Top advertising executive killed by house intruder

A leading advertising professional was murdered today after she disturbed an intruder at her home in an exclusive area of north Dublin.

Mother-of-one Celine Cawley was found with serious head injuries on the patio at the back of her house on Howth Head at around 10am and died less than an hour later in hospital.

It is believed the 46-year-old's husband arrived home after a morning walk with the family dog to find his wife lying unconscious and chased the attacker from the hillside property.

Gardaí issued a description of the prime suspect who is in his mid to late 20s, of slight build, around 5'10" and was either wearing or carrying a balaclava.

Detectives believe he escaped by running through the back garden and out into a laneway.

Ms Cawley was well known in media and advertising circles in Ireland after building her Toytown Films company into one of the country's most high profile production houses.

Colleagues tonight said they were stunned by her horrific murder.

"We are all incredibly shocked," a spokesman for the firm said before appealing for privacy.

The alarm was raised shortly before 10am. It is believed Ms Cawley's husband had been out of the house for most of the morning after taking their teenage daughter to school.

There was no sign of a break-in at the luxury address and no weapon has been recovered.

It is understood Ms Cawley suffered head injuries in the attack.

Gardaí appealed for anyone who may have seen anything unusual in the area to contact detectives in Clontarf.

"They are keen to talk to anyone who may have seen a male acting suspiciously in the Windgate Road/Carrickbrach Road or the summit area of Howth between 9am and 10.30am," a Garda spokesman said.

Joan Maher, local councillor, said it was a disturbing murder in a normally quiet area.

"I'm absolutely shocked and stunned. It's horrendous coming up to Christmas," she said.

"It's an area popular with walkers, around the hill but it's a seriously quiet area. On a Monday morning there would be nobody about."

Meanwhile, the home and garden tonight remained sealed off as forensic teams examined the site with both the state pathologist's office and the Garda Technical Bureau called in.

A post mortem is to be carried out tomorrow.

Set up in 1990 by Ms Cawley, Toytown has worked with a variety of advertising agencies and had clients such as Diageo, Coca Cola, Heineken, the National Lottery, O2 and Carlsberg.