‘To see your own child dead must be unimaginable’

It will take time for the family who lost their three sons in an apparent murder-suicide tragedy to come to terms with their loss but their deep faith will stand to them, a local priest who has met the family has said.

Charleville curate, Fr Tom Naughton met with the grieving parents Tom and Helen O'Driscoll near their home last night as they were comforted by relatives following the deaths of their twin sons, Tom and Paddy (9) and their older son, Jonathan who was in his early 20s.

“This is the most unnatural thing in the world to see a child dead. To see your own child dead must be unimaginable – it’s hard to think that just 24 hours earlier these lads were jumping out of their skin, full or life, full of beans like all nine-year-old lads would,” he told The Irish Times.

“And then for this to happen, it’s incomprehensible – it’s something you just can’t get your head around - people just look at you with a blank stare and what can you say – at the end of the day, all you can do is be there for the family.

“All you can do is try and accompany them, not just through these dark days but further down the road when the enormity of the tragedy starts to sink in - takes time to assimilate – people are devastated and heartbroken and my role is to bring comfort and consolation,” said Fr Naughton.

He said the family were people of deep faith and said that will stand to them in the hours and days and weeks ahead

“It’s time more than anything else that brings about some sort of healing- this family is a family of deep faith and that is going to help to assimilate and try to move on from this difficult tragedy.”

Fr Naughton said that the support of the local community in Charleville would also be hugely important and he already been contacted by many locals, shocked at the tragedy, who asked him to convey their support and sympathy to the O’Driscoll family.

“Even for our community here in Charleville which is a very caring close knit community, you can sense the shock right through - people are numb here but many have rung me and spoken to me and asked me to convey the support of the community and their prayers to the family,” he said.

Fr Naughton expressed confidence that the HSE would put counselling supports in place for the younger siblings of the dead boys who made the grim discovery when they returned home after playing nearby with friends.

I know the children will have the possibility of counselling at school and that’s very important – the most important thing with children and indeed everybody is to have a family who love them and will explain to them that unfortunately in life – we don’t know the depth of the human mind.”

“These kids grasp things a lot faster than we give them credit for – it’s so very, very difficult,” said Fr Naughton, who admitted that even he, in his role as priest and pastor, was finding the tragedy almost too shocking for words.