Village tragedy as family found shot dead

An elderly couple and their son were found shot dead in the family home in a village, gardaí said tonight.

The parents, named locally as John Joe Slater, aged in his 80s and Mary, in her late 70s, were found in their house near the quiet village of Grangecon, in south-west Co Wicklow.

Their son Patrick, a local sculptor and metal worker in his 40s, was found dead beside them.

It is understood two guns were found in the house and gardai are not looking for anyone else.

Concerned neighbours raised the alarm and called gardai at 11am after the family had not been seen for more than a day.

Local officers said the scene inside the house was very difficult.

The family, who had a farming background, were active in the local parish with the parents reading at Mass and involved with the choir while their son Patrick did weekly collections.

The parents were also lifelong members of the nearby Baltinglass Golf Club, with John Joe captain in 1979 and Mary lady captain in 1982.

Local priest Fr Thomas Dillon said they were lovely people and highly respected members of the rural community.

“It’s a very sad occasion, a tragic happening,” he said.

“They were very active in the church, lovely, lovely people, highly respected here in Grangecon.”

John Joe was a retired farmer and his wife Mary a retired schoolteacher. Son Patrick had a workshop beside the house were he made metal sculptures. The couple are believed to have had two daughters.

State Pathologist Professor Marie Cassidy was called to the scene along with forensic officers and post mortem examinations are planned for tomorrow.

The bodies were removed from the home shortly before 9pm.

Fears for the family’s welfare were raised after the couple did not go to Mass on Sunday or collect papers from the local store.

One local businessman, who did not want to be named, last saw the couple on Saturday morning.

“This is a big tragedy for us,” he said.

“They were lovely people, that’s why everybody is so shocked. You think this type of thing will never happen here.

“They would just come down for their papers every morning and we would have a bit of a chit chat.”

The man said there have been road works in the area for the past three weeks, with the road closed outside the family’s home for the past three days, so no traffic could pass the scene.

Neighbours, who asked not to be named, described the family as quiet and well respected.

One local man said: “They were a well respected family in the area. He was a retired farmer and she was a retired school teacher.

“They were big into golf all their lives. They were into farming and metal sculpting. They were a hardworking family.”

The grim discovery comes after a weekend of violent deaths.

A 28-year-old man was shot dead at the front door of a house in north Dublin in an apparent gangland murder and two immigrants were killed in separate knife attacks in Co Tipperary and Drogheda, Co Meath.

Following those deaths one of the country’s most senior clerics, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin, called on the Government to hold a summit of community leaders to address the roots of violence.

He warned levels of violence were becoming counter-productive.

Dr John Connolly, secretary of the Irish Association of Suicidology, also expressed concerns that vulnerable individuals are following the example of others after hearing in the media about suicides.

Ireland has been hit by a series of similar tragedies this year involving a young family in the neighbouring Co Wexford where it is believed 29-year-old blind father-of-two Adrian suffocated his wife Ciara, 24, and their daughters Leanne, five, and three-year-old Shania in the village of Monageer.