Gardaí in Co Galway have begun a murder inquiry after a postmortem showed a 77-year-old farmer whose body was discovered yesterday had died of head injuries.
Finbar Fahy's body was found at Ballinduff, Ardrahan at about 8am yesterday. A post-mortem examination revealed he died from blunt force trauma to the head.
Fr Richard Higgins, parish priest of St Teresa's, Ardrahan, was called to the scene less than two hours
after the tragic discovery.
"We're devastated because we're a very close-knit community here," Fr Higgins said, adding "he was a character."
Gardaí said there was no sign of a break-in at the two-storey farmhouse on the main N18 Gort to Galway road and no indication that anything was taken.
A Garda spokesman said a forensic examination of the scene is under way and gardaí are conducting house to house enquiries in the area.
An incident room has been set up in Gort Garda station.