A 68 year-old pensioner who lived alone and whose remains were found in the bedroom of his house near the centre of a busy Cork suburb had been dead for close to five weeks, an inquest into the man's death concluded yesterday.
Mr John Healy's remains were found lying on a bed at his house at Carlton, Douglas Lawn in Douglas, Cork city on August 8th last year when gardaí together with his nephew, Brendan, called to the house after neighbours expressed concerns about Mr Healy's welfare.
Mr Healy was fully dressed and lying on top of the bed partially covered by a blanket. Garda Linda Conway told South Cork Coroner, Mr Frank O'Connell.There was no sign of any disturbance and she was satisfied that there was nothing suspicious about his death.
Garda Conway said she spoke to neighbours who said they had not seen Mr Healy for a number of days.
"They said he kept to himself," she told the inquest.
Mr Brendan Healy told the inquest that he and his father and other family members had been on holiday in France from July 2nd to 17th. He had last spoken to his uncle in June but he called to the house on August 8th after a neighbour, Mr Joe O'Regan, rang them concerned about his uncle.
Mr Michael Healy said his brother was an active man and was not suffering from any illness that they were aware of. They found no medication in the house and the only clues to when he died were the Evening Echo of July 3rd and a July 4th stamp on his pension book.
"He liked to put a couple of bob on the horses and he thought the Evening Echo was the best for tips so he got it religiously - he got the Echo on the 3rd of July and I reckon that he drew his pension on the 4th of July and went home . . . I'm satisfied that he never left the house again."
Dr Margaret Bolster carried out a post-mortem on Mr Healy's remains on August 10th but was unable to establish an exact cause of death because of the extensive decomposition. She was satisfied he had not suffered any bone fractures.
Mr O'Connell said it was reasonable to conclude that Mr Healy had not suffered any accident and he believed that he died from natural causes after taking ill and lying down on his bed sometime on July 4th.
Mr O'Connell returned a verdict that Mr Healy died at his home of natural causes on or around July 4th, 2003.