Two brothers who died in a suspected family murder-suicide were buried together yesterday.
Willie, 66, and Paddy Hennessy, 60, were laid to rest following a private funeral service in Mitchelstown, Co Cork.
Their brother, 59-year-old Johnny Hennessy, is believed to have killed them in an axe attack at the family home outside Mitchelstown last Friday.
He took his own life hours later. His funeral took place on Wednesday.
Mourners attended the yesterday’s service for the brothers at Our Lady Conceived Without Sin.
Willie is survived by his sister Breda, brother-in-law Ned, nieces Elaine and Lisa, grandnephews Jack, Danny, Logan and Caleb and grandniece Halle.
Paddy is survived by his daughter Elaine and grandchildren Jack, Danny, Logan and Halle.
In an online funeral notice, it stated he is mourned by his daughter, her mother Stephanie, Paddy’s partner Kitty Russell and grandchildren.
The body of Paddy was found in the yard of the family farm while that of Willie was discovered in a nearby shed.
The alarm was raised on Thursday evening when Paddy’s daughter Elaine became anxious when he didn’t return to Linden Hill in Mitchelstown following a visit to the family farm in Curraghgorm. Elaine and her mother Stephanie went to the farm where they found the his body.
He had sustained severe head injuries in an assault.
Gardai carried out a search of the property where the brothers grew up and found the body of Willie. An axe was discovered near his body.
Officers discovered that Johnny was not at the property and his van was missing from the yard. It was subsequently found abandoned a short distance away and his body was recovered from the nearby River Funchion on Friday morning.
Gardai are not looking for anyone else in relation to the deaths. The Garda Ombudsman Commission is carrying out an investigation into communication between Johnny and officers on Thursday.
Gardai had contacted him shortly before the murders took place after concerns were raised by a family member.
Tragedy has previously touched the lives of the Hennessy family.
Nine years ago Paddy lost his 21-year-old son Paudie to suicide. Two years later the brothers’ 57-year-old sibling Jer also killed himself.
The brothers were known locally as The Saints and have been described as a quiet, hardworking family.
