Couple found dead at Cork home named

Olivia Kelleher

A couple in their eighties who were found dead near the stairs of their terraced home in Glounthaune, Co Cork, on Monday night have been named locally as Michael and Ann O’Sullivan.

The bodies of the couple were found at about 5pm yesterday after a relative called to their property in the village. He found himself unable to contact the couple and enlisted the help of another man to force the door of the property.

Gardaí and the emergency services were contacted after the two men found the bodies of the pair near the stairs. A local GP formally pronounced the couple dead, and their bodies were later taken to the morgue at Cork University Hospital for postmortem examinations.

There was no evidence of a gas leak. Nor was there anything to suggest they had met their deaths via foul play. The property has been technically examined as gardaí attempt to determine what caused their deaths.

Gardaí are examining the possibility that the deaths may have occurred as a result of a fall. One of the parties possibly sustained a fall or experienced a medical incident, with the other also being fatally injured while going to their assistance.

It is understood that contact was last made with the couple on Sunday evening, so gardaí have established that the deaths occurred at some point after that time.

Prayers were said for Mr and Mrs O’Sullivan at a mass in the area this morning. The couple were described as being “very quiet people” who were respected in the village, which is located east of Cork city.

The results of the postmortem examinations will determine the course of the Garda investigation. However, the deaths are being treated as a tragedy. Funeral arrangements will be finalised in the coming days. An inquest will be held at a later date.