Gardaí have begun a murder investigation following the results of a post-mortem on the body of a man found in Dublin's inner city on Thursday.
The victim has been named as Mr Paul Farrell (46) of Buckingham Street, Dublin 1, and who was originally from the Coolock area in north Dublin. The post-mortem revealed he died from multiple head injuries.
Mr Farrell was found lying partially clothed in Coke Lane, near the Smithfield area of the city by three people at 4 p.m. He had sustained severe head injuries.
Gardaí believe Mr Farrell was attacked and beaten to death and that his body may have lain in the lane for up to 18 hours before he was discovered.
The Deputy State Pathologist, Dr Marie Cassidy, carried out the post-mortem at the City Morgue last night.
The scene at Coke Lane was sealed off and preliminary examinations of the body and surrounding area was carried out by Dr Cassidy and a team from the Garda Technical Bureau.
Further forensic tests were being carried out at the scene yesterday.
Meanwhile, gardaí in Athlone are satisfied the death of man at his home in the town in the early hours of Thursday morning was a tragic accident.
Mr Edward Glynn (42) died after being hit by a car at his home at Bealnamulla Road, Monksland, Athlone, Westmeath at 4.15 a.m. on Thursday morning.