Gardaí are treating the death of a woman whose body was found near the banks of the River Shannon on the north side of Limerick city as suspicious.
A man out walking his dog discovered the body of the partially-clothed woman believed to be in her late 40s shortly before 9.30am near Thomondgate. She was taken by emergency services from the water in an area known locally as Donnellan’s Field at New Road, Kileely.
A large area where the discovery was made was cordoned off.
Gardaí remain at the scene with forensic teams and a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the woman’s death has been launched.
The office of the State Pathologist has been informed and a postmortem is due be carried out later today or tomorrow at the Mid Western Regional Hospital.
Insp Brian Sugrue, who is leading the investigation, said the death of the woman is being treated as suspicious until the facts are established.
“The death is being treated as suspicous at this time until the facts are established, where it can be definitively investigated or ruled as an accident, one or the other,” he said.
“The woman is not identified at this time. It’s very early stages in the investigation, she has been removed to the Mid Western Regional Hospital and the services of the State Pathologist, Professor Cassidy have been requested.
“We are appealing for any witnesses or any persons that may be able to assist us in this very early stage of the investigation as to the identity of this lady or any other information that they may have,” he added.
Anyone with information is asked to contact gardaí at Mayorstone on (061) 445980