A woman whose husband walked into the sea with their three-year-old in a horrific murder-suicide in West Cork says she has won her long battle to have her daughter's remains brought to the United States.
American woman Rebecca Saunders has campaigned to bring her daughter Clarissa’s remains 'home' to her in the US after she was buried in the same coffin as her dad Martin McCarthy.
The 50-year-old drowned the little girl at Audley Cove in West Cork on March 5, 2013 after Rebecca told him their marriage was over.
Read more: Mum hopes daughter drowned by killer dad will be exhumed from his coffin within weeks
Last year, Rebecca began fundraising to bring Clarissa to her home of Texas, revealing she had only allowed the joint burial “in a fog of grief and shock”.
This morning, Rebecca told her many followers on Twitter that she has now been granted permission to do this, saying: "Today I was granted the license to exhume Clarissa.
"After 9 years I will be able to correct my awful mistake. Can’t wait to be able to take Rissa home. This has really been a long time coming. It’s a day for celebration".
The grieving mother thanked her many supporters in Ireland, saying; "A heartfelt thank you to everyone who has helped to shape this into reality. You’ve no idea what this means to me and my family."
Last year, Rebecca said she had spoken to a funeral director who had told her that it would be possible to exhume her daughter and send her remains to Texas; "once the exhumation is carried out, they could separate Clarissa from her murderer.
“The length of time that has passed since the burial is not an issue."
She said the news had spurred her on to win the right to take her daughter 'home' to her in the US.
Rebecca admitted she regretted allowing Clarissa to be buried “with the father she loved but who took her life from her”.
She was just 26 when McCarthy drowned their child.
Clarissa McCarthy was a 'friendly, playful child', just three-years-old when her father Martin, 50, drowned her on March 5, 2013, before taking his own life at Audley Cove near their home outside Ballydehob.
Three days later, father and daughter shared a coffin with the little girl placed in his arms
Rebecca has said she is convinced the killing of their daughter was premeditated, an evil act to punish her after she said she was leaving her husband.
“I really can’t say I feel I will ever be able to forgive him. I feel like he used his daughter as a sword to stab me in the heart with.
“And I think that is very, very wrong. At the time I didn’t know just how planned out Martin had gone.”
She later learned McCarthy had gone to a family court to ensure that his daughter wouldn’t be allowed to leave Ireland.
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