.png)
Killer in the family podcast
A true crime podcast exploring men who kill their families.
Killer in the family podcast
Episode 60 - The Byrne Family
VOTE for Killer in the family in this year’s True Crime Awards Listener’s Choice category – it only takes 2 minutes – thank you! True Crime Awards 2025 - Listeners' Choice
On 25 September 2000, Maeve Byrne was stabbed and killed by her husband, Stephen Byrne, in the village of Cuffesgrange, near Kilkenny in Ireland. Horrifyingly after killing his wife Stephen then took his two children – 10 year old Alan and 6 year old Shane and drove them off a pier in County Wexford, on the south coast of Ireland. They were both killed, and their bodies found two days later, with Stephen’s dead body found day after that. Deemed a crime of passion, Stephen’s horrifying murders will be remembered by all.
This is the story of the Byrne Family.
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 Home - Women's Aid
· National Domestic Abuse Helpline UK 0808 2000 247
· Mental health support USA Mental Health America | Homepage | Mental Health America
· Domestic abuse helpline USA 1.800.799.SAFE Domestic Violence Support | National Domestic Violence Hotline
References
The crime of passion that destroyed an entire family | Irish Independent
Body is identified as the father of drowned boys – The Irish Times
Boys' last desperate battle to escape `suicide' plunge car | Irish Independent
Inquest into deaths of mother and sons opens – The Irish Times
Stabbing and drowning tragedy wiped out family | Irish Independent
Wexford’s litany of sadness tells depressing tale
Killer in the family podcast is a total labour of love. If you'd like to support me please buy me a coffee or tea!
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/clarelaxton
Hi there and welcome to Killer in the Family podcast. I'm your host, claire Laxton. Welcome to episode 60 of Killer in the Family. I can't believe we're at 60 episodes already, and thank you again to everyone for your continued support, subscribes and downloads. I love seeing all your feedback too, so keep it coming. Also, if you're listening to this on the day that it drops on Friday, tomorrow is International Women's Day, march the 8th. So I'm on Friday. Tomorrow is International Women's Day, march the 8th. So I'm wishing everyone a very happy International Women's Day and here's to continuing to raise awareness of familial side domestic abuse and coercive control together.
Speaker 1:Now let's get straight into this episode. On the 25th of September in the year 2000, maeve Byrne was stabbed and killed by her husband Byrne in the village of Cuffgrange near Kilkenny in Ireland. Horrifyingly, after killing his wife, stephen then took his two children, 10-year-old Alan and 6-year-old Shane, and drove them off a pier in County Wexford on the south coast of Ireland. In County Wexford, on the south coast of Ireland. They were both killed and their bodies were found two days later, with Stephen's dead body found two weeks after that. Deemed a crime of passion. Stephen's horrifying murders will be remembered by all. This is the story of the Byrne family. This is going to be a really tough listen team. What this man did to his wife and children has really stayed with me for a long time, as has the media reporting of the case.
Speaker 1:Now, for this episode, I've used the same book that I used for episode 52 on the Fox family, and that book's called Flesh and Blood, familiar Sides and Murder Suicides that Haunt Ireland. It's by Sunday World Investigations editor, nicola Talent, and for other sources I've used a lot of news articles, particularly from the Irish Independent, and I just wanted to flag that for the first time ever, I could not find any photos of Maeve, alan or Shane, which is really sad, as I would have really liked to remember them with their photos. But, as usual, all the sources I've used are in the episode notes, as are links to information and support if you need it. So let's start talking about Maeve. She was born in June in the mid-1960s and was 35 years old when she was killed by her husband. Maeve was actually adopted by Mae and Billy Quinlan and grew up with a sister called Anne, who was also adopted. Now I couldn't find anything about Maeve's birth parents or where she was actually born, but it seemed that she had a relatively happy childhood in Ireland. Maeve also had a stepfather, malachai Skelly, and her father, billy, died before she did. But I don't know whether her mother married after her father died, but it seemed that her stepfather loved her as much as the rest of the family.
Speaker 1:At Maeve's funeral, father Delany, who led the service, said that Maeve once told her sister, anne, that they were quote sisters by chance and friends by choice. They obviously had a really lovely and close friendship that lasted their lifetimes. And again at Maeve's funeral, father Delany described Maeve as quote, a young woman full of life who was generous to her fault and spontaneous in her friendships and in everything she did. Now Maeve just sounded like a really loving and friendly woman who was so close to her friends and family. Now I couldn't find out how they met, but I do know that Maeve married a man called Stephen Byrne on her birthday in June 1988. Now the Irish Independent described Stephen Byrne as quote a family man, happiest discussing motorbikes or the odd time he called to Murphy's Bar hurling. Stephen was also a very keen fisherman as well. Now Maeve and Byrne welcomed two sons into their family, alan, who was just 10 years old when he was killed by his father, and Shane, who was just six years old when he was killed by his father.
Speaker 1:The family lived together in Kilkenny in Ireland and, as we speak so much about, on this pod, although they seemed like a normal happy family, all was not well. Although they seem like a normal happy family, all was not well. Byrne was a lorry driver and was abroad for a lot of the time, so Maeve was sort of left alone looking after their two boys quite often. And according to the Flesh and Blood book by Nicola Talent, maeve had had a couple of affairs throughout her marriage to Byrne. And around 1998 the family decided to move from the city of Kilkenny to the smaller village just four miles south called Cuffsgrange. Now Cuffsgrange has been described by the Irish Independent as quote isn't really a village, even in the loose sense of term. It's a Murphy's pub and a parish pump, overlooked by the small county church. Now cut off from trucks trundling from Kilkenny towards Clonmel, it is dotted with houses from the pages of Bungalow Bliss.
Speaker 1:So the family clearly decided to move away from the city, maybe where Maeve was meeting lots of new people, to a very small village, Maybe where she would meet less new people. Now I couldn't find loads of information at all on why Maeve had had extramarital affairs or why the family moved, but I'm speculating that it was clearly an unhappy marriage and I'm wondering whether it was controlling one as well. We've seen before how controlling partners will move their wives and family away from their support network, their friends, their community and their own family in an effort to continue to sort of isolate and control them. This is pure speculation and you know I don't know, but I would be really interested to hear if anyone knows who prompted the move here, if anyone knows who prompted the move. Now, although Byrne might have wanted to move the family to get Maeve away from her friends and being able to meet and maybe start a relationship with new people in the city of Kilkenny, when they moved to the small village of Cuffsgrange Maeve did meet someone new and apparently started an extramarital affair again, apparently by September in the year 2000,. So they'd been in the Cuffsgrange village for a couple of years. Byrne had actually started to suspect that his wife was having another affair and they were actually talking about maybe splitting up and getting divorced and the toll of their marriage troubles were clearly having an impact on both Byrne and Maeve, as it turned out. At this point both of them were being treated for depression and that at least Maeve was taking medication for depression Now, although there were clearly troubles in their marriage. Before Byrne killed his whole family, it is reported that he not only won 600 euros on the lotto that led to a trip to Old Trafford with his boys, but that the night before he killed everyone, the family had booked a holiday.
Speaker 1:On Monday, the 25th of September in 2000, it was a relatively normal day for the Byrne family. Maeve took the kids to school at De La Salle Primary School in Kilkenny and Byrne went to his job at a water treatment plant that night, and Byrne went to his job at a water treatment plant that night. Byrne spoke to his brother, paul, on the phone around 8.30 and at 10 o'clock they spent some time on the internet booking a family holiday. But this was going to be anything but a normal day and was actually the last day that anyone saw Maeve, alan Shane and Stephen Byrne alive. What really happened that night only one man would ever truly know, and he is now dead.
Speaker 1:On Wednesday, the 27th of September in the year 2000, paul Byrne was getting worried. He'd called his brother Stephen quite a few times since they last chatted on Monday the 25th, but no one had ever picked up, which was really unusual for the family. He decided to call Garda, the Irish police, and ask for a welfare check on his brother and his family. What members of Garda found in their house that day I am sure have stayed with them for the rest of their lives, according to the flesh and blood book.
Speaker 1:Officers entered the Burns house and they found Maeve Burns dead. She was behind the family sofa in the kitchen and was covered in blood. She'd been stabbed many times and it was clear that she put up a fight for her life as she tried to defend herself as much as she could. When she was found, maeve was covered with a blue towel and a pillowcase, and bloodstains indicated that she had been dragged behind the sofa, so she hadn't actually been killed there. Now officers also found, as they searched the house, that there was no sign of Maeve's husband and that their two boys were missing as well. Indeed, so was the family car, a white Ford Escort. Officers also saw no sign of a break-in, and when the Garda started investigating further, they found out about the trouble in the marriage and the possibility of Byrne and Maeve divorcing.
Speaker 1:Byrne quickly became the prime suspect for the murder and finding him and the boys became their most urgent task. Now I've taken what happened over the next few days and weeks from the Flesh and Blood book by Nicola Talent as Garda started their search for Byrne, alan and Shane. Their technical bureau went to the Byrne's house to start their forensic investigation. They estimated that Maeve had died somewhere between Monday lunchtime and Wednesday and we find out later on that it was late on the Monday evening that Maeve was killed by her husband. Now the next day, thursday, superintendent Kevin Donoghue issued a statement and said, quote we are concerned for the safety of Mrs Byrne's husband and her two young sons. Their whereabouts are still unknown.
Speaker 1:The Garda search for Byrne and the boys covered ports, airports and even alerting Interpol Officers, went to Waterford where Byrne liked to fish. They released photos and made appeals on the news. A local priest we've talked about him before, father Delaney went on the Pat Kenny show Now I'm sure my listeners in Ireland will be familiar with this show and he made an appeal to find Burn and the Boys. And he actually appealed directly to Stephen and said quote this is a devastating kind of blow for a small community like ours. These are not the type of headlines the little village like Cuffs Grange likes to see. It is a very disturbing kind of event. I'm very conscious that Stephen has parents, has a father himself. He is a son too, and I'm just hoping that they are all safe. Sadly, father Delaney's hopes were not to be met. This bit is going to be a really tough listen team.
Speaker 1:The next day, two small bodies were washed up on two beaches in county wexford, which is in the southeast of ireland. Six-year-old shane was found first. His body was on a beach in duncanon and it was found by a woman who was out for an early morning walk. Now, duncannon is about quite a few miles south of Cuffs Grange and is in the county of Wexford. Now, a couple of hours later, alan's body was found by a local farmer near a place called Boyce's Bay, which is near Duncannon as well. In a particularly cruel turn of events, it was at Maeve's burial service on the same day, and it was during the service that her family heard that the two boys had been formally identified and that they too were dead, killed by their father. Now, later on that day, a fisherman that was near Duncanham Pier spotted a white car in the sea as the tide went out and it turned out that this was the Burns family Ford Escort, and divers started to pull it out of the sea. The car's rear window was missing and both the car's side window and windscreen were shattered. But the car was searched and they found not the body of Byrne but hurlies, helmets, teddies, kids trainers and all the other remnants of family life that you would find in a family car. A few days later, byrne's tracksuit bottoms were found near Boyce Bay, though there was no sign of Byrne himself.
Speaker 1:Two weeks later, in early October, stephen Byrne's body was found off the coast of Wales and was apparently trapped in some trawler nets. He was taken to the port of Porthgain in Wales and formally identified as Maeve's friends and family and the Garda worked together to piece what had happened that night. What they discovered was probably more horrifying than anyone could have imagined. It is thought, as we said, that Byrne killed Maeve late on the evening of Monday the 25th of September. Maeve late on the evening of Monday the 25th of September. She had been stabbed four times and then he clearly moved her body to behind the sofa in the kitchen, maybe to make sure that she was hidden from sight. It's then thought that he woke up his two boys and gave them alcohol. Both their post-mortem shows showed high levels of alcohol in their bloodstream. He then presumably bundled them into their family's car and drove the 50 miles south to Duncannon Pier. As a fisherman, byrne knew the pier and the harbour well, he found and chose the deepest part of the sea. He probably checked that the boys were passed out from the alcohol that he'd given them. He put his car in gear, he put his foot on the accelerator and then drove. Maeve, alan and Shane shocked and horrified their family and friends, local community and everyone who was involved in the case.
Speaker 1:The inquest into their deaths was held in March 2001 and confirmed that Maeve had been killed by burn by being stabbed three times in the chest and once in the arm. By being stabbed three times in the chest and once in the arm, assistant State Pathologist Marie Cassidy confirmed that both Alan and Shane had a high alcohol level in their blood before they died by drowning, and the Irish Independent reported that there was a chance that the boys had actually escaped from the car and then drowned by being dragged out by strong currents and died in the sea even after they'd managed to escape that car. My heart just breaks thinking about it. Byrne's brother, paul, gave evidence to the inquest and said quote myself, my father Mick, my sister Josephine, went up to the house of Sergeant Quinlan. Sergeant Quinlan removed the bathroom window as the house was locked up. We were inside for about 15 to 20 minutes when I noticed a blue towel behind the couch in the kitchen. It was my sister-in-law, maeve Byrne, alan and Shane's teachers from Dillasale School also gave evidence. Shane's teacher, catherine Ryan, said quote I wasn't aware of any problems he had at home. He was in good spirits on the morning of Monday September 25th and he went home as usual, but I do not know who collected him.
Speaker 1:The coroner, rory Hogan, closed the inquest by paying tribute to Maeve's family, saying, quote In respect of these tragedies, everybody is greatly saddened, which really is an understatement. The losses and gaps these deaths have left in both families is a great tragedy. On behalf of this court in the Garda, I would like to extend my sympathies. And the last part to discuss in this episode is something that we talk about a lot on the pod the media response to Byrne killing his wife and two sons in an unimaginably horrible way, and the media response was to excuse his behaviour, to blame Maeve for having affairs and to say that it was a crime of passion. Indeed, one of the sources I've used for this episode is an article in the Irish Independent and the actual headline is quote the crime of passion that destroyed an entire family. It wasn't a crime of passion. It was a man who destroyed his entire family and, as we've discussed before, describing it as something like a crime of passion or someone seeing red mist completely misses the fact that the murders were planned and callously carried out. Many media sources have also described Byrne as a good father, doting on his sons and generally being a great dad. Well, he wasn't a great dad. He wasn't a great dad, was he? Because he drugged and killed his children by driving them off a cliff? Excusing Byrne's actions by either saying that he just flipped or blaming Maeve for her affairs, or by saying that he was a good dad, takes the accountability away from him and also the need for us to ask why he did it and examine his behaviour before the murders. I know that the murders and the subsequent media response was 25 years ago, but it still really angers me and it makes me so mad that he has been sort of whitewashed from accountability for this horrific crime of whitewashed from accountability for this horrific crime. The murders of Maeve, alan and Shane were carried out in cowardice by the man who should have loved and protected them the most. There are no excuses and no blaming the victims. This episode is dedicated to Maeve, alan and Shane, to all their lives cut too short by the person who should have loved and protected them the most, to the joy they brought to their family, friends and community. We remember them.
Speaker 1:This has been Killer in the Family podcast written and produced by me, claire Laxton. I'll be back next week with a new episode. Don't forget to send me any comments or questions to my Insta at Killer in the family pod or through a text via a link in the episode notes. Do let me know any stories you'd like me to cover as well. Also, don't forget that you can buy me a coffee if you like the podcast and help support with running. The link is in the episode notes and thank you so much to everyone for your support so far. Until then, I've been clairexton, this is Killer in the Family. No-transcript.
