Analysis: Family annihilators driven by issues with power and masculinity

Dr Ciara Staunton examines the underlying psychology and triggers behind familicide

The Garda search team at the Hennessy family farm at Curraghgorm near Mitchelstown, North Cork, where brothers Paddy (60) and Willie (66) were found dead. Photo: Dan Linehan

The cases are starting to appear all too familiar. Another community left despairing in the aftermath of an apparent mindless crime. The initial reaction of shock, horror, confusion, and sympathy slowly disappears, unfortunately, until the next tragedy makes the headlines. 

These major crimes attain notoriety due to the utter tragedy involved and the images of once-smiling families obliterated at the hands of, usually, the father or in the most recent cases, a male sibling. Some of these incidents would not be lost in the plot of a Shakespearean tragedy.