Woman whose body was found in a house in The Lough, Co Cork, named locally as Joyce 'Joy' O'MahonyGardaí do not believe there are any suspicious circumstances surrounding the woman's death
Gardaí do not believe there were any suspicious circumstances surrounding the discovery of the woman's severely decomposed body.
The grim discovery was made at Brookfield Lawn in The Lough on Tuesday afternoon, when the deceased was named locally as Joyce 'Joy' O'Mahony.
Her body was discovered in a room on the ground floor of the two-storey building.
Mrs O'Mahony, in her late 60s, may have been dead in the house for almost two years.
Her remains were discovered when local residents raised concerns about a pest control problem and a local company investigated.
Gardaí, Cork Fire Brigade and paramedics attended the scene when it became apparent that human remains were present in the property.
The Office of the State Pathologist was notified and the remains were examined before being removed to Cork University Hospital (CUH) mortuary.
A full post-mortem examination is expected to be carried out on Wednesday, possibly with the assistance of a forensic anthropologist.
Gardaí believe the woman involved is the resident of the house, although formal identification is likely to require examination of dental records and possibly even DNA.
It is clear that the woman lived alone in the property.
Locals indicated that Joyce O'Mahony, known locally as Joy, had not been seen in the area for some time, possibly late 2021.
She was predeceased by her father, Dr Thomas J O'Mahony, who underwent a very successful and major GP surgery at The Lough before his death in 2010.
Her mother Patricia, who was known as Patsy, was known locally in The Lough as a stylish, generous and very musical person.
She died in January 2021 in a nursing home.
Joyce is believed to have been alive until sometime in 2022, based on inspection of items in her home.
Mail and groceries indicated the householder was still alive at the end of 2022.
Patsy O'Mahony, originally from South Terrace in Cork, died aged 91.
She was known for her piano playing and had a great love for music.
The couple had four children: two girls and two boys, whom they raised on the estate not far from the picturesque Lough Bird Reserve.
Patsy O'Mahony was a widow for more than a decade after the death of her 84-year-old husband.
Joyce was described locally as a kind but very private person.
Some residents believed the woman had temporarily moved from the area after a death in the family.
The property's garden was heavily overgrown and locals were shocked by the revelation of what gardaí had discovered in the house.
The scene was sealed off by Gardaí to allow a full technical and forensic investigation.
However, there were no signs of forced entry into the property and there were no signs of any disturbances in the home.
No foul play is suspected in the incident.
Detectives will now examine the food items at the property, as well as bank, telephone and postal records, to try to determine the deceased's last known movements and activities.
Some items are believed to be dated late 2022.
Gardaí are now carrying out door-to-door inquiries in the area to try to establish the last known public sighting of the woman.
A file will be prepared for the coroner's office in Cork.
An inquest into the death is expected to take place next year.
It is the third death in Cork in recent times.
Last year, a Cork coroner returned an open verdict in the case of a man who lay dead and undiscovered in his home for 22 years – less than 100 meters from the main Cork-Limerick road.
The family of Timothy O'Sullivan, 61, who had been living in Britain, called for an urgent review of the dilapidated house rules as they warned no other family should have to go through what they went through.
The skeletal and partially mummified remains were found on January 13, 2023, by council workers inspecting an abandoned property on Beecher Street in Mallow.
Mr O'Sullivan, born in Caherciveen in Kerry but raised and worked in Britain, died sometime between January 9 and January 23, 2001, but was not discovered for 22 years.
The period before his death was determined by a dated Tesco store receipt, personal diary entries and the timing of his social security benefits.
Cork Co Council officers had been to the property almost a decade earlier to board up broken windows and investigate a complaint from neighbors about a rodent infestation, but had not entered the Beecher Street house.
Mr O'Sullivan's Australian-based sister, Noreen Foster, had called to the Beecher Street property in July 2003, but was told by neighbors and gardaí that it was believed Mr O'Sullivan had moved to Great Britain some time earlier. Britain had returned.
In a statement read by lawyer Fiona O'Sullivan on behalf of Aidan Shine, a cousin of Mr O'Sullivan, and the entire O'Sullivan family, they called for an urgent review of Ireland's dilapidated housing rules.
This is intended to increase the powers of local councils to access abandoned homes, simplify the process of determining ownership and speed up the timeframe in which such properties are checked.
Mr O'Sullivan was born in Cahersiveen, Kerry, in 1939, but grew up in Britain, where he worked and married.
However, over the years he returned to Kerry regularly.
Around 1989 he moved back to Ireland and bought the property on Beecher Street in Mallow.
His mother died in January 1990 and Mr O'Sullivan's wife, Barbara, later returned to her native Britain.
His sisters, Noreen and Maureen, were in regular contact with him through letters and Christmas cards, but did not hear from him until Christmas 2001.
The inquest heard that Cork Co Council was notified of broken windows at the property on Beecher Street in December 2014.
The windows were later boarded up by municipal workers.
A complaint was later received about a rodent infestation at the rear of the property, but council staff were unable to gain access.
On January 13 last, ongoing concerns about the rodent infestation prompted the council to appoint three employees to visit the Beecher Street property to install a new front door lock so that Rentokil could tackle the rodent problem.
They discovered Mr O'Sullivan's body when they entered the property after drilling a door lock.