First brother buried as North Cork hit with another tragedy
Mitchelstown brothers Paddy and Willie Hennessy to be buried Thursday
A SECOND murder tragedy in the space of four months left another north Cork family burying three members this week.
The tragedy which unfolded at the ‘Saint’ Hennessy’s farm in Curraghgorm near Mitchelstown on Thursday evening last week culminated in the funeral yesterday of Johnny Hennessy (59) who died by suicide in the same river a fourth brother, Jerry, took his own life in, in 2014.
Paddy (60) – a separated father – and Willie (66), are to be buried today (Thursday).
Gardaí believe that Paddy and Willie were killed by Johnny before the youngest of the three brothers took his own life by drowning in the river Funcheon, not too far from the church attended by the Hennessy family at Killacluig.
Paddy Hennessy had also lost a son through suicide in 2012.
Gardaí and locals are mystified as to the reasons for the violence which led to the deaths of the three brothers a week ago and many lines of investigation are being pursued, including possible arguments about land, livestock and a delivery round for firewood.
This is in sharp contrast to the murder suicides in Castlemagner which left two brothers, Mark and Diarmuid O’Sullivan, and their father dead. In that case Mark is believed to have been killed by his father, Tadhg, and brother, Diarmuid, because he had been left the farm by his mother.
A FAMILY tragedy unfolded in the remote north Cork townland of Curraghgorm, near Mitchelstown, last Thursday evening and as it was broadcast on the airwaves throughout Friday, and since, it shocked a disbelieving local community and reverberated throughout the country.
The first inkling that anything was amiss in the Hennessy homestead came when the family of Paddy Hennessy, a 60 year old and well respected colleague in JD Tyres in Mitchelstown, became concerned that he hadn’t returned home.
His daughter, Elaine, and ex-wife, Stephanie, went to the Hennessy farm at Curraghgorm, a holding of approximately 15 acres, where they found Paddy’s body in the timber yard not far from the house. They called the Gardaí who arrived at the house in the early hours of Friday morning.
Their search found the body of Willie Hennessy, 66, in the shed. The extent of the injuries to both men confirmed that they had been violently attacked.
Locals in the vicinity of the Curraghgorm farm woke up on Friday morning to find that Garda armed support units had cordoned off the farm.
In early morning news bulletins on Friday, details of the tragedy began to emerge and an alert was issued seeking the whereabouts of a red Toyota Corolla van, owned by a third brother, Johnny Hennessy. Members of the public were warned not to approach the vehicle if they came across it.
In mid morning the van was found near St Joseph’s Church in Killacluig, a church which the Hennessy family had attended for generations. Shortly afterwards, at around noon, the body of a man was spotted in the Funcheon river which flowed nearby.
This was later confirmed to be Johnny Hennessy, 59, the youngest of the three brothers.
His body was found in the same river as the body of a fourth brother, Jerry, who took his own life in 2014.
At 4pm, Gardaí briefed the press at Mitchelstown Garda Station. The media were told that no firearm had been used in the attacks which claimed the lives of Paddy and Willie Hennessy. Reporters were also told that no-one else was being sought in connection with the investigation.
By now, State Pathologist Dr Margot Bolster and Garda forensic specialists were examining the bodies of Paddy and Willie at the farm. They would be removed shortly afterwards for post mortem examination in Cork University Hospital.
In the coming days it would come to light that, following a call from another relative, Gardaí from Mitchelstown had phoned Johnny Hennessy at around 6pm on Thursday. On the basis of that call, when they were assured all was well at the farm and there was no cause for concern, they did not call to the house. Because of this interaction, the matter has been referred to the Garda Ombudsman Office which is conducting its own investigation.
Media reports since Friday have suggested that, by 6pm on Thursday, both Paddy and Willie Hennessy had both been attacked by their brother.
Sometime that night, Johnny Hennessy travelled in his van to Killacluig. He wasn’t on the premises at Curraghgorm when Paddy Hennessy’s daughter and ex wife came looking for him.
Gardaí have been following a number of different lines of enquiry to uncover the motive for what happened on Thursday night at the Curraghgorm farm.
These include whether or not there were medical factors involved, whether it was a dispute over land or livestock. Phone records were accessed and neighbours have been asked by investigating Gardaí if they had any reason to believe the family, known as ‘ the Saints’, had been arguing over anything.
The brothers had kept very much to themselves. It is believed Johnny and Willie had been living on the farm while Paddy had lived in Mitchelstown at the home of his daughter in Linden Hill.
They were well known in the region as they sold firewood from house to house and also they sold bales to local farmers.
They played hurling with Ballygiblin GAA club and won a North Cork championship in 1979. They weren’t known to be great socialisers and there has been no suggestion that alcohol or any medication was a factor in what happened.
Investigations have also focused on the issue of land ownership. The parents of the Hennessys, Tom and Eily, were both dead. Tom had died in the 1960s when the brothers were in their teens while Eily, to whom the farm had been left, passed away in the 1980s.
It seems that all who knew the brothers are at a complete loss as to what led to the tragedy but speculation and rumours will persist for sometime to come.