Conwoman cremated at private service in Cork

A cremation service for convicted fraudster Julia Holmes has taken place in Cork.

The body of the 63-year-old was found in an upstairs bedroom alongside that of her partner 56-year-old Thomas Ruttle at their home in Boolaglass, Askeaton, Co Limerick on May 18th last following an apparent suicide pact.

Gardaí believe the couple may have died from deliberate exposure to carbon monoxide.

Mr Ruttle was laid to rest earlier this week at St Mary's Church of Ireland in Askeaton.

Originally from Northern Ireland, Julia Holmes, who used over 40 different aliases, was a convicted fraudster who was the subject of Garda, PSNI and FBI investigations.

Her body was taken from the morgue at University Hospital Limerick this Friday morning to the Island Crematorium, Ringaskiddy, Co Cork for a private cremation.

Her body had remained in the morgue for over a fortnight following the post mortem, unclaimed.

Her only child, a son whom she abandoned 40 years ago in Northern Ireland as a baby, has said that he wants nothing to do with his estranged mother.

It’s unclear what will happen to Ms Holmes ashes once they are available to be released, as it’s looking increasingly unlikely that any of the families that she encountered over her 40 years in Northern Ireland, the US and the south of Ireland, will come forward to claim her remains.

It recently emerged that the 63-year-old who claimed to be married to Thomas Ruttle despite never divorcing her two previous husbands, had written to a solicitors firm in Belfast asking to be buried with Mr Ruttle.

On Wednesday Mr Ruttle was laid to rest following a funeral service in St Mary’s Church of Ireland in Askeaton attended by family and friends.

In his sermon Reverend Keith Scott told those gathered that their time of grief had been made more difficult by the strangeness of the events leading up to Mr Ruttle's death.

Detectives are awaiting the results of toxicology tests, which could take another week, before they can confirm how the couple died.