Town in shock after discovery of pregnant mother’s body

Residents in the Co Meath village of Dunboyne were described as “devastated” last night after a 35-year-old pregnant woman was found in the sea near Howth.

Anna Byrne, a nurse who was 38 weeks pregnant with twins, disappeared from her home at Beechdale on Wednesday morning. Her family was contacted when she failed to collect her son from creche.

Anna was a mother of two boys, one in primary school and the other attending a local childcare centre. She was married to Terry and the couple, originally from Dublin, had moved to Dunboyne about five years earlier. They were described by locals as “a couple who kept to themselves”.