EXCLUSIVE: Hawe murder house to be razed
There are plans to tear down the house where local school teacher Alan Hawe murdered his wife Clodagh (39) and three young boys - Liam (13), Niall (11) and Ryan (6) - with a memorial garden to be built in its place.
The application, lodged with council planners weeks ago by Clodagh’s grieving mum Mary Coll, comes to light on the eighth anniversary of the murder-suicide that horrified the nation.
Hawe killed his family before taking his own life at the Oakdene Downs property near Ballyjamesduff on August 28, 2016. Their bodies were found the morning after.
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 following summer holidays during which they had enjoyed a family trip abroad.
The anniversary co-incides with a backdrop of growing pressure - on Minister for Justice Helen McEntee and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris - who are both being urged to publish a Serious Crime Review into the handling of the subsequent murder investigation.
Finalised in 2023, for “operational reasons”, it remains unpublished despite repeated requests from Clodagh’s surviving family members.
The family have seen the report.
Demand for fresh inquest
They also want a reopening of the inquest that took place in December 2017, to consider and reflect new information revealed since.
The family are prepared to take their case to the Attorney General Rossa Fanning if required.
Clodagh’s family say Hawe had in fact “meticulously planned” the murders, and even researching methods online.
Coupled to that, Hawe is said to have reacted badly after being caught gratifying a “rampant porn addiction” - an issue said to have driven a wedge in his marriage.
Hawe was first buried alongside the family he killed, but his remains were later exhumed following pressure from Clodagh’s family.
Permission to demolish
Mary states of the plans to knock her daughter Clodagh’s former home: “It can’t be left stand there forever the way it is, what it reminds people of. For all that it has taken from this world.”
She was only able to apply for planning following the conclusion of legalities over ownership with Alan Hawe’s family.
In place of the once neatly appointed family home it’s envisaged will be a landscaped memorial garden, to include perhaps a seat of remembrance dedicated to Clodagh and her boys.
“I’ll never go near it,” admits Mary. “So it has to be something that’s easily maintained. We don’t ever want anyone to build a house on it again.”
Jacqueline says she will be there to see the house get knocked.
“I want to see it be demolished, no more than me being at the exhumation when that happened. It’s bittersweet in that we have so many happy memories happened in that house - Christmases, birthdays, christenings, communions.”
Jacqueline intends to publish a book next year in the hope of assisting other women to identify the warning signs associated with domestic violence and extreme coercive control.
“[Clodagh] was getting too close to the truth. She just didn’t get out on time.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Justice told The Anglo-Celt that Minister McEntee is aware that An Garda Síochána had carried out a Serious Crime Review and the findings had been presented to Clodagh’s family.
“Engagement is ongoing between officials and An Garda Síochána, at the request of the Minister, to ascertain if under any circumstances, such documents might be published,” they said.
* For full story and interview with the family, see this week's print edition of the Celt