Tragic Family Speaks of Deaths

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Tragic Family Speaks of Deaths

April 2, 2008

By Paddy Clancy

THE family of a double-tragedy that shocked the country when a young woman killed her daughter on her first Communion weekend and then took her own life have spoken for the first time of their “nightmare” year since then.

The deaths of little Caitlin Innes and her mother Triona stunned Ireland when their bodies were discovered at the home they shared in Co. Donegal in mid-May last year.

Triona, who gave her family absolutely no hint of any problem, suffocated the eight-year-old and then hanged herself. She left no note.

Although a coroner’s court has yet to decide the exact time of the deaths, Gardai believe both were dead within hours of Triona posing for photographs in her First Communion dress during a visit to her grandparents and other relatives near the seaside resort of Bundoran.

The bodies weren’t discovered until police forced entry into the house when Caitlin had inexplicably missed two successive days at school.

Triona’s mother Winnie and her daughter Trish, who was a year younger than Triona, have recalled in their first interview since the tragedy how they are still desperately trying to understand what happened.

“It still pains me to think about it. It’s just unreal, like a nightmare,” said Winnie.

“There wasn’t a hint from Triona, not the slightest indication that anything was wrong. We had spent a lovely weekend together.”

Single mom Triona lived in Letterkenny where Caitlin received her First Communion on Saturday, May 12 last year in St Eunan’s Cathedral.

Next day, the whole family returned together to Bundoran as a special treat for Caitlin and so she could show off her dress to other relatives and friends.

The day before the First Communion Triona had collected the keys of a new council house she and Caitlin would share. She was set to take up a good job and she had paid the deposit on some new furniture for the house.

The only downside to her life was an on-off romance that ended four weeks earlier. The last phone call she is believed to have made was a “missed” call to the estranged boyfriend. It wasn’t returned.

Just an hour or so beforehand little Caitlin had sent a text saying they were safely back home in Letterkenny. Gardai believe that a few hours later Triona inexplicably suffocated Caitlin and then hanged herself.

“Even though Triona had Caitlin when she was just turned 18 we don’t believe the next eight years would have been as happy as they were if that hadn’t happened. Caitlin brought a lot of happiness to this family,” said Trish.

Trish added, “At first I was very angry, but then we kind of sat back and looked at it and said to ourselves that Triona couldn’t go on here. Triona didn’t want to leave Caitlin behind in what she thought wasn’t a great world or life for herself. She didn’t want Caitlin to suffer along with it.”

Triona was planning to some day do a bungee jump to raise funds for a campaign to keep an oncology unit in Letterkenny General Hospital.

Now the family has decided to honor her memory and that of Caitlin by organizing a day of sponsored bungee-jumps on May 17, two days after the first anniversary of the deaths.

Interested supporters can contact Trish or Charlene at 011-353-87-7575737 or email, Patricia.Innes3@bebo-.com and Triciain@hotmail.com.

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