Gardaí investigating the death of Catherine Henry (62), whose body was found in her Co Louth home last week, have arrested a man on suspicion of her murder.
The suspect, who is in his 20s, was arrested on Thursday afternoon and was being detained in a Garda station in Louth. He was being held under the provisions of Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, which allows for him to be questioned for up to 24 hours without charge.
Gardaí immediately suspected foul play after Mrs Henry’s body was discovered with apparent injuries in the apartment on Bridge Street, Dundalk, on the night of last Wednesday week, and have been working on a definite line of inquiry from the outset of the investigation.
Those suspicions were confirmed when a postmortem ruled out a trip, fall or accident as being the cause of her injuries and confirmed she had died after a violent attack.
Mrs Henry, who was originally from Dublin, was found in a bloodied scene and gardaí believe a weapon or implement may have been used by her attacker. The house underwent a full technical examination which gardaí hope has yielded forensic evidence that will help to link the killer to the crime.
The Garda investigation team in Dundalk has conducted inquiries with people living in the area and with business owners in an attempt to piece together Mrs Henry’s last movements.
Gardaí have also gathered footage from local CCTV systems as they seek to establish who called to the property in the period before the dead woman was attacked.
It is understood that Mrs Henry was originally from west Dublin and had only lived in Dundalk in recent years. She was well known in the Co Louth town for her work with a local charity providing free meals to the homeless.
