Remembering too many stolen lives in the wake of the Cavan murder-suicide

THE year 1996 was a very grim year for women in Ireland. By the end of December, 20 women had been murdered.

To build a better understanding in the hope of preventing such violence, Women’s Aid started our file on female homicide. No other year since has had a female homicide rate that high, and over time, it began to average out to 11 women a year.

However, in contrast, this year the count was staying at zero. That was until Monday morning, when Clodagh Hawe and her three children were murdered at home in Cavan. They were killed by their husband and father, who then took his own life.