Gardaí launch two murder inquiries

GARDAI in Clonmel were last night continuing to question a 28-year-old man following the discovery of a body in a house in the Co Tipperary town.

A murder investigation was launched after the 45-year-old, originally from Cork, was found dead in a bedroom at a house in the Carrigeen estate at 2.30am yesterday.

The victim was named locally as Kieran Cambridge, who was believed to have been living in the house with his partner.

It is believed that he was stabbed to death following a break-in. He was in bed at the time.

His partner dialled 999 but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The man arrested is believed to be a local and he was held yesterday at the local Garda station.

The house where the man’s body was found is located at the end of a cul de sac in Carrigeen, an estate which has been the focus of a Garda clampdown on antisocial behaviour in the past.

Mayor of Clonmel Cllr Richie Molloy said last night that he was “saddened” by the number of violent deaths in the town in the past number of years.

Meanwhile, gardaí in Longford are investigating the suspicious death of a local mother of two whose body was found in the bathroom of a vacant house in the town centre on Saturday night.

It is understood that clumps of hair and blood were found at the scene where the body of barmaid Sharon Coughlan was discovered.

A postmortem examination revealed that she had been strangled.

Ms Coughlan was a popular member of staff at the Market Bar. She was rearing her two young children on her own and was described by one local as “a woman who was well-liked by everyone, a hard worker, and without any airs or graces”.

Garda sources said the body of Ms Coughlan, who was in her early 40s, was found in a vacant house just a few doors from where she lived at Great Water Street.

Technical experts carried out an extensive examination of the scene yesterday, including scrubland to the front and rear of the house.

The alarm was raised by one of Ms Coughlan’s children, who couldn’t make contact with her by telephone on Saturday.

The grim discovery was made by the landlord of the vacant house, where refurbishments are currently underway. The house has been vacant for over two months.

St Mel’s Road, Bannon Terrace and Great Water Street were all closed to traffic yesterday as gardaí carried out their examination.

No arrests have been made in connection with the death.

“Sharon went about her business quietly. She worked hard in the Market Bar and was well known and liked by a huge amount of people. It is a terrible tragedy that has left the town in shock,” said one local.

People with information relating to the two cases are requested to call gardaí in Clonmel at 052-77649 and in Longford at 043-50570.