Postmortems due on remains of Tipperary couple believed to be dead over a year

Postmortems are due to take place on Tuesday on the remains of an elderly couple whom it is believed were dead for more than a year in their isolated Co Tipperary home.

Gardaí will not name the man and woman, aged in their late 70s or early 80s, until they are formally identified at postmortem. It is understood they lived in the bungalow for about eight years.

They were discovered at about 4pm on Monday in the property at Cloneen, some 20km from Clonmel. Their bodies were removed on Monday evening to University Hospital Waterford where Chief State Pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan is due to carry out postmortems on Tuesday.

Gardaí visited the house after being contacted by a neighbour who noticed the grass outside the English couple’s home had not been cut for some time. The local person said they were concerned for the pair, who some locals had understood to be away on holidays.

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One local person told The Irish Times that the pair made it clear early on they would not be calling over for tea but would always give a friendly wave.

It is understood that one body was found in a bedroom and the other in the living room. The scene was preserved by gardaí from Clonmel to allow for a forensic examination by members of the Garda Technical Bureau.

Early examinations found no evidence of forced entry at the house, but gardaí would not be drawn as to whether there was any indication of foul play being involved. “It’s far too early to say at this stage,” a source said. “We will be very much guided by the results of the postmortem but it’s simply far too early to speculate on how they died.”

It is understood that the couple were in receipt of pensions, but these continued to be paid into a bank account and utility bills continued to be paid from the same account by standing order.

Local Fine Gael councillor Mark Fitzgerald called for support for the community in the wake of the tragedy. The area was “shell-shocked” and had been “knocked for six” by the news, he said. The issue had been compounded by comments on social media criticising the fact that the elderly couple had not been discovered sooner, he said.

The “rush to conclusions” when “no one knows the full story” of the “very sad circumstances” was very hurtful for the community, Mr Fitzgerald told local radio station Tipp FM. Social media could be a “very nasty and negative platform” and people were very upset at the “rumours and idle talk”. It was very unfair to speculate about what had or had not happened, he said.

People should have someone to talk to in confidence to express their feelings about what had happened, he said. Such support was important in light of the social media commentary where “people are talking for the sake of talking” without knowing exactly what had happened.

Gardaí were on Monday carrying out door-to-door inquiries in the area to try to establish when anyone may have last seen the couple alive, but it is understood that they were very private and did not mix locally.

“We’ll be talking to everyone in the general area as well as anyone who might have had occasion to call, like postmen, but they apparently kept very much to themselves and didn’t mix,” a source said.

Anyone who can assist the investigation is asked to contact Clonmel Garda station on 052 6177640 or any Garda station.