Elderly couple found dead in Tipperary home named locally as Nicholas and Hilary Smith

It is understood that gardaí do not suspect foul play. Picture: Brendan Gleeson

The elderly couple whose bodies may have lain undiscovered in their house for up to a year have been named locally as Nicholas and Hilary Smith.

The English couple lived like ‘ghosts’ and kept themselves to themselves, rarely venturing out of the house, local residents said today.

They were believed to have been in their 70s and 80s and gardaí suspect they could have died up to at least a year ago.

They are understood to have bought the house just outside the village of Cloneen, near Clonmel, Co Tipperary, from a local man about 10 years ago.

They are also understood to have told a local resident that they were planning to sell the house, which they are understood to have paid around €190,000 for in 2012.

It was thought locally that they had in fact sold up and moved back to the UK.

The Irish Examiner understands that a local resident had a “gut feeling” that something was wrong, and he and another resident decided to raise the alarm and ask the gardaí to do a “welfare check” on the couple.

The bodies have been removed from the scene for post-mortem examination.

“The couple’s car was parked around the back, but there was absolutely no sign of life,” said a resident who asked not to be named.

“It was understood that they were going to move out and everybody thought they had moved out.

“But there was a guy who kept on about how he didn’t think everything added up.

“Why, he used to ask, was such a lovely house just lying idle if it had been sold and the couple had moved out?

“The fact that the car was still there led some of us to think the car was sold with the house.” 

Another resident, who asked not to be named, told the Irish Examiner: “I don’t know much about them and I have found very few people who do, or even met them and spoke to them.

“They were like ghosts. They rarely mixed, they really did keep themselves to themselves and you’d be hard-pressed to find anybody who knew them," they said.

“They don’t appear to have had any friends or family. They were always together."

A local resident, who asked not to be named, said he had heard a handyman had been given €500 by the couple and asked to keep cutting the lawn until the money ran out.

"It's all very strange," the resident said.

"So few people knew them. I've spoken to people who lived less than a mile away and they swear they have never met the couple in their lives.

"I heard someone say that one of the last time the couple were seen they gave €500 to a guy to cut their lawn and to keep cutting it until the money ran out.

"I think he thought they had either gone on a very long holiday or had to go back to the UK for a spell."

The English couple are understood to have bought the house, just outside the village of Cloneen, near Clonmel, Co Tipperary, from a local man about three years ago

Local Fine Gael councillor Mark Fitzgerald, whose family owns The Thatch pub in the village, said: “Everybody is just numb. This is the sort of thing you hear about in the news, not something in a small rural community like this.

“People are doing some pondering right now. Everybody’s thoughts and prayers are with the family of this couple.” 

It is understood that the couple, who were discovered around 4pm yesterday, were found in separate rooms in the house after gardaí gained entry.

Their bodies were removed to University Hospital Waterford where Chief State Pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan is due to carry out postmortems. Due to the nature of the decomposition of their bodies, this process may take several days.

It is understood that gardaí do not suspect foul play.

It has been reported that the couple was in receipt of pensions, but these continued to be paid into a bank account and utility bills continued to be paid from the same account by standing order.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin says the discovery, is a reminder to "look out for our neighbours", especially the elderly or vulnerable people who need support.