CELINE CAWLEY, the 46-year-old Howth woman killed by her husband in December 2008, was compassionate, caring and “tremendous fun”, a family member has said.
Orla O'Hanrahan, a first cousin and close friend of Ms Cawley, told RTÉ's Marian Finucaneradio show that she and the Cawley family did not recognise the character who was negatively portrayed during her husband's trial.
“That’s not the Celine we recognise. The Celine we knew, both within and indeed outside the family, was somebody who was tremendous fun, very caring, very compassionate,” Ms O’Hanrahan said.
Asked by Finucane if she had liked Eamon Lillis, who was last Friday sentenced to six years and 11 months in prison for the manslaughter of his wife, Ms O’Hanrahan said she did not wish to speak about him, but to focus on her much-loved cousin.
“We all loved her deeply and we miss her immensely; she was a wonderful person, and I think we’re just so glad to share that with everybody so that they would know the real Celine and who she was, and all the great characteristics she had.”
Ms O’Hanrahan had lived with her cousin in the 1980s in London, where Ms Cawley had been pursuing a modelling career. She remembered her then as a hard working and down-to-earth person.
“What I really remember is despite all the fame and attention of that time, she really remained very grounded and very down-to-earth, and really never lost a sense of irony and proportion about what she was doing.”
The news of Ms Cawley’s death and the manner in which it had occurred was devastating, she said.
“The news of her death had been deeply shocking for all of us, obviously particularly for Celine’s immediate family, of whom we’re so proud.” Cawley had faced great loss in her own life when her mother and sister died, but she had focused on making sure that other family members were supported, particularly her nieces and nephews.
“She was very practical, she would bring fun into any situation – particularly when there were young children involved; she wanted them to be happy and have fun, no matter what we were trying to cope with.”
Ms Cawley would be remembered as a person who would “light up any room” Ms O’Hanrahan said.
“She was a just such a tremendously warm-hearted person.”
