Postmortem results awaited after woman’s body found

Gardaí are awaiting the results of a postmortem on the body of a Co Westmeath woman who was found dead in a house in Ballynacargy, near Mullingar, on Saturday night.

The woman in her 40s has not been identified.

The woman’s body was removed to Mullingar Regional Hospital and State Pathologist Marie Cassidy was notified. A postmortem is expected to be carried out at the hospital on Sunday afternoon.

Gardaí said the scene at the house would remain preserved pending the result of the postmortem, before making any further announcements.

Local TD Willie Penrose said the village was in “total shock” at the news.

The woman, he said, was “a very hard worker”. “You don’t expect a tragedy of such awful proportions in a small rural community like this. It is a tragedy for the whole village.”

Local Fianna Fáil TD Robert Troy said the community was “rocked” by the death.

A man in understood to be helping gardaí with their inquiries.

A Garda spokesperson said the postmortem results would determine the course of the investigation.

Ballynacargy is a village on the banks of the Royal Canal, close to the Co Longford border.