The couple found dead after a house fire in Achonry, Co Sligo, earlier this month died from gunshot wounds to the head, according to informed sources.
The Garda Press Office said it could not comment on the causes of the deaths as the Garda had not yet received the postmortem results. A Garda spokesman said the couple had not been formally identified. "All we can say is that an investigation is under way," the spokesman said.
First indications last week were that the English couple, Frank and Cecilia Bailey, had died in a fire in their home early on Wednesday, March 9th.
It has now emerged that the couple's two dogs were also shot dead.
Gardaí believe the fire was well established before the couple were shot and they have ruled out any third party involvement.
There was no sign of a break-in at the house.
Ms Bailey is believed to have been shot in the back of the head, while Mr Bailey's injuries indicate that he was facing the gun when he received a fatal blast.
A gun was recovered by gardaí at the scene but it was not until the initial postmortem results were obtained that the inquiry was directed firmly in a particular direction.
The bodies were first removed to the morgue at Our Lady's Hospital in Manorhamilton, Co Leitrim.
They were then sent to the Dublin City Morgue for an examination by State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy.
An inquest into the deaths of the two people is expected to take place in the coming months.
The English couple, both aged in their 50s, had been living in the area since last summer.
Their bodies were found in a bedroom of the small house which was completely gutted.Neighbours had spotted smoke coming from the house on the Achonry/Bunninadden road and raised the alarm.
Fire crews from Tubbercurry and Sligo attended the scene but the house was completely engulfed.
All that remained were the four charred walls and a chimney stack.
A Garda technical team from Sligo Garda station subsequently examined the scene.
The dead couple are survived by one son, Richard, who lives in England.
He arrived in Sligo this week to help identify the remains of his parents.
He is to return to Ireland on Monday to attend a cremation ceremony in Dublin.
The couple, who kept very much to themselves, were from the Buckinghamshire area of England. Neighbours said they planned to remain in Sligo.
Frank Bailey is understood to have worked as a landscape gardener in England and was regarded as an expert.
The couple's initial interest in Sligo began eight to 10 years ago when they bought a property in Coolaney, Co Sligo. They later sold that house and purchased the house in Achonry.
They spent their holidays travelling over and back from England to refurbish the house and moved over permanently last summer.
In the week before their deaths, the couple had viewed a number of properties with an auctioneer.
They were said to be drawing up a shortlist of houses for their friends in England to view.
They believed their friends would be interested in the properties as holiday homes or permanent residences.