THE cavan-born husband of murdered Leeds school teacher Ann Maguire has been left devastated by the loss of his "angel" wife.
A 15-year-old boy was charged with murder last night after Mrs Maguire was stabbed in front of her pupils in a Leeds school.
The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, will appear at Leeds Youth court today and at Leeds crown court for a bail hearing tomorrow.
Shocked relatives at home in cootehill have offered their support to the Maguire family since the tragedy.
Don Maguire (62), who grew up in cootehill but emigrated to England in the 1970s, is being comforted at his Leeds home by the couple's grown-up daughters and extended family.
The retired Maths teacher, who now runs a landscaping business, is understood to have been speaking regularly to relatives in his native county since the murder of his wife of 37 years.
Mrs Maguire (61), who grew up in Wigan, was just months from retirement when she was repeatedly stabbed by student in front of around 30 pupils at corpus christi catholic college on Monday.
The Spanish teacher had report-edly gone to the school on her day off to help students prepare for their exams.
The devout catholic, who also taught religious education, is the first British teacher to be killed inside a school since the 1996 Dunblane massacre when gunman Thomas Hamilton shot dead primary teacher Gwen Mayor and 16 Primary One pupils.
Mrs Maguire, whose surname was connor before her marriage, also had strong Irish connections. Her parents were both born in co Mayo but emigrated to the UK to raise their family.
Several members of her husband's extended family remain in cootehill where they are well-known and well-liked members of the local community.
Fianna Fail councillor Sean igoe said he had known Mr Maguire "very well" before his departure to England.
"Don must be so grief-stricken. The local family here are distraught," Mr igoe said. Cootehill priest Fr Paul Casey said local residents had been "shocked
that such and amazing teacher and wonderful woman who by all accounts was a beautiful character" should die so violently while at school.
"There is great sadness here in cootehill," he said, revealing that parishioners had prayed for the Maguire family at Mass in St Michael's church on Tuesday night.
The Maguire family was involved in farming and businesses for several generations, with Don's brother Leonard now running Maguire's Service Station on the Cavan road
while another sibling Danny owns the Playboy inn in redhills.
Staff at the filling station yesterday said that family members had not been working on the premises since the murder and were refusing to comment to the media.
A number of Mr Maguire's other brothers also emigrated to england where they are still living.
Mr Maguire and his wife have been described as devoted parents to their daughters.
Kerry (32), a former ballerina, retrained as an osteopath for pregnant women and infants.
Her younger sister Emma Jane (30) is a soloist with the prestigious royal Ballet, starring in productions like The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty. It also emerged yesterday that Mrs Maguire and her husband had played a central role in raising her two young nephews Daniel and Andrew Poole following the death of her sister Eileen from cancer in 1986.