A 23-YEAR-OLD postal worker has been charged with the murder of Sharon Whelan who was found dead with her two young daughters in their burnt out house on Christmas morning.
Brian Hennessy, of Windgap, Co Kilkenny, was brought before a special sitting of Kilkenny District Court yesterday.
Ms Whelan (30) and her daughters Zarah (7) and Nadia (2) were found dead in their home in Co Kilkenny, after neighbours spotted smoke coming from their rented home at around 8.30am on Christmas morning.
Mr Hennessy was charged on Saturday night with the murder of Sharon Whelan and with two counts of criminal damage to a property and endangering the lives of Zarah and Nadia.
Det Sgt Jim Lyng of Kilkenny Garda station gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution to Judge Gerard Furlong.
Det Sgt Lyng said Mr Hennessy replied “I am guilty” to each of the three charges when they were put to him at Kilkenny Garda station at 3.30pm.
The blonde-haired Mr Hennessy appeared in court wearing a blue tracksuit.
Supt Walter O’Sullivan made an application to the court for Mr Hennessy to be remanded in custody to the next sitting of Kilkenny District Court.
Judge Furlong said he did not have jurisdiction to grant bail at this stage and asked if the accused required any medical attention while in custody.
Anthony Canny, solicitor for the accused, replied: “No, everything is in order.”
The judge remanded Mr Hennessy in custody to appear at Kilkenny District Court on January 20th. A woman who was also arrested in connection with the deaths was released without charge on Friday and a file will be prepared for the Director Of Public Prosecutions.
The old farmhouse where the three bodies were found is located about two miles from the village of Windgap in a remote rural setting.
Postmortems have confirmed that Sharon Whelan died a number of hours before her children and that she did not die as a result of the fire.
Her two children died in their beds from smoke inhalation a short time before the emergency services arrived.
Gardaí have received DNA and toxicology results in recent days and are still trying to establish the cause of the fire. An Aga stove was sent to Garda headquarters in Dublin but examinations on it revealed nothing and officers remain unsure of the cause of the fire.
The scene has remained cordoned off since Christmas morning.