Tributes to Irish Rail employee and 'pure gentleman' found dead in Tipperary 

Ian Walsh's death is being treated as suspicious in nature

Ian Walsh, who was found dead in his home in Tipperary. Picture: Táilte Tours/Facebook

Tributes have been paid to Irish Rail employee and "pure gentleman" Ian Walsh who was found dead in Carrick-on-Suir in south Tipperary in the early hours of Monday morning.

The body of Mr Walsh, aged 49, was discovered by relatives at his home in Ravenswood on Cregg Road at 3.30am.

Family members raised the alarm and gardaí and emergency services attended at the scene. Mr Walsh was formally pronounced dead by a local GP. He had a number of injuries to his body. It is understood he had not been seen for a few days.

An autopsy will be carried out on Tuesday at University Hospital Waterford, which will determine the course of the Garda investigation. 

However, the death is being treated as suspicious in nature, and it is suspected that Mr Walsh was fatally stabbed.

A murder investigation is expected once post-mortem results have been released to gardaí.

The last confirmed sighting of Mr Walsh was on Friday evening.

“He was a very friendly man, well liked by everyone,” a friend of Mr Walsh’s, Ciaran Casey, said.

“He was well known by us drivers in Bus Éireann as he travelled with us on many occasions.

Mr Walsh “loved his bike, you could find him cycling anywhere” and he also loved to travel, Mr Casey said.

“He travelled a lot when he could.”

Mr Walsh was well-known and liked by his colleagues in Irish Rail, and by railway enthusiasts around the country.

Táilte Tours, a railway heritage group, said it felt extreme sadness at the passing of Mr Walsh, who was a “signaller at Cork station and a huge supporter” of its rail tour operation.

"Ian ran five rail tours of his own over the course of the mid to late 2000s, and was very much a pioneer in 'outside the box' tours in Ireland, starting them from locations such as Waterford and Limerick, in an era when tours were generally based in Dublin or Belfast.

"He was more than happy to pass his experience and expertise on when we started operations a few years ago; for those of you who enjoyed the 'surprise' rare track moves on our Cork-based rail tours, you can thank Ian, who went far beyond the extra mile to ensure our operations went off without a hitch.

"He had a wonderful knowledge of the Iarnród Éireann system and its people, and had also developed a passion for Bus Éireann operations, diligently recording the last runs on several rural routes in the south east as they disappeared, quickly becoming a friend to bus drivers in the Cork and Waterford areas.” 

Iarnród Éireann expressed shock at the passing of a “well-known and popular colleague”. 

In a statement, the company said: “All us in Iarnród Éireann are shocked and saddened at Ian’s passing. Ian was a well known and popular colleague across the company, both in his working life in roles from catering to signalling, and for his passion for railway and transport tourism and heritage.

"Our thoughts are with his family, and his friends in the railway and beyond, at this difficult time.”

Mr Walsh, who was also a licensed bus driver, was known for his passion for railway and transport tourism and heritage. He was known as “Squinty” to his many friends.

Meanwhile, gardaí are attempting to establish the last known movements of Mr Walsh. Door-to-door inquiries will be carried out in the estate where he lived.

Gardaí will also check CCTV security camera footage from houses in the area to determine any movements to and from the property.

Gardaí are appealing for anyone with information related to the incident to come forward, including any road users who were in the area of Cregg Road between 8pm on Friday and 3.30am on Monday.

Additionally, anyone who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) and was travelling in the area at the time is asked to make it available to gardaí.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Clonmel Garda Station on 052 617 7640, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.