Today’s heartbreaking burial for three little brothers slain in a horrifying knife attack in Ireland has drawn hundreds of inconsolable mourners.
Following a funeral ceremony at St. Aidan’s Church in Brookfield this morning, Lisa Cash, 18, and Christy and Chelsea Cawley, twins who are eight years old, were buried at Bohernabreena Cemetery.
Their mother, Margaret “Twink” Cash McDonagh, 40, held onto a framed photo while sporting a bespoke t-shirt with a picture of her three children and the words “our three angels” printed on top.
Andy Cash, the father of Lisa, and Billy Cawley, the father of Christy and Chelsea, have both passed away. The children have received devastating condolences inscribed with the phrase “Back with our papa.”
The primary celebrant of today’s service, Father Paul O’Driscoll, a chaplain for the Dublin Traveling community, paid homage to the trio’s 14-year-old brother who leaped out of a window to sound the alarm during Sunday morning’s attack.
‘Your fortitude and strength to raise the alarm, to go and find assistance is an inspiration of courage and love,’ he reportedly remarked, according to the Irish Independent.
Silent throngs spilled outside the little church as the altar was filled with memorials for the three children as it was inadequate to accommodate all the mourners.
For Lisa, who was a major lover of Elvis Presley’s music, LPs, biographies, and a book for new drivers were mentioned.
A football and goalie gloves were placed for Christy, while a handmade pillow and teddy bear were brought to the altar for Chelsea.
Similar numbers of mourners came the day before to observe as a horse-drawn carriage carried the children’s corpses to the church.
As the remains were being transported to St. Aidan’s in Tallaght as a guy played the bagpipes in preparation for today’s burial, Margaret was comforted by friends and family as she sobbed.
According to The Irish Mirror, Lisa’s coffin was carried to the church entrance first at the cemetery before being joined by Chelsea and Christy’s.
Before a brief liturgy, Father Paul O’Driscoll blessed their bodies and said, “We have been robbed of three young lives.”
In the early hours of Sunday morning at their nearby home in Rossfield Avenue, Tallaght, their older brother Andy Cash, 24, is accused of murdering his three younger siblings.
The mother of the children, according to Fr. O’Driscoll, “cherished” them, and he said, “Lisa, Chelsea, and Christy will be eternally loved and very dearly lost by their sorrowful family.” Three young lives have been stolen from us.
Their genetic family, their religious family, has been robbed of not just their lives but also of all of their innocence and our perception of what is normal.
How could this happen? People are stopping each other in the streets and in the stores.
On Monday at about 9.20 p.m., Cash showed up before a special session of Dublin District Court where he was accused with three counts of murder.
When asked to stand by Judge McNamara so she could officially identify him at the special sitting, Cash of Tallaght, south Dublin, did so.
Nash was kept in detention by McNamara.
He will make a video link appearance in Cloverhill District Court on Friday at 10 a.m.
The Irish Sun said that Cash reportedly stabbed Lisa as she attempted to protect the twins, but their 14-year-old brother was able to escape via a window and seek for assistance.
At the bottom of the steps, Lisa’s corpse was discovered with what seemed to be knife wounds.
It’s thought that elder sister Lisa was watching the children when they died.
In an effort to explain the deaths of three young people to classmates, friends, and minds too young to understand what occurred in that house, three local schools came together yesterday in sadness.
Schoolchildren and friends sobbed as their parents sought to find the right words to soothe them. Balloons were launched into the air in their honour.
Their mother was discharged from the hospital on Sunday and is being supported by her relatives. The victims’ 14-year-old brother was rushed to the hospital with critical but not life-threatening injuries.
The country has been left “shocked and deeply grieved” by the “awful tragedy,” according to Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who also sent his “deepest sympathy” to the family. Garda Commissioner Drew Harris called the deaths “dreadful and painful.”
“What we’re all seeing in the press and hearing on television and on radio programmes is simply beyond a brutally awful and devastating situation,” Minister of Higher Education Simon Harris said.
“Three young, lovely lives to be put off of their misery overnight… We focus on one neighbourhood in particular, but I believe the whole nation has been rocked by it.
“Our emotions, thoughts, and prayers are with the family, their unfortunate mother, the 14-year-old boy, all of their neighbours, all of their friends, and the students returning to school today, where two empty desks will be there where the lovely twins had only just resumed attendance.
I believe that the whole country is thinking about them all.
The early hours of Sunday were filled with sights and sounds that neighbours claimed they would never forget.
One neighbour, who wished to remain anonymous, said he was watching TV when he became aware of events outside.
“When I got outside, I saw Garda with their rifles drawn.” We were unable to comprehend what was taking place. Seeing it all unfold was quite upsetting.
They had been a great, gorgeous family. Our granddaughter sometimes engaged in street play with children.
We were all awake that night. The public won’t get over this. The neighbourhood has been severely physically and emotionally shaken. The guards performed well that evening. They ought to get awards. And the paramedics battled valiantly to rescue them. Beautiful young Lisa did all in her power to rescue those children.
In the lengthy series of floral tributes outside the home are images of the three, including Christy and Chelsea receiving their first Holy Communion.
An other neighbour previously revealed to the Irish Daily Mail that her daughter had just recently played with Christy and Chelsea.
It was the first time I allowed her out to play just down the road from their home, around the corner.
We played hide and seek down there, her small daughter continued. We enjoyed ourselves. That they are not here at this time is unfathomable.
A second neighbour, who also wished to remain unnamed, informed the Mail that their brother—who was at home—had gone to fetch assistance. Their hero, he is. There are no adequate words to convey what we saw and what took place.
“The whole neighbourhood will need counselling right now.”
There are no words to adequately convey what we witnessed and what transpired, a different neighbour, who also wished to remain unnamed, told the Irish Daily Mail. Everyone in the community needs counselling right now.
Lisa was described as “a quiet, lovely young lady, extremely conscientious, hard-working, got on with her work, and was a tremendous help to her friends in times of distress,” by Kevin Shortall, the principal of St. Aidan’s School.
She is regarded as one of the most sincere and genuine young people, full of morality and with no fuss or drama in her immediate surroundings.
“I think she was babysitting at the time, and she was just so amazing at it,” the author says.
She was a somebody you could rely on. Lisa was that kind of a person.
We’re simply getting to know one another, shaking our heads, hugging, and doing other things like that. It’s an extremely challenging morning.
Mr. Shortall said that he had discussed how to react to the “extraordinary” tragedy with the principal of the elementary school that Christy and Chelsea had attended.
The Brookfield Community Centre opened on Sunday to enable residents to get together and cope with the devastating news.
Teresa Costello, a councilwoman for Fianna Fáil, stated, “It doesn’t seem like real life.”
We have lost three young, lively, beautiful people outside of our community, in the most horrific manner, and the path ahead will be very challenging.
People are apathetic. It’s there, it’s so fresh for people, and it’s something you never think would be at your doorstep, but I don’t believe it’s soaking in.
The extent of what is becoming clear in terms of the details is shocking, especially considering that it included children. The local community is fully aware of what occurred since they saw it.
They saw it from their homes, gardens, and vantage points along the route.
It’s crucial to keep Lisa, Chelsea, and Christy’s names in mind. They now hold the top three positions.