Prayer service to be held in Clare for mother and children killed in Fermanagh shooting

By Cate McCurry, PA

A prayer service will be held in Co Clare for a mother and two children killed in a shooting incident in Co Fermanagh.

Vanessa Whyte (45), a vet originally from Co Clare, her son James (14) and daughter Sara (13) were killed in a suspected triple murder and attempted suicide at a house in Maguiresbridge on Wednesday morning.

Ms Whyte was originally from Barefield, a village near Ennis in Co Clare.

A murder investigation has been launched, while an adult male remains in a serious condition in hospital.

A prayer service will take place at the Church of Immaculate Conception in Barefield on Sunday evening.

A notice on the parish website describes it as a service to remember Vanessa, Sara and James.

Barefield parish priest, Fr Tom Fitzpatrick, said the community wanted to gather together to remember the family.

The prayer service has been organised to take place on Sunday evening to allow for Ms Whyte’s brother, Ivor, to travel home from Australia.

“The prayer service was organised by the community, myself and the pastoral council. We planned it days ago,” Fr Fitzpatrick said.

“The purpose of the service is to gather as a community and be with the family and let them know we are thinking of them and we are here in shock and in pain.

“When something happens in a rural community, even to one person, it affects everybody. We are coming here with hearts broken. A lot of the community knew Vanessa and she was so well loved.”

It’s understood that the funeral of the mother and her two children will take place in Barefield later this week.

On Saturday, detectives from the major investigation team, who are carrying out the murder investigation, said they are continuing with their inquiries and appealed for information involving the movements of a vehicle.

Detective Chief Inspector Neil McGuinness said: “Our investigation is ongoing and we are working tirelessly to determine the exact circumstances of this tragedy.

“I would continue to appeal generally for anyone with information to come forward, and more specifically, I would ask anyone who saw a silver Mercedes saloon car being driven in the Clones Road area of Newtownbutler, or between Maguiresbridge and Newtownbutler, on the evening of Tuesday July 22 to call detectives on 101, quoting reference 276 23/07/25.

“Anyone who was travelling in the area and who may have captured dashcam footage which could assist, please get in touch.”

The man who remains in a serious condition in hospital was a member of the same household, the PSNI said.

On Friday, hundreds of people attended a community vigil for the family in Maguiresbridge.