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Killer in the family podcast
A true crime podcast exploring men who kill their families.
Killer in the family podcast
Episode 30 - The Hawe Family
In August 2016 Clodagh Hawe and her sons Liam, Niall and Ryan were murdered by the one person who should have protected them the most – husband and father Alan Hawe. The case has been hugely criticised for the way the media excused what Hawe did and ignored Clodagh and her sons and gave way to the #HerNameWasClodagh trending on social media in an effort to refocus attention on what was important here – the murder of a wife and three children.
This is the story of Clodagh Hawe and her sons Liam, Niall and Ryan.
Information and support
· Samaritans UK Contact Us | Samaritans
· National Domestic Violence Helpline UK 0808 2000 247
· Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse (AAFDA) Home - AAFDA
· Women’s Aid www.womensaid.org.uk
· Mental health support USA I'm looking for mental health help for myself | Mental Health America (mhanational.org)
· Domestic abuse helpline USA 1.800.799.SAFE Domestic Violence Support | National Domestic Violence Hotline (thehotline.org)
References
He Had His Reasons | Colin Barrett | Granta Magazine
Hawe family murders - Wikipedia
Hawe confession letter reveals he "enjoyed" murdering family | IrishCentral.com
Rest in peace, invisible woman - LINNEA DUNNE
Reporting of man who killed his family too sympathetic, say women's groups | Ireland | The Guardian
Domestic homicide study recommends new agency, database (rte.ie)
Credits
Hosted and created by Clare Laxton @ladylaxton
Produced by: Clare Laxton
Killer in the family podcast (buzzsprout.com)
Music by Tom Box and from Pixabay.
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Hi there and welcome. Follow killer in the family podcast on tiktok and youtube. Very excitingly, you can now send me a message through my podcast. At the top of each episode note there's a link to send me a text, so you can do that to suggest an episode comment or review. And again, today's episode has been suggested to me by a listener, caroline. So thank you so much, caroline, for getting in touch and suggesting this case. I'm getting loads of suggestions for cases to cover. Please do keep them coming. Get in touch with me on Insta at KillerInTheFamilyPod, or by sending me a text from the episode notes and I'll add them to the list, which is sadly quite a long one.
Speaker 1:In August 2016, clodagh Haw and her sons, liam, neil and Ryan, were murdered by the one person who should have loved and protected them the most husband and father, alan Hall. The case has been hugely criticised for the way the media excused what Hall did and ignored Clodagh and her sons and gave way to the her name was Clodagh hashtag trending on social media in an effort to refocus attention on what was important here the murder of a wife and three children. This is the story of Clodagh Hoare and her sons, liam, neil and Ryan. This episode is going to be a tough listen. I know that every episode is, but the murders here are pretty horrific and violent. But, as usual, there's sources of support for mental health and domestic abuse, if anyone needs them, in the episode notes, and all my sources for this case are in the episode notes as well. So here we go.
Speaker 1:Clodagh Cole was born in Ireland in 1977. She grew up in a village called Mount Nugent, which was near Ballyjanes Duff in County Cavern, so apologies in advance if my pronouncements of some of these place names aren't brilliant, but I'm going to try my best. So Clodagh was 39 years old when she was brutally killed by her husband, alan. She had a sister, jacqueline, who, since Cl Clodagh was killed, has been a great advocate for her sister and, according to an Irish Central article, clodagh was a lovely woman who was easy to chat to, really involved in the local community. She attended church every Sunday and was very religious. Clodagh worked as a teacher at Orristown National School and from what I've read about her, I can imagine that she was just really caring and just a great teacher. In an interview with Claire Byrne on RTE in 2019, clodagh's mother Mary talked about how Clodagh was a quiet child, not demanding and never in trouble. Her sister, jacqueline, said in the same interview that they got on really well as sisters and that she was someone that she looked up to. Mary talked about how Clodagh went to teach training in St Patrick's College in Drumcondra and that's where she met fellow student Alan Hoare. Two and a half years later, they were married and building a life together with their three boys, and building a life together with their three boys. Alan Hoare was born in 1976 and was 40 years old when he took his own life after killing his whole family. He was also a teacher and at the time of his suicide he was vice-principal at Castle Rohan National School.
Speaker 1:Now Claude and Hoare welcomed their first child, liam, in 2003. He was just 13 years old when he was killed by his father. In the RTE interview with Clare Byrne, mary talked about how Liam was getting sort of confident and great at basketball and piano and he was quite similar to Clodagh. A second boy came in 2005, neil, and he was just 11 when he was killed. Neil was quieter than Liam and just loved Lego. Apparently he loved reading, particularly David Williams' books, and Gangster Granny's books as well, and Mary talks about how much he loved the Great British Bake Off and wanted to open a bakery when he grew up. And then they were joined by the baby of the family, ryan, who was born in 2010,. And he was just six years old when he was killed. Now, mary told Claire Byrne that she nicknamed Ryan the Rebel as he was just full of mischief, but he also apparently loved Lego like Liam. Apparently loved Lego like Liam.
Speaker 1:After Hoare killed his family, the press and community seemed to be falling over themselves with lovely things to say about him, but more on that later. What came out, however, was that he was a very controlling husband, never letting Clodagh out of his sight, and her mother said that since she was with him, she'd sort of stopped going out with friends and became very focused on family life. This is an extract from Mary and Jacqueline's interview with Claire Byrne. Quote Mary, if we sat having a cup of tea, he would sit until I would go, and we never really got time to have a conversation together. That's the way it was, claire. And when she came to your house, mary, would he come with her? Mary, oh, he would always. Also, according to Jacqueline, he even came with her and Clodagh when they went dress shopping for her bridesmaid dress for Clodagh and Alan's wedding.
Speaker 1:This definitely seems like controlling behaviour to me and, as we know, isolating people from family and friends and constantly being with someone are both signs of coercive control, which can be very dangerous for women and children. Now, hoare was also said to be addicted to pornography, something that Clodagh knew about. Again, her mother, mary, told Claire Byrne that Clodagh had told her that he had been watching pornography and that it was potentially causing him issues. What she was referring to was the fact that Hoare had been caught watching pornography and masturbating at school and was going to be in a lot of trouble for it rightly so. There are also reports that Hoare liked to wear Clodagh's underwear, but I couldn't really find any more information on that, so I'm not going to dwell on it. So, instead of a happy family headed up by two respected educators and teachers, we actually have a very controlling husband who's facing some serious issues at work, dealing with an addiction to pornography, as well as maybe some other issues.
Speaker 1:Now we're going to talk about what happened on the 29th of August 2016 and the morning after Now, on the 30th of August, mary, clodagh's mother, was getting worried, as she hadn't dropped the boys off before she went to work, which she normally would do. She had called and texted Clodagh, but hadn't heard anything back from Clodagh or Alan. She then drove to their house and she found a note on the back door in Hawes handwriting that said Mary called 999 and also went to Clodagh's neighbour and said that she thought Alan had done something. The guards came and entered the house. After a bit they came out and said to Mary that they'd found five bodies and there was no one alive in the house. I just can't imagine how Mary must have been feeling at that moment. The devastation of what was happening must have been feeling at that moment. The devastation of what was happening must have been overwhelming, and over the coming days and at the inquest in the next year, details came out about what actually happened on the 29th of August 2016 in that house. Firstly, ho had rearranged the furniture in the lounge, so when Clodagh was on her computer, she was facing away from him and she was on her computer looking at holidays online when Hoare came up behind her and struck her in the back of the head with an axe. He then stabbed her in the back with a knife and this actually broke her shoulder blade. Still alive, clodagh raised her arm to defend herself and Hoare nearly broke her arm with the axe. At the inquest, deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis, stated that Clodagh quote died from axe puncture wounds to her head and neck. It is then believed that Hoare started writing a rambling and sometimes incoherent letter about why he was doing what he was doing. More on that later. This is going to be a tough listen. Hoare then went on to kill his eldest son, liam. Dr Curtis told the inquest quote. The impression I have is that he killed Clodagh and her older boy first and so reduced the possibility of a physical challenge. It made that unlikely. Liam had been stabbed in his neck twice, had defensive wounds to his arms. It is said that Hawke cut his windpipe deliberately so he wouldn't make a noise. Neil, who shared a room with Liam, was also stabbed in the neck twice and also had defensive wounds to his arms and hands. Finally, hoare killed six-year-old Ryan, who had a deep stab wound to his neck which had cut his windpipe. All of the boys were found in their pyjamas with duvets pulled over them. The guarder also found Hoare in the hallway. He had taken his own life. So this was an absolutely horrific murder of Clodagh and her three sons. The husband and father, alan Hoare, had killed them and also taken his own life and, as I mentioned, the Garda also found two letters at the property written by Hoare In response to his murders. A Garda source told Irish Central quote an envelope has been found in the house that is believed to be very relevant to the case. Found in the house that is believed to be very relevant to the case. He sat down and planned this. It was not blind rage and, as we know from so many of these cases, it's not red mist or a loss of control. Familiar side is usually the absolute opposite regaining control by the perpetrator and careful planning and execution of that plan. Now I really don't want to read out too many of Hoare's words as this is not about him.
Speaker 1:It's about Clodagh and her boys. But here are a few quotes from his letters, one which apparently he wrote after killing Clodagh and one after he killed his sons, from Belfast Live Quote. So finally and most horrifically, he actually talked about in the letter about how he enjoyed killing his family, and I'm not gonna say the words here, what he wrote, and actually I don't want to talk about his words or thoughts anymore because I just can't bear him setting out the narrative. When he had taken away cloda, neil, liam and ryan's voices, and in response to to this letter, mary and Jacqueline told Claire Byrne that they still didn't 100% know what happened to him at school and they still didn't have all the information they wanted.
Speaker 1:We spoke earlier about how Hoare had been caught masturbating at school, so presumably he was facing some sort of disciplinary action when he would return from the summer holidays. Jacqueline said quote he had the illusion that they couldn't manage their lives without him. That's how important he thought he was. Clodagh was a professional woman. She was assertive. She had three lovely, healthy children. It would have been hard, but they would have survived and we would have helped. Life wouldn't have been the same again, certainly, but children grow up and live their own lives, and this is what we find so often in cases of familicide. I'm thinking about John List and Robert Mockery, for example, of men who are facing their own issues and problems, who think the only answer is to not only take their own life but to take their family with them, because they couldn't possibly live without them. As Jacqueline said, that's how important Hoare thought he was, that's how entitled he was. He couldn't conceive that his family could or should live without him. And we've talked about this again when we talked about the Tote family and how Tote said he decided how his children came into the world. So he got to decide how they would leave the world Pure entitlement and control.
Speaker 1:So in the midst of this horrific murder, the media response was unsurprisingly disappointing. Not only did it continually refer to a murder-suicide and we know how I feel about that term but also represented highly significant views of Hawke, talking about his work and his involvement in the local community. A good example of this is an article in the Irish Independent whose headline was he was quiet and a real gentleman. This is just one of the many which were very sympathetic to Hawke and this article. For example, clodagh isn't even named until the fourth paragraph. Now I know I'm a seasoned reader of media articles excusing men's violence against women, but still I get so sick of reading fawning articles about a man who's just killed his whole family like he just won some sort of community award.
Speaker 1:You have to start asking the question of what does a man have to do to actually be criticised in the media, and this issue was highlighted by feminist blogger Linnea Dunn a few days after the murders On her blog. She said, quote a man murders four people in Kavan and we are fed questions and statements of disbelief alongside praise of the murderer as a community man. On the front pages we see the man and the three children he murdered. Two days in, clodagh was all but become invisible and you ask why feminists are so loud and angry. Absolutely right. And the National Women's Council of Ireland also said quote men who choose to kill their partner should not be portrayed as equal victims. It is not okay to consider the apparent reasons for the murder to be more, and that is why we saw the hashtag trending on social media after the murders People trying to recognise who the real victims were and not centring the perpetrator. I also saw a few articles which had the wrong ages for the boys. I didn't see whores age incorrect anywhere.
Speaker 1:While sympathetic media responses to men who kill their whole families isn't anything new, the coverage in this story is a particularly pointy example of this. There's a brilliant article by Colin Barron in Granter magazine which I've linked to. In the episode notes that's titled he had His Reasons which expertly articulates the media response to Hoare murdering his whole family. I definitely recommend a read of it. In the article, barrett talks about how the prejudice of Hoare as a middle class, respectable man tainted the media reporting. Quote Alan Hoare was a respectable, middle-class bastion of his community, a model patriarch in a patriarchal society, and we are predisposed to believe that a man like this could not possibly have been an abuser. Remarkably enough, the fact that this man premeditatedly murdered his wife and children does not in itself seem grounds enough for his position in society to be publicly challenged in the mainstream media Absolutely agree with that, and we saw a similar response to when Emma and Lettie Patterson were murdered by their husband or father presumably respectable, middle-class man no mention of their control or abuse and seemingly willing to ignore the horrific murders and completely excuse their actions.
Speaker 1:Now I know that there is so much great work going on to make the reporting of domestic abuse and domestic homicide better, better centres on victims and their lives, but there is so much more that needs to be done here. Final aspect of this case is that in 2023, a study on familicide and domestic and family violence death reviews was published by the Department of Justice in Ireland. The report highlighted some key areas for improvement, which included the creation of a national database of familicides and domestic homicides, a new agency for domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, better training for those likely to encounter victims of such violence, and improvements in the way crime scenes are cleaned so families don't have to deal with it. And that's actually something that Mary talked about and how much distress it caused her and Clodagh's family. Now, obviously so. This report was published less than a year ago, so it's not clear how the recommendations have been implemented, but, as always, I remain hopeful for progress and increased support for families.
Speaker 1:This episode is dedicated to Clodagh Hoare and her children, neil, liam and Ryan, to the dedicated teacher she was, and to the futures the boys had that were cruelly taken away from them. This has been Killer in the Family podcast, written and produced by me, claire Lapston, with music from the brilliant Tom Box and Pixabay. I'll be back next week with another episode, so please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Don't forget to send me any comments or questions on a voice note or DM to my Instagram profile at Killer in the Family pod or from the new link in the episode top of the episode notes, and do let me know any stories you'd like me to cover as well. Until then, I've been Claire Luxton. This is killer in the family podcast. Until next time, take care, thank you, thank you.
