Gardaí have arrested a man (33) in connection with the death of an elderly woman who was found dead at her home in Co Waterford.
Gardaí were alerted shortly after 2pm on Monday to the discovery of the body of the woman, who has been named locally as Noreen Daly.
She was in her 80s and lived alone at Ardsallagh on the eastern bank of the Blackwater river, near Youghal Bridge on the Cork-Waterford border.
She was pronounced dead at the scene. It is believed she had suffered a violent death and that an effort was made to dispose of her body.
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The man was arrested at 4am on Tuesday and is being held under section four of the Criminal Justice Act 1984, at Waterford Garda station. Gardaí had set up checkpoints in the area following the discovery of the body.
It is understood the man detained may have been known to the dead woman.
The alarm was raised at the Bridewell Garda station in Cork city on Monday by a man who had gone to the woman’s house to assist a friend who was doing some gardening work there.
The Garda said the coroner and the Office of the State Pathologist had been notified and the services of the Garda Technical Bureau requested.
A postmortem will be carried out at University Hospital Waterford in Ardkeen. Gardaí said the results would assist in determining the course of the investigation.
It is not known when she died.
A native of Grenagh in Co Cork, Noreen and her husband Michael lived for many years in Monkstown in Co Dublin.
They retired to Ardsallagh, near where her husband spent much of his youth in Clashmore, when his father was stationed there as a garda.
According to locals, the couple had no children and Noreen lived alone since the death of her husband in November 2023. She remained very active and participated in local arts events.
Gardaí have begun door-to-door inquiries and are trying to find out whether any of the neighbouring houses have CCTV cameras that might help identify who may have called to the woman’s house, which is at the end of a cul de sac.
Gardaí are also speaking to neighbours and friends to try to establish when any of them last saw Daly or spoke to her by telephone in a bid to try to establish when she died.
Sinn Féin TD for Waterford Conor D McGuinness described the situation as “deeply sad and upsetting” and appealed to anyone who may have any information to contact gardaí.
“My thoughts this evening are with the woman who has died, and with her family, friends and neighbours as they come to terms with this loss,” he said in a statement.
A senior investigating officer has been appointed to lead the investigation and an incident room has been established at Dungarvan Garda station. A family liaison officer has also been appointed to support the woman’s relatives.
Gardaí are appealing for witnesses, in particular those who were in the Ardsallagh or Youghal Bridge areas in recent days, to come forward.
Anyone with information or camera footage that could help the investigation is asked to contact Dungarvan Garda station on (058) 848600 or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.
