Neighbour saw pensioner’s curtains were ‘alive with bluebottles’

A pensioner’s body was found in her bedroom after a neighbour noticed that her curtains were "alive with bluebottles", an inquest heard.

Maureen O’Reilly, 79, had been dead for up to two months before she was found at her home at College Drive, Terenure, on June 17 last year.

Dublin Coroner’s Court heard from her niece, Denise Church, that she was a very private woman who did not like letting people into the house. The family would meet up with her every two to three months.

Ms O’Reilly suffered from diabetes. Her neighbour, Monica Dinan, said that she remembered going into the house at some point in the two months prior to the discovery and Ms O’Reilly showed her her legs, which were very swollen. She advised her see a doctor but she would not go to the doctor or a hospital, said Ms Dinan.

The alarm was raised by another neighbour, Vera Carroll, who became concerned for Ms O’Reilly, having not seen her since March. She spoke to Ms O’Reilly’s next-door neighbour, who told her that he could hear the radio in the house at night. She said when she looked toward the bedroom window she could see that “the curtains were alive with bluebottles”. She contacted Ms O’Reilly’s sister, who said she had not heard from her. She then called gardaí to inform them of her concerns.

The autopsy was carried out by former deputy State pathologist Khalid Jaber. However, he was unable to give a cause of death due to the decomposition. There were no injuries to suggest any trauma inflicted to the body, coroner Brian Farrell said.

Ms O’Reilly was last seen by the family in March during Easter, and mail from mid-April was found opened in the house. Garda Shay Kilbride said the house was secure, there were no suspicious circumstances, and nothing to suspect that the death was self-inflicted.

In the absence of a cause of death, Dr Farrell returned an open verdict.