House where Clodagh Hawe and her three sons were killed may be razed
Flowers outside the house in Barconey, Co Cavan, in 2016. File Picture: Philip Fitzpatrick
The house in which Alan Hawe murdered his wife Clodagh and her three young sons before taking his own life may be demolished, under plans lodged by Ms Hawe's family.
It is understood Clodagh Hawe's mother, Mary Coll, recently lodged an application with the council to raze the property, which is located in the townland of Barconey in south Co Cavan.
The 39-year-old and her sons Liam, 13, Niall, 11, and Ryan, 6, were found dead in their home in August 2016.
Their father, Alan Hawe, 40, left a note admitting he had murdered them on the night of August 28 of that year.
He subsequently took his own life.
In the years since, Clodagh’s family have consistently called for a full inquiry into the circumstances of the murders, a review of inherent laws, reform of how inquests are carried out, and access to the Garda files on the case.
In 2019, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris agreed to set up a serious crime review into the circumstances surrounding the killings.
Though the report was finalised last year, and though Clodagh's family are understood to have seen it, it remains unpublished.
Asked by the about the publication of this review, a Department of Justice spokesperson said: "The Coroners service is a network of coroners located throughout the country.
"The coroner is an independent office holder, charged with the investigation of those deaths reportable to him or her by law under the Coroners Acts 1962-2020."
The spokesperson said the publication of the database for the first time in May 2023 was "widely welcomed by stakeholders including missing person’s representative groups".
"Some stakeholders have, of course, had suggestions for how the database might be improved, and the Department has been clear the development of the database is an iterative process."
The spokesperson also said the dataset is "not exhaustive".
"Many Coroner files are in hard copy have been archived, particularly on the retirement of previous Coroners and the dataset therefore does not include any details which may be contained in those archived files.
"Many coroners also hold records that predate digitisation and therefore the compilation of returns is not a straightforward process for many."
The spokesperson said the Department was unable to comment on specific cases.
"All queries in respect of an Unidentified Remains should be directed to the Coroner in the relevant district," they said.
"The Department working with its colleagues on the Forum will continue to consider improvements that could be made to the gathering and sharing of unidentified remains and missing person data.
"The Department is keen to ensure the database can be as effective as possible in providing information that may help families missing their loved ones get long awaited answers."
The house where the killings took place has remained largely untouched for the past eight years.
Clodagh's mother told the the house "can’t be left stand there forever the way it is, what it reminds people of".
Once it has been demolished, the family envisage a landscaped garden could be built on the site, along with a memorial to Clodagh and her three sons.
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