Gardaí were on Sunday night awaiting the results of a postmortem examination on the body of a 90-year-old man found dead in suspicious circumstances at his isolated home in Co Waterford.
A neighbour found the body of retired farmer, Paddy Lyons at about 5pm on Saturday when she called to his cottage, 400 metres down a narrow laneway outside Ballysaggart village, 11km from Lismore.
The woman, who is also a home help, raised the alarm after finding the bachelor, who lived alone, slumped in a chair. Emergency services were called but Mr Lyons was pronounced dead at the scene.
Gardaí cordoned off the cottage after noticing marks on Mr Lyons and a broken lock, which they believed to be evidence of a possible break-in.
It is understood the neighbour had become concerned after Mr Lyons, who was a regular attendee at funerals in the small village, had failed to attend the funeral on Saturday morning of a local woman who died on Wednesday.
Gardaí requested the services of the State Pathologist’s Office and officers from the Garda Technical Bureau carried out a forensic examination of the scene.
Assistant State Pathologist, Dr Margot Bolster carried out a preliminary examination of Mr Lyons’s body on Sunday afternoon before his remains were removed to University Hospital Waterford for a postmortem.
Mr Lyons was last seen alive at about 4.30pm on Friday.
He had been the victim of a burglary about 10 years ago when a man posing as a member of An Garda Síochána called to his home and stole money. Although gardaí arrested and questioned a suspect, nobody was ever charged with the offence.
Local Fine Gael councillor Declan Doocey said the local community in Ballysaggart and Lismore was shocked.
“I’m on the other side of Lismore town but I knew Paddy well – he was a personal friend of mine – he was a humble, modest man, a real gentleman, he was the old stock from a decent family, he lived on his own but his neighbours and his cousins were very good to him,” he said.
“I used to meet him on a weekly basis in Lismore – he was very interested in current affairs and sport and we would always have a good old chat so I’m a bit upset myself at the news. Hopefully the gardaí will be able to establish what exactly happened to him but it’s very sad.”
