An inquest has found that a farmer fatally wounded by multiple gunshots was unlawfully killed, while his brother-in-law, found later in a nearby farm shed, died by suicide.

The funerals of the two farmers killed in an apparent murder-suicide in Co Carlow on Wednesday are likely to be delayed after their bodies were only released last night to their families.

he family of two brothers-in-law found dead on neighbouring farms in a suspected murder-suicide have been devastated and numbed by the tragedy, a local priest said.