Family appeals for privacy to grieve

The family of Ms Christine O'Sullivan, whose daughter, Deirdre (6), was shot dead by her former partner, Mr Chris Crowley (43…

The family of Ms Christine O'Sullivan, whose daughter, Deirdre (6), was shot dead by her former partner, Mr Chris Crowley (43), in Clonmel on Thursday, have appealed for privacy to allow them to grieve.

Yesterday Ms O'Sullivan's sister, Mary, thanked gardai and the media for their help in keeping up the search for Deirdre since her abduction on December 4th, 1999.

Mr Crowley, a maths and French teacher at the Loreto Convent in Fermoy, Co Cork, was regarded as an affable colleague by the staff and a good teacher by students who knew very little else about him.

The acting principal, Ms Veronica Whyte, said yesterday that Mr Crowley did not live in Fermoy and was known to colleagues only as a fellow member of staff. She said he showed no signs that he was disturbed in the weeks leading up to the abduction, nor was his behaviour abnormal. "We know no more than is in the public domain. Chris was popular with the staff and with the students in the normal way."

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A former pupil at the school said she knew Mr Crowley as a caring and efficient teacher who supported all school activities. She said he was a good teacher and it seemed out of character for him to take his daughter into hiding.

It appears Mr Crowley planned Deirdre's abduction with the same meticulous care he put into classroom preparations. Before taking her he contacted colleagues at the school to say he was ill and would be taking sick leave.

On the Friday before Deirdre's abduction, he emptied his school locker, removed money from his bank account and placed his house in Glounthaune, Cork, on the market. In Glounthaune, Mr Crowley was known as a friendly person who was normally in good humour.

It is understood he met Ms O'Sullivan, who works as a computer technician at the Cork Institute of Technology, in 1994 and they began dating. They spent some time in India before settling in Glounthaune.

Their daughter, Deirdre, was born in August 1995. During one of her many radio interviews appealing for Deirdre's safe return, Ms O'Sullivan said her partner seemed to become "entranced" with the child and transferred all his attention to her.

"She was all that mattered," she said at the time.

Mr Crowley is survived by his mother, Josephine, and his brother, Derry. His sister-in-law, Ms Angela Crowley, said yesterday: "The family is devastated. We never thought it would end like this."