Grieving dad Andrew McGinley says he became upset when he saw his kid’s classmates looking more grown up at the opening of a memorial garden.
Speaking to our sister title The Star, Mr McGinley, whose children Conor, Daragh and Carla were killed by their mother, said he became emotional when he saw their classmates looking more mature than before, and it reminded him of how his children should be here today.
“I became emotional seeing their classmates because I still remember Conor Daragh and Carla as nine, seven and three," he said.
“So you see the spurt of growth in some of their classmates and they looked older and more mature. It was hard for me and I got emotional thinking that Conor would now be 11, Daragh nine and Carla five.
“So Carla would have been starting there in September you know so I think that’s what kind of got me the most."
Tragic children Conor, nine, Daragh, seven, and Carla, three, were killed by their mother Deirde Morley at their home in Newcastle, west Dublin in January of last year.
Last month Ms Morley was found not guilty of the children’s murders, by reason of insanity - and she was committed to the Central Mental Hospital.
And in beautiful images posted to social media yesterday, Andrew showed off the stunning garden, which is full of cartoons, comic book characters and flowers.
A video also showed the moment the heartbroken Dad cut the ribbon as the garden of remembrance - named ‘Tir Na nOg’ was opened at his children's school - Scoil Chronain in Rathcoole yesterday.
Speaking to this paper afterwards, Andrew explained how a friend Gary Ryan arranged for the garden, which is also in memory of his daughter Grace.
Drawings of butterflies contain the first letters of his children’s names, in what Andrew says is a lovely “subtle” tribute to them.
“So pretty much like Carla, she would have attended at some stage in the future. He just thought it would be in memory of Conor and Daragh and for Carla and Grace as well.
“So yeah it's a lovely space now. It’s a lovely tribute,” he said.
Andrew also revealed he is now deep into making his first children’s book - which he hopes to have out next year.
He also hopes to return some day to the memorial garden and read his books to his kids classmates.
“I would hope some day when I write the kids books that I would go in and do a reading to their classmates in there.
“So that would be my hope next year when I publish my first children’s book, that I would be able to go into the garden and read to some of their schoolmates,” he said.
Listen to our interview with Andrew McGinley as part of the Shattered Lives podcast series:
Andrew says he hopes to create comic book character versions of Conor, Daragh and Carla in his first new book, which is all about helping someone overcome their bad habits.
“There’s a few different characters I am going to work with. One particular character had very bad habits and their friend Daragh teaches him the error of his bad habits.
“Daragh gets everything he knows from his big brother Conor and his little sister Carla is kind of the guinea pig who shows this guy the errors of his bad habits,” he said.
