Gardaí continue to question man after woman found dead in burnt-out car in Cork
The remains of a burnt-out car are removed from Drumdeer Wood, at Doneraile, Co Cork where Gardai discovered a body of a woman on Thursday afternoon. Picture: Dan Linehan
Gardaí are retracing the steps of a 72-year-old woman found dead in a burnt-out car in woods in North Cork as they continue to question a Limerick man in connection with the killing.
The man has been arrested on suspicion of the unlawful killing of widowed mother of three, Mary O'Keeffe, and is being held at Fermoy Garda Station.
The arrest follows the discovery on Thursday of the body of Ms O’Keeffe, from Dromahane, in a burning car on a remote forest track in Dromdeer, near Doneraile, north Cork.
Detectives continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death and part of their focus will be on the relationship between the arrested man and the deceased.
Gardaí have 24 hours to question the man before charging him or releasing him.
The death of Ms O'Keeffe has left her home village reeling, with locals in disbelief at the loss of the 'kind, lovely woman'.
Dr Margot Bolster, the assistant State pathologist, completed her examination of the woodland scene yesterday morning and a full autopsy took place last night at Cork University Hospital.
The arrested man, aged 63, was rescued from the River Awbeg shortly after Ms O’Keeffe’s body was found in the woods, following the intervention of gardaí.
He was pulled from the water near Ballinamona Cross, where a bridge crosses over the river.
He was treated at the scene by paramedics and transferred to Cork University Hospital.
A local resident is understood to have spotted a man running in the area of forest where the Limerick-registered 2020 vehicle was burning.
Around the time the vehicle caught fire, another resident initially thought he had heard a bang.
When he saw the flames, he immediately called gardaí.
The deceased woman's own vehicle was later found about half a mile away, parked beside a small concrete water pump house a few hundred feet from the main road to Doneraile.
The rural community of Dromahane is reeling at news of the tragic death of one of its own.
Although few were out and about in the small north Cork village, those who spoke to the Irish Examiner were struggling with their emotion.
A softly-spoken widow who was intensely private, the mother-of-three was very well respected by those who had got to know her in the 50 or so years she had lived in the village.
A mother to three adult sons, two of whom are twins, she was also a devoted grandmother.
Villagers remain baffled as to who could possibly have harmed a woman who is affectionately described as a gem, and a "gas ticket".
One woman who knew her well is Ann O'Shea.
Herself and her husband Dennis had known the 72-year-old for 48 years.
They had also known her husband Donal, who died about 25 years ago.
Their own children were friends with Mary O'Keeffe's oldest son Ger and her twins, Christie and Donal.
“I was only talking to Mary literally about two days ago," said Anne.
“As usual she was very chatty, very cheerful and we asked each other how we were.
“She was in the backyard of her house, which backs onto my own backyard.
"She was always a very friendly, lovely woman.”
She paused briefly, taking a deep breath and repeated: “She was such a lovely warm woman.”
Tears glistened in her eyes as she smiled, recalling how Mary “loved the dancing”.
She had also been a keen card player, with '45' being one of her favourite games.
“Although she kept pretty much to herself, she was a fun-loving woman with a great sense of humour.
She added: “She also had a heart of gold and had nursed her brother-in-law Dennis after he contracted cancer.
"She was very kind. To be honest, you couldn't find a nicer person.”
She said she was aware Mary had a friend who lived in Ardpatrick, in Limerick but said she didn’t know too much about him.
Other Dromahane residents who knew Mary said that she used to dance at the Hazel Tree club near Mallow.
Mary was often seen in the village walking her two dogs, one of which is described as being a purebred collie.
She worked as a cook in a sheltered housing project in Mallow and was also said to have previously worked in Nazareth House, in north Cork.
Her car was the subject of a joke between herself and Ann.
“When she came back with the new 202-Reg car, we joked she must be rich,” she recalled. “She laughed and said: ‘Well, I’m broke now’.”
“I am just dumbfounded about what is happened,” Ann added of her friend’s death.
Equally shocked is another friend and close neighbour, 86-year-old former teacher John Joe Kavanagh.
"I have known her for more than 40 years and I taught her lads. She was just a kind, sociable woman and a very good neighbour.
“My sincerest sympathies go to her family, her friends and anyone who knew her.
“What has happened is just a terrible thing.”
Mary O'Keeffe was known to leave her house in Dromahane most mornings at around 7am to volunteer at a sheltered housing project outside Mallow in a place called Ballydaheen.
It is not clear if she was working on Thursday — friends believe she was on a day off.
One of the last times she appears to have been seen alive was on Wednesday, by a near neighbour and long term friend, Ann O’Shea.
Whether or not Mary went straight on Thursday to Dromdeer from her home, or from Ballydaheen, is not clear.
Either way, her white 202-Reg SUV was found parked by a small concrete water pump house about 200 yards up a small rural lane that leads through Lissard and around to Doneraile.
It is a popular spot for walkers to park their cars.
Whether she walked to the spot where she was later found dead, inside a burnt-out car, or was driven there, is also not yet clear.
The spot where her body was found at around 3.30pm is about half a mile along a forest path from the small lane where she parked.
The river in which the man was later rescued from is between two and three kilometres from the spot.
He is understood to have been rescued somewhere around Ballinamina Cross.
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