Three siblings killed in violent incident in Dublin named

A man arrested following the deaths remains in custody, police said.
Eight-year-old twins Christy and Chelsea Cawley, who along with their sister, Lisa Cash, 18, died in a violent incident at a house in Tallaght
PA
Cate McCurry4 September 2022

Three siblings who died in a violent incident in Dublin have been named as Lisa Cash, 18, and eight-year-old twins Christy and Chelsea Cawley.

A man arrested following the deaths remains in custody, police in Ireland said.

Officers were called to a property in the Rossfield estate in Tallaght at about 12.30am on Sunday.

Lisa, Christy and Chelsea were taken by ambulance to Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) in Crumlin, but all three were later pronounced dead.

Their mother, a woman in her 40s, has been released from hospital and is currently being supported by her family.

The victims’ 14-year-old brother remains in Tallaght University Hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries.

The scene remains sealed off for a forensic examination by the Garda Technical Bureau.

Lisa Cash, 18, and her two younger siblings, eight-year-old twins Christy and Chelsea Cawley
PA

Post mortems will take place on Sunday and Monday by state pathologist Dr Sally Anne Collis.

A man, aged in his early 20s and arrested at the scene, continues to be questioned at Tallaght Garda Station.

The Garda Armed Support Unit used ‘less-than-lethal’ devices to arrest the man.

Gardai said everyone involved is believed to have been known to each other and officers are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.

Gardai in Tallaght have established an incident room and the circumstances are being investigated under the direction of a senior investigating officer.

Forensic officers at the scene in the Rossfield estate (Niall Carson/PA)
PA Wire

Officers described it as a violent, challenging and traumatic incident which was responded to by uniform unarmed Garda first responders from Tallaght District, supported by uniform members and armed detectives and specialist armed support unit members.

An Garda Siochna also said it has put in place welfare support for all officers who attended the incident.

Fianna Fail councillor Charlie O’Connor, who was at the scene on Sunday morning, said there is widespread shock in the community.

“I don’t know how to describe it. I was getting calls from early morning with people bringing it to my attention,” Mr O’Connor said.

People are only now beginning to come out of their houses. I was at the Catholic Church a while ago and a lot people hadn’t heard, but the news was getting through.

“There is deep shock, people are really, really upset, any event like this would cause shock but the fact that it involves children, it’s a really shocking event for this community, and indeed for the wider Tallaght community and elsewhere. This will affect many, many people.

“I was talking to the gardai and they told me that their colleagues who were on last night were all deeply shocked.

“It is terrible. We have to think of the family, think of their neighbours, think of the wider community.

Flowers have been left at the scene in the Rossfield Estate in Tallaght, Dublin, after the deaths of 18-year-old woman and her brother and sister (Niall Carson/PA)
PA Wire

“Attempts are being made to support the local community and the local Brookfield Youth and Community Centre has just confirmed to me that they’re opening up now for the rest of the day.

“People are welcome to come and grieve and have a cup of tea and talk about their grief.

“I really find it shocking to think three children of that age are no longer with us and won’t be going to school in the morning.”

A large garda presence remains in the area while a full forensic examination of the scene is under way.

The upstairs windows of the property were open and smashed while blood stains could be seen on the window frames.

A smashed downstairs window also remained open while forensic officers examined the front garden.

A black car outside the property was also a focal point of the investigation.

Forensic officers removed a number of items from the scene, including a shoe, small bag and black coat which were placed in forensic bags.

Flowers have also been left at the scene. One floral tribute said: “Fly high little angels. Our hearts are broken for you all.”

The streets surrounding the property remained busy with children playing nearby.

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said: “The killing of three young family members is a tragedy, so awful and heart-breaking. It is difficult to comprehend.

“My thoughts are with the family and the local community as they deal with this unimaginable crime.

“Gardai and other services are supporting them at this difficult time.”

Dermot Richardson, Sinn Fein councillor for the Tallaght area, called for welfare support to be put in place for the family, local community and schoolchildren.

He also called for people to stop sharing video footage of the incident on WhatsApp and social media sites.

“There are videos being shared on WhatsApp. I would ask people not to share it out of respect for the family and the local community as well,” he added.

“If you have footage, please pass on to the gardai.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in