Hawe house knocked

Family urges Garda Commissioner to publish Serious Crime Review

When the 16-cylinder roar of the Hitachi excavator eventually drums to a halt, work done, the silence left in its wake is almost deafening. There is scant birdsong and a sprig of sunlight cast across the small patch where the Hawe family house once stood. It’s broken by the sight-line of trees that seem to loom larger now than before.

The house at Barcony, about five kilometres south of Ballyjamesduff Town, was once home to Clodagh (née Coll; 39), her three young boys - Liam (13), Niall (11), and Ryan (6), and to husband and dad Alan (40) who killed them before taking his own life on August 28, 2016.

Aside from the bricks and mortar structure, No 3 Oakdene Downs represented 16 years of marriage, and a multitude of cherished memories, milestones and other happy family occasions.

Yet for the past eight-and-a-half years the property has remained empty, a grim and terrible reminder of the actions of one man.

The digger did much of the heavy cleansing, reducing what was once a neatly appointed red-brick dormer to rubble in a matter of hours. With that went what is left of Hawe’s dreadful legacy in that house.

Some members of Clodagh’s family - her sister Jacqueline and uncle Gerry - were there to witness the demolition last Monday (March 10). The contents had been removed some months ago, after permission to tear down the house was secured from Cavan County Council approaching the eighth anniversary of a murder-suicide that horrified the nation.

Doting mum Clodagh’s family say they are extremely “grateful” for the support and kindness shown by family, friends, and neighbours over the years and throughout this difficult process.

Hawe, a deputy principal at Castlerahan National School, and Clodagh, a teacher at Oristown NS near Kells, along with their sons, were due to return to work and school respectively. They’d had an enjoyable summer holiday, which included a family trip abroad.

Their bodies were discovered at the house the day after.

Plans to knock the property came only after the conclusion of legalities over ownership with Hawe’s family. Hawe was first buried alongside the family he killed, but his remains were later exhumed following insistence by Clodagh’s mother Mary and sister.

Pressure meanwhile continues to mount on the government and on Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to publish a Serious Crime Review examining the handling of the Hawe murders.

The review was established by Comm Harris in 2019 after Clodagh’s family went on national programming to discuss the need for more supports for victims’ families and the need for changes to the succession rights in circumstances of murder-suicide. The law has not been updated since 1965.

Finalised in 2023, the review remains unpublished for “operational reasons”, despite repeated requests from Clodagh’s family - who have had sight of the report - for the contents to be made public.

After Jim O’Callaghan’s appointment last January, the review file has now passed through the hands of four Ministers for Justice - the others being Helen McEntee, Heather Humphreys, and Tánaiste Simon Harris.

The family’s argument is that, to withhold publication, undermines the work of an advisory committee set up to explore international best practice in the conduct of domestic homicide reviews in Ireland, linked to the Government’s Zero Tolerance strategy for Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence.

Clodagh’s family have also demanded a second inquest over concerns regarding evidence at the first hearing in Cavan in December 2018 where the verdict returned was unlawful killing in respect of Clodagh and her boys, and self inflicted death or suicide for Hawe.

Clodagh’s family claim Hawe “meticulously planned” the murders, even researching suggested methods online, something they feel was not borne out in expert testimony.

Kilkenny native Hawe is said to have reacted badly after being caught gratifying a “rampant porn addiction” on a publicly used computer - an issue said to have driven a wedge in his marriage.