Family of mum and kids murdered by husband demand Garda review be made public
The devastated family of a mother and three children murdered by her husband want the Garda review into the case to be made public.
The killing of Clodagh Hawe, 39, and her sons Liam, 13, Niall, 11, and six-year-old Ryan, by evil Alan Hawe before he took his own life, at their home in Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan, shocked the nation.
Now Clodagh's sister Jacqueline Connolly is demanding the Garda review into the August 2016 killings be put on the public record so other families can see the tell tale signs of such danger.
She appealed to Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to release the findings as a matter of urgency so that services and people around the country are made fully aware of what coercive control is and what "family annihilators" look like.
Speaking this week in an interview on her local radio station Northern Sound, Jacqueline said: "One in three women are being coercively controlled and the Garda Commissioner needs to publish the findings so that these services and the country are aware of what family annihilators look like. Four-and-a-half years was spent trying to find answers as to why Alan Hawe murdered our family.
"The general public are entitled after their tax money being spent on a review, to see those findings.
"They need to be armed with this information, it is vital information, to protect and prevent domestic violence, for murder suicides and coercive control and all that comes with it."
Jacqueline has launched a new book, Deadly Silence, about the horrific family murders and tells of their long fight for justice.
The Garda Review was carried out in 2019 after complaints by the family during media interviews about the initial investigation.
Ms Connolly told how the first investigation failed to follow up on information including "mishandling" CCTV and other evidence such as a secret phone Hawe used as well as laptops and other digital devices which were all destroyed before the review took place. Some of the findings from the Garda Review have been shared with the family but none have been made public.
Ms Connolly said: "We should never have to battle for eight years and two investigations. There should never have been failings.
"The onus should never have been on me and Mam to fight for justice.
"But no, that meeting in 2019 was very much 'nothing to see here' when in fact there was plenty and the review was very critical of how the initial investigation was carried out.
"The 'why' wasn't accounted for in the first investigation.
"We had to fight, we were made to go public, if we didn't, where would we be now." She told how her brother-in law, a school vice-principal, was obsessed about what other people thought of him even in death.
She added: "It was all about perception to him. Holier than thou. He wanted people to believe he was still a good man, like by killing Clodagh and the boys he was somehow doing them a favour, sparing them his downfall."
Ms Connolly said it was later discovered Hawe had a porn addiction.
He shared email accounts with his wife but operated an unknown alias using the fake name John Smithers.
Nobody was able to access the account or discover what it was subscribing to.
They also learned the killer dad had been planning to murder his family for at least a year in advance.
She added: "There were behaviours, patterns leading up. He'd done the research, stuff online. That wasn't shown in the first investigation. He moved the furniture knowing Clodagh's back would be turned when it came to it.
"He was a wolf in sheep's clothing who fooled us all. Looking back, he and Clodagh's relationship was not normal."
Alan was initially buried with his wife and children and his body later exhumed after objections from her family.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Male pedestrian (60s) dies after being hit by tractor in Co Clare
A man in his 60s has died after he was hit by a tractor on the L7006 at Kilmurry, Sixmilebridge in Co Clare. Gardaí and emergency services responded to the crash which occurred shortly after 10.15am today. The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene. His body has been transferred to University Hospital Limerickand a postmortem will take place in due course. The coroner has been informed and an inquest is expected to take place at a later date. The road is currently closed to facilitate a technical examination by Garda Forensic Collision Investigators. Gardaí are appealing for any witnesses to come forward. Road users with any camera footage who were travelling in the area between 10am and 10.15am today are asked to make it available to gardaí. READ MORE Anyone with any information is asked to contact Ennis Garda station on 065 684 8100, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station. Meanwhile, a young boy is in a serious condition in hospital after he was hit by a car in Co Donegal last night. The child was walking in the village of Ramelton when he was struck on the R245 road to Letterkenny at around 6pm. The emergency services rushed to the scene and the boy was taken to Letterkenny University Hospital for immediate treatment. The boy's condition is not yet known. There is a large volume of traffic in Co Donegal this weekend for the Donegal International Rally which is taking place over three days from Friday to Sunday. However, it is not understood that this incident was directly related to the rally event itself.
Irish Daily Mirror
4 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Boy in serious condition in hospital after being knocked down
A young boy was left in a serious condition in hospital after he was struck by a car in Co Donegal last night. The child was walking in the village of Ramelton when he was struck by a car on the R245 road to Letterkenny at around 6pm. The emergency services rushed to the scene and the boy was taken to Letterkenny University Hospital for immediate treatment. The boy's condition this morning is not yet known. There is a large volume of traffic in Co Donegal this weekend for the Donegal International Rally which is taking place over three days from Friday to Sunday. However, it is not understood that this incident was directly related to the rally event itself. A Garda spokesperson confirmed a child was knocked down last night. "Gardaí and emergency services attended the scene of a road traffic collision in Ramelton Co. Donegal, which occurred yesterday evening, Friday 20th June 2025," the spokesperson said. "The collision involved a car and a pedestrian at approximately 6:00pm on the R245 Letterkenny Road. "The pedestrian, a male juvenile child, was taken from the scene to Letterkenny University Hospital for treatment."
Sunday World
9 hours ago
- Sunday World
Dad with 53 convictions jailed for sexually exploiting girl he used to babysit
In her victim impact statement the young woman said her life spiralled after the abuse. A 49-year-old Laois father has been jailed for two years for defilement and sexual exploitation of a child he used to babysit. The man, who is Irish heritage but was born in the UK before moving to Ireland as a child, pleaded guilty to defilement of the 15-year-old girl and obtaining a child for the purpose of sexual exploitation in Co Laois, on dates in 2021. The man, who cannot be identified to protect the anonymity of his victim, was sentenced to two years after appearing in Portlaoise Circuit Court this week. The court heard he had 53 previous convictions for offences including indecency, animal welfare offences, public order offences, indecent communication, breaches of barring orders and road traffic offences. He sat with his head bowed in court as the victim and her family members looked on during his sentencing hearing on Thursday. In her victim impact statement the young woman said her life spiralled after the abuse. 'I was having thoughts that I wanted to take my own life. I couldn't concentrate in school and was thinking about suicide.' She said she started skipping school and running away from home in the aftermath. 'My family did everything they could to get me the help I needed.' She said she got counselling but some days would battle to get to sleep at night. I kept getting nightmares thinking about it. I still think about it. I will never forget what happened.' Detective Garda Ray Dermody told Judge told Judge Keenan Johnson that the girls father reported her missing on November 11 2021 and spoke to gardai again the following day to say he believed she was at the man's house where they later found her. Days later she revealed to gardai that the man had sex with her in the house while she was there and had also digitally penetrated her on another occasion earlier that month. The man was a brother of an ex-girlfriend of the victim's father and the court heard the man previously babysat her and had been chatting to her online and by phone with the conversations turning sexual and very intense. He called her at 6.30am on November 2, 2021 but she missed the call and called him back. The court heard he told her to come out to his house and she initially said she didn't know if she would because she had to go to school. However, he convinced her to ditch school to go to his home. When she arrived he stripped down to his underwear and told her to take her clothes off. He kissed her and took off her underwear before digitally penetrating her. The court heard the girl felt confused after what happened and ended things by saying she needed to go to bathroom. She stayed in his house overnight before going home. On November 11 the man messaged the girl saying he missed her very much and she went over to his home. They went to the bedroom and got undressed before he kissed her and had sex with her. The girl made a complaint to gardai in the days after she was found at the man's home. He initially denied any sexual activity had taken place and said he saw himself as a 'sort of mentor' figure , an 'agony aunt' and a comforting shoulder but 'no more' than that. However, he later came clean and admitted everything. The court heard the man was previously married and had a number of children. He moved to Ireland when he was a child to stay with family here and in his adult life had sporadic work as a painter and gas fitter. In mitigation his defence counsel said the girl wasn't abducted by the man but accepted that society cannot condone his behaviour. Judge Johnson said the man actively initiated sexual contact with a girl who was 'clearly very vulnerable' and described the two offences as 'abhorrent.' He commended the young woman for coming forward and sentenced the man to two years imprisonment.
