Grieving mother-in-law recounts how she had coffee and biscuits with deputy headteacher son-in-law just hours before he slaughtered his wife and three children
- Alan Hawe, his wife Clodagh and three children were found dead in their home
- Inquest told he slit children's throats before killing his wife and hanging himself
- Mary Coll, Clodagh's mother, told how the family came to her house for coffee and biscuits just hours before they were all dead
- She said 'everything seemed normal' on that evening and she had even wished Alan 'good luck' as he left because he was having trouble at work
A grieving mother has told how she had coffee and biscuits with her son-in-law hours before he slaughtered her daughter and grandchildren then hanged himself.
Mary Coll, mother of murdered Clodagh Hawe, told an inquest into the deaths that the family had been to her house in County Cavan on Sunday August 28 last year, the same day they were killed.
Ms Coll said 'everything seemed normal' as she chatted with her grandchildren, and even wished their father Alan good luck as he returned to his job as a deputy headteacher, because she knew he had been having problems at work.
That evening he stabbed and sliced Clodagh to death with an axe and a knife, before slitting the throats of children Liam, 13, Niall, 11, and Ryan, six.
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20171220065157/http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/19/21/4774761100000578-5194623-image-m-51_1513719970993.jpg)
Mary Coll (right) told how she had coffee and biscuits with daughter Clodagh Hawe and her husband Alan hours before he killed her, butchered their three children, then hanged himself
![Alan Hawe, a deputy principal, his schoolteacher wife Clodagh and their three children Liam, 13, Niall, 11, and Ryan, six, were found dead in their home near Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan, Ireland on the morning of Monday August 29, 2016](http://web.archive.org./web/20171220065157/http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/18/15/476D6F3100000578-5191279-Alan_Hawe_a_deputy_principal_his_schoolteacher_wife_Clodagh_and_-m-39_1513610701073.jpg)
Alan Hawe, a deputy principal, his schoolteacher wife Clodagh and their three children Liam, 13, Niall, 11, and Ryan, six, were found dead in their home near Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan, Ireland on the morning of Monday August 29, 2016
The inquest was told that the killings were carried out systematically to eliminate the eldest and most likely to resist first - with the throats of Liam and Niall cut in such a way as to stop them calling for help.
He was suffering from a bout of deep depression at the time, the inquest was told, in part brought on by stresses at work.
Ms Coll recalled how she had served tea and biscuits and chatted with Clodagh and Alan while the children were in another room on the last time she saw them.
'Liam [the eldest] had won his basketball game and he was delighted,' the court heard.
'Everything seemed normal and we chatted.'
They talked about the Lotto numbers and they had a general chat.
'When they were leaving I said, 'Alan, good luck for tomorrow'. I knew he wasn't looking forward to going back,' she said.
Alan Hawe was due back at work in Castlerahan National School the following morning, where he worked as vice-principal.
'He said, 'thank you for the goodies'.
'That was the last time I saw them,' she added.
The court heard that the family had to leave a little early that night because six-year-old Ryan was due a bath, but Clodagh told her mother to expect her and two of the boys the next morning.
'Clodagh said she would see me in the morning,' Mary Coll said in her deposition.
'She said she would be in around 8.30.'
'When they were leaving then I hugged them, I kissed them and said goodbye,' she said, her voice slightly breaking.
The following morning, when Clodagh and the boys didn't appear, Mary Coll called Alan's mobile because she thought Clodagh would be driving.
![Clodagh Hawe is pictured with sons Niall, 11, Ryan, six, and Liam, 13, in Venice. All four were killed by Alan Hawe before he hanged himself](http://web.archive.org./web/20171220065157/http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/18/15/476DF66900000578-0-image-a-28_1513609983869.jpg)
Clodagh Hawe is pictured with sons Niall, 11, Ryan, six, and Liam, 13, in Venice. All four were killed by Alan Hawe before he hanged himself
She then called the house phone and Clodagh's own mobile, before deciding to go over to the house herself.
'I drove to the house,' she told the court.
'Both cars were in the driveway… The curtains were drawn… I knew something was wrong.
'At first thought it was carbon monoxide.'
Mrs Coll then went around to the rear of the house as she had a key to the backdoor. The door was locked and she saw a note attached to it that read: 'Do not come in. Call the gardaí.'
'I was just about to put the key in the door when I saw the note,' she told the hearing.
'I knew it was Alan's handwriting.
'I knew that something terrible had happened. I just had that feeling.'
It was around 10.40am. She rang 999 to reach the guards.
The jury heard that she then went to the house of next-door neighbour Edith Harrigan.
'I told her, 'I think Alan has done something terrible', that Alan had killed them all,' said Mrs Coll.
When police entered they found Mrs Hawe, 40, in her pyjamas and dressing gown on the sitting room sofa with axe and stab wounds.
The boys, who were found upstairs in their beds, suffered stab wounds.
An inquest at Cavan courthouse was told that Mr Hawe, 39, had seen a psychotherapist and his GP in the months before the murder-suicide.
![Mary Coll and daughter Jacqueline Connelly leave the inquest after hearing that Alan was depressed when he carried out the murders](http://web.archive.org./web/20171220065157/http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/19/21/47747B3700000578-5194623-image-a-50_1513719957525.jpg)
Mary Coll and daughter Jacqueline Connelly leave the inquest after hearing that Alan was depressed when he carried out the murders
He was stressed about a dispute with a colleague in school as the academic year drew to a close in June 2016, the hearing was told.
Professor Harry Kennedy, clinical director at the Central Mental Hospital, was asked by Coroner Dr Mary Flanagan to review Mr Hawe's suicide note and reports from his therapist and GP.
He said: 'The counselling notes from March to June last year indicate that Alan Hawe was troubled.'
Professor Kennedy told the hearing that he believed that at the time Mr Hawe carried out the murder-suicide he had progressed from long-term depression to a severe depressive episode with psychotic symptoms.
'When people act in the course of severe mental illness, such as very severe psychotic mental illness, their judgment is severely impaired,' Professor Kennedy said.
The bodies of the Hawe family were discovered after Mary Coll, Clodagh Hawe's mother, called to the Home in Oakdene Downs, Barconey, and saw an envelope on the back door warning for police to be called.
Mr Hawe's GP Paula McKevitt told the hearing that she last saw him in her surgery on June 21 last year.
Mr Hawe had been to see psychotherapist David McConnell on the same day.
The counsellor said the vice-principal had wept when he said to him: 'People think of me as a pillar of the community, if only they knew.'
Mr McConnell said Mr Hawe gave no indication that he would harm himself or others. Dr McKevitt said Mr Hawe attended her surgery complaining about a sore toenail.
He also told her he had washed his feet in bleach. The GP said he was a little stressed about work and had not been sleeping.
'His focus was clear and his behaviour was normal,' Dr McKevitt said.
'Nothing in the consultation raised any concern about his mood that day.'
She added: 'Mr Hawe did not have any overt psychological or mental problems leading up to the events on August 29.'
Dr McKevitt said Mr Hawe was worried about an issue in work.
'He was concerned about a conflict that had arisen with a colleague and he reported feeling isolated as a result,' she told he inquest.
Referring to his review of the suicide note and the GP's and therapist's reports, Prof Kennedy said: 'Hindsight is always a very unfair advantage.'
Directing the jury of six women and one man, Dr Flanagan said she would not reveal the contents of Mr Hawe's suicide note.
'I don't intend to disclose the contents of the notes to the inquest,' she said.
'However, I have given the contents of the note to the jury to assist them in their consideration of verdicts.'
![Garda Aisling Walsh and Garda Alan Radcliff leaving Cavan Court House during the inquest](http://web.archive.org./web/20171220065157/http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/19/21/477481A600000578-5194623-Garda_Aisling_Walsh_and_Garda_Alan_Radcliff_leaving_Cavan_Court_-m-47_1513719809018.jpg)
Garda Aisling Walsh and Garda Alan Radcliff leaving Cavan Court House during the inquest
Dr Flanagan told the jury that they should consider verdicts of unlawful killing for Mrs Hawe and her three boys and suicide for Mr Hawe.
'They have been sworn in to return a verdict consistent with the evidence they have heard,' Dr Flanagan said.
The coroner said it was the jury's prerogative to offer a recommendation or rider that they feel may help prevent a repeat of the tragedy.
On the steps of the courthouse, lawyer Liam Keane said the killings were premeditated and calculated.
Flanked by the grief-stricken Mrs Coll and her surviving daughter Jacqueline Connolly, he said: 'It is clear from the evidence presented at the inquest that Clodagh and her boys were killed in a sequence that ensured that the eldest and most likely to provide effective resistance were killed first, and they were executed in a manner that rendered them unable to cry out for help.'
Mr Keane said the two-day hearing, which included harrowing evidence examining how the school teacher mother and her sons died, does not address why Alan Hawe 'committed this savagery'.
The solicitor referred to the psychotherapist David McConnell who held counselling sessions with Mr Hawe from March 15 to June 21 2016.
'His counsellor has said that he was concerned about his position as a pillar of the community,' Mr Keane said.
'We are aware that he was concerned at his imminent fall from that position and the breakdown of his marriage.'
The hearing continues.
Yesterday the hearing was told that Hawe killed his children and their mother by cutting their throats in a way that would have stopped them crying out and alerting each other.
His eldest boys Liam and Niall had defensive wounds on their hands and arms, as did their mother Clodagh.
Amid harrowing scenes, the deviousness of vice-principal Hawe's actions was laid bare in disturbing detail by the deputy state pathologist.
Dr Michael Curtis said he believed Hawe cut Clodagh's and two of her sons' throats in such a way that they wouldn't be able to utter cries for help.
All except for youngest son Ryan, aged six, suffered 'defensive injuries', meaning they most likely put up a struggle.
Clodagh's bereft mother Mary Coll took the stand to deliver a heartbreaking account of the morning in August 2016 that she discovered that Hawe had killed her daughter and three grandchildren in their Co Cavan home.
A police officer also broke down as she gave details of finding the lifeless bodies of the innocent victims.
The seven-person jury at Cavan Courthouse heard Clodagh, 39, was found lying on her stomach in the family's sitting room, in her pyjamas and dressing gown.
![The hearse carrying the coffin of murdered Clodagh Hawe arrives at St Mary's Church Castlerahan, Co Caven, Ireland. An inquest has heard harrowing details of the scene after police arrived at the house](http://web.archive.org./web/20171220065157/http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/18/15/476DF67600000578-0-image-a-29_1513610017187.jpg)
The hearse carrying the coffin of murdered Clodagh Hawe arrives at St Mary's Church Castlerahan, Co Caven, Ireland. An inquest has heard harrowing details of the scene after police arrived at the house
She had suffered severe head and neck injuries and a large amount of blood was visible under the couch. Her wounds were inflicted by Hawe wielding an axe and a knife.
The bodies of the couple's two eldest sons, Liam and Niall, were found in separate single beds in one room upstairs. The youngest boy, Ryan, was found in an adjacent bedroom, where a weapon was found on the pillow next to his body.
The boys were found under their blood-stained duvets, with stab wounds to their necks, and there were no signs of life.
Forensics experts told how there were bloodstains in various parts of the house in Barcony, outside Ballyjamesduff, and also on weapons, and on notes left by Hawe.
The family's callous killer, Alan Hawe, was found hanging from the stairs, it was heard.
Dr Curtis told the hearing that he found it 'very difficult to believe that it's entirely coincidental' that three of the victims suffered wounds below the Adam's apple that would 'have rendered all three of them unable to make a sound'.
Members of Clodagh Hawe's family, including her sister Jacqueline and mother Mary, broke down as the details of how Hawe murdered Clodagh and the couple's three sons were revealed.
Dr Curtis was asked by Coroner Mary Flanagan if his examinations offered any insight into who died first. 'It's impossible to say with certainty,' he said. However, he said his impression was that Hawe killed Clodagh and the eldest boy Liam initially before killing younger sons Niall and Ryan.
![Dr Michael Curtis (pictured) said he believed Hawe cut Clodagh's and two of her sons' throats in such a way that they wouldn't be able to utter cries for help. And all except for youngest son Ryan, aged six, suffered 'defensive injuries', meaning they most likely put up a struggle](http://web.archive.org./web/20171220065157/http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/12/19/13/476DE6DA00000578-0-image-a-1_1513689889030.jpg)
Dr Michael Curtis (pictured) said he believed Hawe cut Clodagh's and two of her sons' throats in such a way that they wouldn't be able to utter cries for help. And all except for youngest son Ryan, aged six, suffered 'defensive injuries', meaning they most likely put up a struggle
'By dispatching Clodagh and the older boy first, he would have rendered the possibility of a physical challenge less likely, but I don't have any firm evidence,' he said.
A toxicology test showed Hawe had no alcohol or drugs in his system at the time of his death.
Earlier, Clodagh Hawe's mother Mary Coll told the inquest she had driven to her daughter's home after teacher Clodagh did not turn up at Mrs Coll's house that morning to drop two of her sons off.
When she arrived at the Hawe family home in quiet Barcony she saw two cars in the drive and the curtains drawn. Mrs Coll told the hearing she did not go into the house but sensed something was wrong, initially believing there was a carbon monoxide leak.
The full horror of what had actually unfolded became clear when she found a note pinned to the back door window that was written by Hawe and which read, 'Don't come in. Call the gardaí.'
She rang 999 and then went to a neighbour. Mrs Coll told the inquest: 'I told them, I think Alan has done something terrible, that Alan had killed them all.'
She told the inquest that after reading the note, she had a sense that her daughter and grandchildren had been killed by Alan Hawe. 'I knew it was Alan's handwriting. I knew that something terrible had happened. I just had that feeling,' she said.
During evidence, Garda Alan Ratcliffe, of Ballyjamesduff Garda Station, said that when he arrived at the house after Mrs Coll called gardaí, he spoke with Mrs Coll and she was 'visibly upset'.
He used one of the loving grandmother's keys to enter the house through the back door at 11.21am. The garda walked through the kitchen and found Clodagh Hawe lying on her stomach dead on a couch with injuries to her head.
A knife and small axe lay on the floor next to the couch. He then proceeded to the hallway where he found the body of Alan Hawe who had taken his own life. Garda Ratcliffe proceeded up the stairs to a bedroom where he found the bodies of Liam and Niall, each lying in a single bed. Both had suffered injuries to their throats.
He then proceeded to Ryan's room and found the boy lying in a single bed and a knife on a pillow at the head of the bed.
'There were no life signs present,' the garda told the inquest.
In the master bedroom, Garda Ratcliffe found jewellery and jewellery boxes on the bed. He went downstairs again to tell colleague Garda Aisling Walsh that there were five bodies in the house.
There were emotional scenes in courtroom number two when Garda Walsh was in the witness box describing the moment she saw the bodies of the two eldest boys. As she became visibly upset, there was a pause in proceedings as she tried to collect herself. 'I can't imagine what it was like that morning,' said coroner Dr Flanagan when Garda Walsh completed her evidence. 'No-one can imagine what it was like.'
Several other gardaí gave evidence at the inquest about the technical details found at the scene and around handwritten notes left at the house. Detective Garda Colm Nolan said he identified the right palm print of Alan Hawe on a blood-stained hatchet.
No members of Alan Hawe's family attended the inquest.
- Anyone affected by this case can contact Samaritans on 116 123; Pieta House on 1800 247 247; Childline on 1800 66 66 66, or by texting 'support' to 50101; or Women's Aid on 1800 341 900.
Hawe's parents: Depression diagnosis 'does not ease pain'
Stephen and Olive Hawe, the vice-principal's parents, said the inquest has shed some light on the murder-suicide after 16 months struggling to comprehend what happened in the family home.
'Last August we received news no family should ever have to hear,' they said.
'In one night we lost three beautiful grandchildren, a beloved daughter-in-law and our son Alan.
'Death's dark door opened and we have struggled over the last 16 months to comprehend how this came to pass.'
The Hawes referred to Professor Harry Kennedy's review of medical records, counselling notes, and the suicide note that was left by Mr Hawe and his retrospective diagnosis of mental illness.
'We have had some light shed upon that darkness with the insight gained from thorough examination of the report of Professor Harry Kennedy and his opinion that Alan suffered from severe depressive illness,' they said.
'It does not make the pain and loss any easier for us.'
Mr and Mrs Hawe did not attend the inquest over the two days and issued the statement through their solicitor.
They thanked Coroner Dr Mary Flanagan and said she had done extraordinary work along with her staff to hold the hearing.
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