Carlow farmers to receive a joint wake

The two Carlow farmers who died in an apparent midweek murder-suicide will be given a joint wake today in their native Bagenalstown.

The development comes as gardaí recovered a second shotgun, suspected of being the murder weapon used by Michael Jordan in shooting his brother-in-law George Rothwell.

The body of Mr Rothwell, 71, was found in the kitchen of his sprawling home at Ballycormick at 7am on Wednesday after the fire brigade spent four hours tackling an intense fire which engulfed three large sheds adjacent to his home.

Detectives are investigating if Mr Rothwell and Mr Jordan, 51, had engaged in a shoot out. The two were armed with shotguns but gardaí do not know if both men opened fire or whether the blasts solely came from Mr Jordan’s gun.

Mr Rothwell’s gun was found underneath him. An autopsy showed the bachelor had been shot more than once.

Afterwards, Mr Jordan — husband of Mr Rothwell’s sister Hilda — walked back across the fields to his neighbouring farm and took his own life inside a barn.

Garda search teams yesterday found a second shotgun after scouring the farms.

Garda sources said they had recovered shotgun cartridges and wadding from Mr Rothwell’s farm. Ballistic experts are examining them to determine if they came from both weapons or just Mr Jordan’s.

Detectives spoke to Hilda Jordan on Wednesday for a brief period. Sources said she was not able to talk for long as she was traumatised. The sources said they would try to talk to her again in the coming days.

Ms Jordan, brought up in the Church of Ireland tradition along with her brother, is understood to have made the decision to have her husband and brother waked jointly today in a funeral home in Bagenalstown.

They will be buried tomorrow after funeral ceremonies in their respective parish churches.

Gardaí have spoken to men who worked on Mr Rothwell’s farm, but said they were not able to shed light on possible motives.

Gardaí confirmed they were investigating reports in relation to a land dispute the two men had.

This may have centred on Mr Jordan trying to get access to land left to his wife.

After Hilda and George’s father, Fred, passed away, the farm is believed to have been split between them.

Some local sources said Mr Jordan wanted access to some of that land, while other locals disputed this.

The Rothwell farm is several hundred acres in size.

One Garda source said: “We are looking in to the land thing, but we haven’t bottomed it out yet... We are still scratching our heads. They were on friendly terms. They helped each other out on the farms, going to each other’s homes. Why it got to this stage and so quickly is unclear.”

Gardaí are trying to establish a clear timeline.