Gardaí have ruled out foul play in the deaths of a couple at their home in south Kerry after postmortem examinations confirmed both had died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning, seemingly as a result of taking their own lives.
The bodies of David Byrne (52) and his wife, Hazel (51), were found in their home at Mountain Stage outside Glenbeigh on the Ring of Kerry in the early hours of Tuesday morning by members of Kerry County Fire Service
The firefighters were called to assist after gardaí were alerted by concerned locals late on Monday night when they found a note attached to the door, advising people not to enter the building because of the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
The badly decomposed remains of the couple were removed to University Hospital Kerry on Tuesday evening where, on Wednesday, State Pathologist Dr Yvonne McCartney carried out a postmortem that confirmed both had died of the effects of carbon monoxide.
Garda technical experts recovered a number of notes from the house in which the couple had indicated they planned to take their own lives. Gardaí found that they had last received social welfare payments in early October, suggesting they were dead for four months.
In Mallow in north Cork, where both Mr and Ms Byrne grew up, there was shock and sadness as people remembered them as a quiet and reclusive couple, living at their isolated bungalow home at Ballinvuskig, about 5km southeast of Mallow town.
Ms Byrne had worked from 1999 to 2015 with local law firm David J O’Meara and Sons Solicitors. The principal at the office, David O’Meara, on Wednesday paid tribute to the dead woman, saying everyone in the office had been shocked and greatly saddened by the news of the tragedy.
“Everyone here was very saddened and upset when we heard the news yesterday evening, because Hazel was a good friend to all here and was very popular member of the staff – she was a probate clerk with us for over 15 years and she was brilliant at her job, very bright.
“It’s only beginning to hit home today – we heard the news yesterday evening, but people are really only beginning to feel the enormity of the tragedy today – we will deeply miss her because she was a very gentle person and was well liked by everyone.”
Locals remembered Ms Byrne as “nice, very pleasant, but also very private”, and she became more reserved and withdrawn when she married David Byrne, whom one local described as “very reclusive”, adding, “Hazel became more reclusive too when she met him”.
[ Why are increasing numbers of reclusive people dying at home unnoticed?Opens in new window ]
Another local, who did not wish to be named, said Mr Byrne was “an intensely, almost obsessively private man” who would often turn away from passing traffic to avoid having to salute motorists as he walked the roads near their home at Ballinvuskig.
Mr Byrne grew up in nearby Bearforest Upper, and is survived by his elderly father Terry, a retired veterinary surgeon originally from Arklow, Co Wicklow, and his siblings, John, Kevin, Brian, Maeve and Terence. He was predeceased by his mother Mary, who died in 2006.
Ms Byrne, born Hazel Finnegan, grew up at Blackwater Drive on the south side of Mallow town. She is survived by her sister Breda and brother Tony, and was predeceased by her father Paddy, who died in 2013, and her mother Patsy, who died in 2010.
Gardaí have appointed a family liaison officer to provide updates on the Garda investigation into the tragedy to both families, who had no contact with the deceased couple after they sold their house outside Mallow and moved to Glenbeigh seven years ago.
* To contact Samaritans email jo@samaritans.ie or call 116 123
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