A MURDER investigation is expected to be launched today after a woman died in hospital from multiple stab wounds.
Lorraine White (42) died during surgery after she was admitted to St Luke's Hospital in Kilkenny with "massive internal injuries" on Saturday morning.
It is believed Ms White had been beaten and repeatedly stabbed in her abdomen and her lower body at her home on Bridge Street, Callan, Co Kilkenny.
An English man has been arrested in connection with her death and is being detained at Kilkenny Garda station.
Ms White, a mother of five, died at St Luke's on Saturday, about five hours after she was admitted. The woman, who is from England, had been living at the house in Callan for less than a year.
Officers from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigations carried out forensic examinations at the house last night.
A postmortem was carried out yesterday by Deputy State Pathologist Michael Curtis in the Midlands Hospital in Portlaoise.Gardaí say the results will not be released for operational reasons. However, a source close to the investigation said the woman had died from "massive internal injuries".
Gardaí arrested a man in Cahir, Co Tipperary, last night in connection with her death. They say they are continuing to "investigate all the circumstances surrounding the woman's death".
"The woman died as a result of the injuries which caused her to be admitted to hospital," a Garda spokesperson said.
Residents of the Kilkenny town were in shock yesterday as news of the woman's violent death emerged. "I knew her to say hello to on the street," said one man. "She hadn't been living there all that long and kept largely to herself," he said.