GARDAÍ have upgraded to a murder inquiry their investigation into the death of a woman at her home in the early hours of yesterday.
The mother of three had sustained serious head wounds and other trauma injuries to her body consistent with having been beaten.
Gardaí believe she was attacked in her home in Dundalk, Co Louth, where she was found.
The dead woman had not been named by gardaí last night, but had been named locally as Jacqueline McDonagh.
The dead woman’s husband is Michael Quinn McDonagh, who recently appeared in the RTÉ television documentary Knuckle about bare-knuckle boxing in the Traveller community.
He was at the family home on the College Manor estate in Dundalk when his wife was fatally attacked. The couple’s three children, Chloe (14), Nikita (10) and Mikey (5), were also in the house at the time.
The 34-year-old victim was found injured at the house by gardaí and paramedics at about 3.15am. She was pronounced dead at the scene, and the house and garden were sealed off overnight by gardaí.
The remains lay at the scene until yesterday morning, when a preliminary examination of Ms McDonagh’s body was carried out there by Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis.
The body was then taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, where Dr Curtis carried out a postmortem yesterday afternoon. While the results of that examination had not been released last night, Garda sources said the dead woman had a gash to her head and other trauma injuries consistent with having been beaten.
The dead woman’s husband and children have family in the Dundalk area and also in nearby Navan, Co Meath. They were with relatives last night.
Ms McDonagh was from Navan and had lived in Finglas, Dublin, with her husband before they relocated to Dundalk.
Members of the Garda Technical Bureau spent yesterday carrying out a forensic examination of the family home in Dundalk.
Uniformed gardaí also carried out door-to-door inquiries in the hope that some neighbours may have heard something early yesterday that could help gardaí solve the case.
Supt Gerry Curley of Dundalk Garda asked that anyone “who saw or heard anything suspicious between midnight and 3.30am to contact us in confidence”.
An incident room has been set up at Dundalk Garda station, and a team of detectives has been assembled to work on the case.
Garda interviewers who have been specially trained to interview child witnesses and child victims of crime have been brought in to speak to the three children who were at home when their mother was killed.
Gardaí are also hopeful that their discussions with the dead woman’s husband may shed light on his wife’s last moments and the events that led to her death.
Gardaí are following a number of lines of inquiry.
