Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
MONSTER HAS GONE
Murderer removed from family grave
THE remains of mass murderer Alan Hawe were hauled from his family’s grave yesterday.
Eight months after the teacher killed his wife and three sons, they were finally left to rest in peace as his coffin was exhumed from the joint plot in Co Cavan. A friend said: “He was a monster. What he did was monstrous. Now the monster has gone.”
THE body of mass killer Alan Hawe was exhumed yesterday morning from the family grave he had shared with his victims for 250 days.
The remains of Clodagh Hawe and her three children can rest in peace without the monster by their side. The grave was reopened at 5.40am with first light rising over the hill at Castlerahan within view of the still empty family home. Hawe’s coffin was unearthed by a team of undertakers at 8.09am, cleaned and removed to a hearse. With gardai ensuring the road out of the village was clear, the van began the 60-mile journey to Glasnevin Crematorium in North Dublin. From there his ashes will be transported to Kilkenny to his family home. In his letter left at the bloodied house where he slaughtered Clodagh, 39, Liam, 14, Niall, 11, and six-year-old Ryan before taking his own life, he had asked to be cremated and for his ashes to be scattered at sea. The 40-year-old was a deputy principal at a primary school, was once respected as a family man, a leading light in the Church and the GAA with values his community aspired to. But last August he murdered his family using knives, a hatchet and his bare hands before he killed himself in their Co Cavan home last August. The bodies were found by gardai who had been called by Clodagh’s mother Mary Coll after she discovered a note pinned by their killer on the door of the house. As Clodagh, a teacher, researched family holidays on the computer, her husband had murder in mind as he gathered weapons from around the house and garage. She was attacked first and fought for her life but at barely eight stone, was powerless to resist. Once Clodagh was dead, it left Hawe free to turn his murderous intentions to his three boys. He pinned a note to the back door of the family home warning the next visitor not to step into the scene of devastation he left behind. Inside the house, he left a letter in which he apologised for his actions, begged for forgiveness and detailed his sick reasons behind the murders. He detailed his disturbing fall from grace and left instructions for his funeral, urging that arrangements would ensure his wife and children buried together and he was cremated and his ashes dumped in the sea. Tragically those instructions were not shared with Clodagh’s mum Mary Coll and sister Jacqueline Connolly until after the funeral. And at the time of the arrangements they were so distressed and shocked, little made sense to them. Hawe’s burial with his victims shocked much of Ireland, with communities still reeling from news of the bloodbath at Castlerahan, near Ballyjamesduff in Co Cavan. Clodagh’s sister Jacqueline Connolly and Mrs Coll had been guided by Fr Felim Kelly, but remained mostly isolated in their grief and with scant contact from the killer’s family. In their first interview following the murders, Mary and Jacqueline told the Daily Mirror when they arranged the funeral, they were in deep shock and distress and were unaware of the real reasons behind Hawe’s actions. Jacqueline told the Daily Mirror last December: “If we had known then what we know now he would never have been buried with them. “It’s impossible to explain just how deeply distressed and shocked we were. We were left pretty much alone to deal with the funeral. We were given advice but nothing made sense. He was buried with them, the devil was put in that same grave as our beautiful Clodagh and our wonderful boys. “We were assured the Alan Hawe who did this was not the Alan Hawe we’d known and loved, and we had been fooled by him we were in a trance of grief. “Now we know we’d never really known him, an evil, wicked man. “That man ended up being buried with them. The horror of that, given what we know now, is indescribable. We hope some day we will be able to do justice for Clodagh, Liam, Niall and Ryan and they will rest together in peace. It’s the least they deserve.” Today fresh flowers sit on the newly-arranged grave dedicated to Clodagh, Liam, Niall and Ryan. The marker that indicated Alan Hawe’s remains, etched by a vandal with the word “EVIL” has been removed – and gone too, finally, is Alan Hawe. Last night the killer’s family released a statement which said they applied for the exhumation to be carried out at the request of the Coll family. They revealed they had not previously been involved in the decision as to where Alan Hawe was buried. The statement added: “Over the last number of months the parents of Alan Hawe have received threats from persons unknown which have added to the devastating losses that they have suffered of their son, grandchildren and daughter-in-law. They would hope that they and the Coll family would now be left in peace. “The timing of the exhumation was decided by the professionals who dealt with the exhumation this morning and in that regard there was no substance to any suggestion that it was delayed for any reason by the Hawes. “The Hawe family wish to thank the Cavan County council officials, the HSE officials and the gardai who provided all possible assistance relating to this over the last couple of months. “The circumstances surrounding the tragedy in 2016 will be the subject of an inquest later this year and in light of this they have no further comment to make.” Last night it was unclear what happened to Hawe’s body as his name was not on the cremation list.
We hope some day to do justice for Clodagh, Liam, Niall and Ryan JACQUELINE CONNOLLY CO CAVAN