Cordon around home allows family to grieve

The home where Eoghan, 10, and Ruairí, 5, Chada grew up was cordoned off yesterday by gardaí to ensure their grief stricken mother and her family and friends could mourn in private.

The boys were waked in the family home yesterday as the community of Ballinkillen in Co Carlow struggled to come to terms with their sudden loss.

Mourners streamed into the house to pay their respects to the boys, their mother, Kathleen, and her extended family who have been supporting her all week, while reporters and photographers were asked to stay away and allow the family the privacy they needed to say their goodbyes.

Large crowds are expected to pour into the tiny village today for the funeral Mass of the two brothers who were allegedly murdered after being taken by their father.

Parish priest of Bagenalstown, Fr Declan Foley, will be the chief celebrant at today’s funeral Mass which starts at 1pm in St Lazerian’s Church in Ballinkillen.

The boys will then be laid to rest in the adjoining cemetery, which is close to the home of their grandparents, Kathleen’s mother and father, Patsy and Willie Murphy.

It is also within sight of the local national school where Eoghan was due to enter fourth class next month and Ruairí was to start senior infants; and to the GAA field where the boys regularly played hurling and football and were brought to training and matches by their father, Sanjeev.

Fellow pupils of the national school have been offered support after a critical incident plan was drawn up by staff and psychologists from the Department of Education.

Mr Chada left the family’s home on Sunday evening and told his wife he was taking the boys bowling in Carlow town. They never arrived at the bowling centre as planned, however, and after a nationwide garda alert, his car crashed into a wall outside Westport in Co Mayo on Monday afternoon.

The bodies of the two brothers were found in the boot of the green Ford Focus. Mr Sanjeev sustained relatively minor injuries and was arrested on Wednesday morning after being discharged from hospital in Castlebar.