Gardaí are tonight investigating the discovery of two bodies in a house in north Co Kerry.
Michael Hanrahan (54) and his son Denis (27) are believed to have suffered gunshot wounds in the bungalow where they lived alone outside Moyvane, in Co Kerry.
But it is believed that gardai have yet to find a firearm registered to the farmhouse.
It is understood the bodies were found at around 9am this morning by a cousin of the younger man who called at the house when he failed to turn up at a job.
Gabriel Fitzmaurice, a poet and former teacher who knew all Hanrahan family, said the village was struggling to make sense of what had happened on their doorstep.
"There is a pall of despondency around the place, there’s a pall of despair. You don’t expect this to happen in a small, peaceful, tranquil, little backwater like Moyvane," he said.
Fr John Lucid, the parish priest, said they were well known for their work in the community. “It has come as a complete bombshell to all of us. We are suffering from shock,” he said.
Michael, whose wife died several years ago, was also known as a correspondent for The Kerryman newspaper and for his involvement in Moyvane’s sports and arts associations.
The house remains sealed off tonight while a detailed forensic examination takes place.