they were always somewhere else and you wondered how people could cope with that, and now it’s on our own doorstep.
And we try to understand, and we try to find answers, but unfortunately there are no answers. We simply don’t understand.
“Obviously investigations have to take place, and we have to await the outcome of them to get some light perhaps on it.
But the deeper reasons, I don’t know if we will ever understand.
- Additional reporting from Darragh Peter Murphy.
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Just read what the Sun newspaper wrote about the family. The headline said deranged teacher slaughters family, absolute rag of a paper. Wouldn’t use it to clean me arse
To highlight what a rag the paper is, it jumped to the conclusion before any investigation began, it’s like the video of the old man who has dementia and was posted online. That man was nearly lynched by a mob.
Isn’t that exactly what happened?
This man was clearly deranged. Unless you think he was of sound mind?
Crass, yes. Inaccurate tbough?
Went were you reading it?
I know someone living in that area, from what they say, there is complete shock, no one, not one person seen any sign, they were a very well respected family, they took part in all community activities, not one single sign, no depression, no aggression, no keeping to themselves. the mind is a fragile thing and when it breaks , horrendous things can happen, spare a thought for the children, their lives taken before they begin, and next time your with family or friend ask the simple question “…is everything OK? Im here if you need me.”
What a lovely message from The Brain From Dublin. We should keep an eye on our neighbours, not to interfere, but to watch out for signs of something being amiss. Just a few words occasionally to our neighbours can be very comforting for them and reassuring to know that someone cares.
And a thought for this wife too. She was also murdered.
Has it even been revealed what happened apart from they are treating it as a murder suicide? What’s to say it wasn’t the mother who had a mental breakdown, either way it’s awfully sad.
+1 she seems almost forgotten about.
Watching the news this evening and a photo was released of the father and the kids only . No photos of his wife at all .
I’m sure their family would be happier if there were no photos at all on the national Rag. Very tasteless headline from the Indo yesterday. It’s a race to the bottom with that group.
Would be wise to turn the comments off on this article.
It’s upsetting enough without the speculation and unwarranted opinions.
Don’t be so dramatic
It is on the news so the public have the right to talk about it.
A terrible set of circumstances. Hard to understand why this has happened. RIP
I cant get my head around this one. Whatever about thinking of doing something like this, but to actually follow it through beggers belief.
I can’t stop shedding a tear each time I see/hear anything about this case. Ar dheis de go raibh a Ainm
Indeed, ar dheis Dé go raibh a nanam. All five. I just can’t shake of the horror of this. How will we ever know what went on.
Heartbreaking. Apparently he pinned a note to the back door telling people not to enter but to contact the Gardai. He seemed to think of everything which makes me wonder was he in right frame of mind and knew exactly what he was doing.
To equate elaborate planning with mental stability is a big mistake. Though it’s not widely publicised or covered, many victims of suicide plan their funeral arrangements, including readings, songs etc., for their funeral before killing themselves. When a mind becomes unbalanced the afflicted person doesn’t lose their humanity. The act of protecting relatives/ neighbours whom he knew would call, only serves to reinforce the sadness of this tragedy. The poor man probably felt, that by killing his family, he was, in the same way as the note on the door was, protecting his family from what he perceived to be a great tragedy and suffering he imagined they would go through. One cannot imagine the suffering and mental trauma the poor man went through. This is not, in any way, ignoring the horror of his crime and the possible suffering and fear his family went through. May they all find peace and comfort in the next world.
Our society is sadly, very broken. Our brains have not evolved quickly enough to keep up with modern life. Technological and scientific advances are racing ahead but no one is doing enough to try and adapt society to our fragile minds. Suicide is at an all time high. Mass killings are at an all time high. Modern working life takes too much of a toll on our mental state. We’re not designed to navigate eight hours of stressful decisions five days a week. Marital or family troubles multiply a stress which is already at breaking point. A breaking point which is sadly our default state. This is the norm. But our minds are not designed for so many stresses. Catholic guilt and stigma about family breakdown and mental health massively confound these issues and create such a hazardous danger zone for families in these situations. The shame, guilt and stigma of dealing with these issues is harder for some people than ending it in tragedy. And there are few safety nets for people in this situation. This is where we most need our think tanks and scientists and sociologists and economists. Our system is very sick and needs urgent attention.
If ever there was an article where comments were closed, it should be this. What happened here is tragic and devastating and , like everything there is a reason for it. But the press are salivating to find out that reason and here we have the journal allowing people to tentatively speculate, criticise and pick over the bones of a sad story where all the facts aren’t in. It’s shameful really
I don’t think the comments should be closed. . Monitored .., yes . Suicide is something that should be spoken about openly .. not shut down .
Suzie plus one.
Not just suicide – murder as well. When the dust settles we may have to look at what we can do at an earlier age to help men not to act out in violence, because it has terrible consequences for women and children – this is now a common occurrence. I have no doubt that stress and mental anguish were involved, but that it should lead to the death of innocent children is so tragic. There are reasons, and we need a compassionate response, but then I think that is the same for all murders.
Now do you take mental health issues seriously Mr Kenny….
Mickmc. My Mam is a psychotherapist. Yesterday I asked her why does this seem to happen so often in a small country like ours. She said because we have one of the worst mental services in the world. I can’t help but think if help was more readily available here that this sort of stuff would not happen.
Because if it is the case that this is a murder suicide we must come to terms with the fact that a broken human mind is capable of horrendous acts. The quicker we accept this the less this type of incidents occur. To kill someone is a very difficult thing to do even for the most evil of us. It requires unbelievable changes in our mindset. To kill your entire family & yourself in a planned act requires a broken mind on a monumental scale.
Mjhint ..very well explained..
I agree with you mjhint, and we need to have an approach of helping children and young people at an earlier age (in school) to deal with difficult emotions and mend themselves. It is the elephant in the room that these acts are always carried out by men, and it is part of a wider picture of domestic violence – we need to help people at a younger age not to end up being like that, where they act out their agony by hurting others.
Rebecca it’s too difficult to section the criminally insane. That’s part of the problem.
+1, excellently put.
So insightfully put mjhint. A tragedy such as this will always divide opinion. None of us will ever know the finer details of how it all came about but unfortunately it was a very unwell mind that brought it about. I would only hope that the family and friends close to them don’t beat themselves up with wondering were there signs they’d missed. A floridly psychotic episode can come about in a one off occurrence as well as a comorbid condition. Someone in the throes of a psychotic episode can be completely methodical as they believe that what they’re doing is for the best, hence perhaps the note on the door. May the family RIP and my deepest sympathy to their friends and families.
I’m afraid that few of us can add much to what Bishop O’Reilly said. And for now it would be best not to try. The Bishop said, inter alia, “Obviously investigations have to take place, and we have to await the outcome of them to get some light perhaps on it.
But the deeper reasons, I don’t know if we will ever understand.”
You obviously didn’t read any other articles about this tragic case or you would not have needed to ask that question. A relative called to the house on Monday morning and found a note pinned to the door and asking the reader to contact the Gardaí before going inside.
Joe It would be impossible to know all your neighbours. I live in a house and whenever a new neighbour moves in I put a card through their letterbox with my name and contact details and an offer of help if they ever need it. People may have come a long way from their previous home and they may want all kinds of information, what days the rubbish bins are emptied, bus routes, etc, etc. I am very fortunate to have a group of lovely neighbours. Best wishes
So tragic but sadly not rare. Rte Drivetime said yesterday that Gardai think it looks like the husband killed his wife and three little children with ‘a knife and other implements’ There is no motive that can justify this ! I cannot understand how men can anihalate the families they are supposed to be ‘devoted fathers and husbands’ to !
Of course you can’t understand Ellen. Unless you have been of such a troubled disposition to consider something like this, it will seem like the craziest act imaginable. You’ll find neighbours talking about what a great guy he was, doted on his kids etc.. and it will all be true. But his mind went to a place 99.9% of us can’t even comprehend.
The reality is that people with genuine mental health issues are much more likely to injure themselves than anyone else ! !
Ellen, you said the same thing yesterday about genuine mental health issues . You have no idea yet as to the circumstances leading up to it .. so less of the dramatics . .
RTE has just said the father killed them all. I’m.hearing a lot in the media about it being a tragedy (which it was) and very little about condemnation of the killer. I had a violent father and if he killed me I wouldn’t want him being spoken of as if he was some innocent and certainly wouldn’t want to be buried next to him as happened in similar cases.
Exactly rosa, if he was any good he would have done away with himself and left the family alone.
This man was not in his right mind
He couldn’t have been to do what he did
He should be pitied rather than condemned
Three innocent children and a beautiful wife and mother gone too soon
We don’t know why
We probably know a little too much of the hows
It’s terribly sad but calling this man names achieves nothing & could be upsetting to friends & family left behind that are no doubt already guilt ridden that they didn’t see any sign of trouble
The tragedy in Co Cavan is just so sad and dreadful to contemplate on what drove someone to kill a whole family. My sympathy is sent to their families, friends, neighbours and work colleagues. Please God the other school children will not be affected too badly. May all the deceased Rest In Peace.
Badness
Its true the mental health services are rubbish.. ! There is no support or intervention until something horrendous happens or when its too late. Can the government not see how much it needs improving and input when all the statistics are speaking for themselves? Its so sad and frightening this has happening. I am sure the impact is huge for everyone,its impossible to get your head around how someone could do it
poor family RIP
Why o Why
Imagine being the Gardai who went into that house and were confronted by that scene. I know it may be a minor point in the broader scheme of things, but I’m not quite sure how you’d deal with seeing what they must have been confronted with. Horrific case, one which is incredibly hard to process or even contemplate.
@Eugene Walsh…the comedy of your contradiction writing an opinion railing against people expressing opinions on this issue, perhaps you should have remained consistent therefore by not posting Sir
This is a terrible tragedy by any standards and hard to explain to the public. In the USA particularly it happens occasionally and typically a good student buys a gun in his local gun shop, goes to his school and shoots several students.
I am aware of some of the research on these cases. What seems to happen is that the student is recently put on antidepressants (SSRIs) and even more commonly an increased dose where the initial dose fails. This drives his brain chemicals into a frenzy called a serotonin syndrome. He has lost control and he does something which is completely different to his normal behavior. He is not evil. He has no control on his behavior.
We will never understand it. It is just another appalling devastating murder/suicide in Ireland. There are so many cases like this happening all over the country. The world is in serious trouble. This was once a very rare thing. Why is it happening more often? Why?
Can only say a prayer for them. RIP.
I read on RTE that there have been 27 murder-suicide cases since 2000. There are estimated 350 million people world wide living with depression. I personally think discussions around mental health and depression are not relevant here and furthermore increasing the stigma around depression and mental health issues.
I agree that Depression can debilitate, confuse and destroy peoples lives, but there is more to it in cases like this and that’s where the focus should be.
My heart goes out to the Hawe family, relatives, friends and local community, but this man is murderer who carried out a horrific act, no different to the other psychopaths who have committed similar crimes.
Depression is an awful illness but there are many people who suffer from depression and they don’t become violent and kill people. There is something else going on when these tragedies occur. What worries me is the frequency of these incidents. It is so frightening to know that 27 murder-suicide cases have happened in Ireland in just 16 years.
How can anyone understand this or cope with it? So many cases in Ireland. Very troubled country and world we live in. Can only say a prayer for them . RIP
I read on RTE that there have been 27 murder-suicide cases since 2000. There are estimated 350 million people world wide living with depression. I personally think discussions around mental health and depression are not relevant here and furthermore increasing the stigma around depression and mental health issues.
I agree that Depression can debilitate, confuse and destroy peoples lives, but there is more to it in cases like this and that’s where the focus should be.
My heart goes out to the Hawe family, relatives, friends and local community.
If this man had gone into a school and killed three children and a teacher, this would be reported as a mass murder and he would be portrayed as evil incarnate. But because this man killed his wife and family, it’s reported as a terrible tragedy and he is viewed as some kind of sad case. Why must we continue to portray family murder-suicides as tragedies, but all other mass murders as evil? We still tend to view domestic crime as a private affair, even though the overwhelming victims are women and children, and the overwhelming perpetrators are men.
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