GARDAÍ HAVE launched a murder investigation after a young mother was stabbed to death during an attack at a house in Co Kildare in the early hours of yesterday morning.
When investigating gardaí arrived at the scene in Athy at 12.35am they discovered the woman’s remains and also found a man with a number of stab wounds that are not life-threatening.
Local sources said they believed the dead woman, named locally as 32-year-old Breda Cummins, originally from Celbridge in Co Kildare, was pregnant or may have recently had a miscarriage.
A 48-year-old man, who was known to Ms Cummins, was arrested by gardaí under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.
He was arrested at a house in Castledermot, Co Kildare, early yesterday morning.
He was being questioned last night at Kildare Garda station in connection with the killing and the attack on the injured man.
The double knife attack took place at a house on Michael Dooley Terrace, Athy.
Gardaí received an emergency call relating to a disturbance at the house and when they arrived at the scene a short time later found the dead woman and the injured man.
Ms Cummins has a 13-year-old son and is believed to have been staying at the house where she was killed for only a matter of weeks. She had moved to the area after a period living in Castledermot.
The dead woman’s sisters visited the scene yesterday and were visibly upset.
One of the women told RTÉ her sister “wouldn’t hurt a fly”.
“She didn’t deserve this,” she said.
Gardaí investigating the murder immediately sealed off the house where the killing took place.
Members of the Garda Technical Bureau carried out an examination of the property throughout yesterday.
The house at Castledermot where the suspect was arrested has also undergone a Garda technical examination and been searched.
The dead woman’s remains were taken for a postmortem to Naas General Hospital.
The results had not been made public last night but Garda sources said the victim had been stabbed several times in the upper body.
The Irish Times understands the murder weapon was a kitchen knife. It had not been found last night but searches for it in both Athy and Castledermot were continuing.
The man injured in the knife attack was recovering in hospital last night.