Hawe family murders
On 29 August 2016, in Ballyjamesduff, County Cavan, Ireland, Alan Hawe (40) murdered his wife, Clodagh (39), and their three sons, Liam (13), Niall (11), and Ryan (6), before committing suicide.
Background
Alan and Clodagh Hawe both worked in education. Alan was deputy principal at Castlerahan National School, and Clodagh was a teacher at Oristown National School.[1]
Murders
Alan killed his family before proceeding to hang himself. Though reports initially stated that he had stabbed his family members to death,[2] it was later reported that he had slit the throats of his children and that Clodagh had been found face down on a sofa with "severe head and neck injuries and [with] a large pool of blood under the chair".[3] He then wrote a "disjointed and rambling" letter in which he apologised for his actions, before taking his own life via hanging.[4]
Aftermath
Shortly after the murders took place, women's rights groups in Ireland (such as Women's Aid and the National Women's Council) criticized what they perceived as the overly sympathetic treatment of Alan Hawe in the Irish press.[2]
Clodagh's sister and mother were reportedly left €50,000 in debt as a result of the legal costs of pursuing the release of documents pertinent to the investigation of the case.[5] They were also critical of a lack of support provided by the state and by charitable organizations to their family and the families of murder victims in Ireland generally.[6]
The case was reviewed in 2019 following the efforts of Clodagh's family, following reports that Alan had been seen visiting the school at which he had been employed on the morning of the killings.[7]
Also in 2019, the school in which Clodagh had been employed unveiled a new hall named in her memory.[8]
References
- ^ Boland, Rosita; Edwards, Elaine (31 August 2016). "Shock and sadness at schools where Hawe parents taught". The Irish Times. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
- ^ a b McDonald, Henry (2 September 2016). "Reporting of man who killed his family too sympathetic, say women's groups". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
- ^ Arnold, Barry (18 December 2017). "Garda breaks down describing finding Hawe children in murder-suicide". Extra.ie. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
- ^ "'Sorry for how I murdered them all' - Alan Hawe's final note confessing to killing wife and three sons". The Irish Independent. 20 December 2017. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
- ^ Feehan, Conor (4 March 2019). "'We have no rights' - Clodagh's family left €50k in debt after Hawe murder-suicide". The Irish Independent. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
- ^ Fowler, Julian (3 April 2019). "Hawe murders: Relatives of victims decry lack of support". BBC. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
- ^ Begley, Ian; Phelan, Shane (8 March 2019). "Clodagh Hawe murder: review to examine Garda probe". The Irish Independent. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
- ^ Walsh, Louise (27 September 2019). "School in which murdered teacher Clodagh Hawe worked names hall in her honour". The Irish Times. Retrieved 12 March 2023.