A man appeared before a special sitting of Athlone District Court yesterday evening charged with the murder of his wife and two sons at Castledaly, Co Westmeath, last weekend.
Mr Gregory Fox (32), with an address at Castledaly, was charged with the murder of 30year-old Ms Debbie Fox and their sons, nine-year-old Trevor and his seven-year-old brother, Killian, at a house in Castledaly.
Ms Fox and her sons were found dead by their neighbours on Saturday morning. Postmortem examinations found that all three had suffered multiple injuries, including stab wounds.
Mr Fox was remanded in custody to Clover Hill Prison in Dublin to appear before Athlone District Court on Friday.
Mr Fox, who was charged with the murder of Ms Fox and their two sons, applied for a solicitor.
Judge James O'Sullivan ordered that a psychiatric assessment of the defendant be carried out during his detention at Clover Hill.