Body of woman found in Cork City house may have been there for several years

It is understood that the body may have been in the house for some years and in a state of decomposition. 

The body was found after pest control services investigated the property.

Gardaí said they were alerted to the discovery of a woman’s body on Tuesday afternoon. 

The house is on a quiet residential street in a popular suburb on Cork’s southside, near the landmark Lough and University College Cork.

Gardaí said an autopsy will take place in the coming days, which will determine the course of the investigation.

Neighbours had noticed mice in the area and called pest control services, which prompted the discovery.

Pest control experts went into the house and found the woman’s remains, before reporting the matter to gardaí.

No foul play is suspected.

Dental records will be used to formally identify the deceased woman, who was understood to have been aged in her late 50s. 

Investigating officers are attempting to establish when the woman may have died. They will look at personal items such as post and foodstuff expiry dates in the refrigerator and cupboards.

It had been her family home, a neighbour said. Her parents had lived in the house and the woman had emigrated but returned home to care for her parents when they became elderly. The woman’s father was a GP and her mother was well-liked in the area, the neighbour said.

But the woman was not well-known locally and largely kept to herself.

The woman's decomposing body was found in a downstairs back room at her Brookfield Lawn home.

A neighbour entered the house with a pest control professional who found the woman’s remains at approximately 3.30pm on Tuesday.

Mice had been coming into neighbouring houses and the pest control worker said that they could be coming from the deceased woman’s home.

When they entered the house, there was a strong smell. When the pest control worker found the woman’s body, they both left the house and called emergency services.

“The heating was still on in her room. Paramedics said it was starting to smoulder, they were worried it could be a fire hazard and the fire service was called. The mice were probably a blessing in disguise because they helped us find her," the neighbour, who asked not to be named, said.

“I was shaking when I came out.

“I don’t know how long she was there. I last saw her eight years ago, but in the hallway, there was some post on the floor but it was not eight years' worth of post, it wasn't even a few years' worth. But maybe because the garden was so overgrown people stopped dropping off flyers.

“And someone said that gardaí did a health check on her about 12 months ago and apparently she answered the door.

“She had come home from England to nurse her elderly mother. I thought she had gone back to England.

"Maybe we should all make an effort to take more care of our neighbours.

“God love her. It’s very tragic.

“But we were lucky we were able to get in.

“At least she’s found. She can rest in peace now.”

'Tragic'

Local councillor Mick Finn said that the woman’s death was a tragedy.

“It’s very worrying. And this is not the first time something like this has happened. In the last year or two, another person’s body was found in the South Parish and they had been there for years.

“It's a concern that that can happen in this day and age.” 

Mr Finn said he believes these incidents have increased since covid as some people, particularly the elderly or those living alone, never fully reintegrated into society after that period.

“It’s desperately sad that people die in such circumstances, even acknowledging the complexity of some situations and not knowing the full circumstances of people’s lives.

“People locally can’t believe it.

“It underlines the need for people and for neighbours to look out for each other.

“If you haven’t seen or heard from someone in a while check in with then, or tell gardaí or support services.

“People sometimes want to stick to themselves but for that to happen it's tragic. It's tragic for the person themselves and it's tragic for the family.

“I just wonder how it can happen in modern society. And I think we need to learn lessons from it.”