Daily Mass-goer was a very unlikely victim

Mrs Joan Casey was, by any standards, an unlikely murder victim. The 64-year-old mother of five, who is also a grandmother, was a quiet-spoken devout Catholic who lived for her family and her church.

A daily Mass-goer and a minister of the eucharistic in the local St Dominic's Church, she had no enemies. She had lived with her husband, Dominic, and children in Avonbeg Park, Tallaght, for about 30 years.

She was popular with her neighbours, liked and admired by all, unobtrusive and unfailingly pleasant when collecting money for the church.

She was due to go on pilgrimage with a local group to Medjugorje in three weeks.

On Friday evening, she walked from house to house in the rain collecting church envelopes. She also attended the rosary in the local church.

It was to be her last contact with her neighbours.

She had known personal tragedy, losing one of her sons, David, in a road accident several years ago. She was due to attend his anniversary Mass in St Dominic's Church yesterday. Instead, her neighbours and friends were praying for her.

Friends spoke of how the tragic loss of her son had deeply saddened her, and how she often remarked that her devotion to her Catholic faith had helped her through dark days. "She had an incredible belief in the power of prayer," said one.

The parish priest at St Dominic's Church, Father Larry Collins, spoke yesterday of the grief which had descended on the community and the shock of her murder.

"Everybody is in shock. She was a gentle, inoffensive and retiring lady who was mowed down in her own house. You hear of violence elsewhere, and then it comes to your own parish. It is horrific to think it could happen to such a gentle and kind person."

Avonbeg Park is a neat row of houses with a mixture of young families and the elderly. On Saturday, residents had to come to terms with the terrible reality that murder had stalked their normally quiet estate.

The area near Mrs Casey's house was cordoned off, awaiting the State pathologist, Dr Marie Cassidy.

There was a strong Garda presence. Two gardaí conducted door-to-door inquiries. Later, the body was removed to Tallaght Hospital, where a post-mortem was carried out.

Neighbours, some of them close to tears, were reluctant to talk to journalists other than to praise Mrs Casey. One man, clearly numb from the shock of the brutal killing of his neighbour, shook his head in disbelief.

"She lived for her religion and her work in the local church," said a neighbour. "She was a living saint. You would see her walking to and from Mass. She was friendly but quiet."

Yesterday morning, the focus shifted from Avonbeg Park to St Dominic's Church and the prayers offered for Mrs Casey at all Masses.

Her fellow eucharistic ministers spoke of her gentle and kind nature. An elderly woman, who had known Mrs Casey for decades, remarked: "What has the country come to that such a good and saintly person can be murdered in her home like this?"

Father Collins, awaiting details of the funeral arrangements of his loyal parishioner, remarked: "This should not happen to anybody, but that it happened to a gentle, loving and caring person like Joan Casey is shocking."