{"id":52510,"date":"2025-09-30T10:26:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T10:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/52510\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T10:26:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T10:26:07","slug":"gardai-issue-appeal-over-deaths-of-well-respected-family-in-co-louth-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/52510\/","title":{"rendered":"Garda\u00ed issue appeal over deaths of \u2018well respected\u2019 family in Co Louth \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three members of the same family found dead in Co Louth were an \u201cintegral part of their local community\u201d, garda\u00ed have said.<\/p>\n

A man in his 30s is still under arrest after the bodies of Mark and Louise O\u2019Connor, and their son Evan were found at the family\u2019s home in Dromgowna, outside Tallanstown village, on Monday morning.<\/p>\n

Making an appeal for information at Drogheda Garda station on Tuesday, Superintendent Andrew Watters said: \u201cShortly before 10am yesterday, Monday September 29th, garda\u00ed received a call to attend a domestic residence at Drumgowna, Tallanstown, Co Louth.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn arrival at the house, uniform gardai discovered Mark O\u2019Connor (54), Louise O\u2019Connor (56) and their son Evan O\u2019Connor (27), deceased.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe O\u2019Connor family are a very well known and respected family. They are good neighbours and an integral part of their local community in Drumgowna and the wider area of Louth and Monaghan.\u201d<\/p>\n

The alarm was raised on Monday morning. When garda\u00ed, including the Armed Response Unit (ASU), arrived at the scene just over 5km from Tallanstown village in Co Louth, they found the remains of the victims at the property. <\/p>\n

A suspect, aged in his 30s, was arrested on foot in the area at about 10am. <\/p>\n

The man, who is the only suspect in the case, had earlier been seen walking roads close to the Louth-Monaghan boundary. He had tried to secure a lift to Tallanstown village.<\/p>\n

The motive for the three killings was unclear. However, medical attention was sought for the arrested man and Garda sources said an assessment of his mental condition formed part of their inquiries.<\/p>\n

The bodies of Mr and Ms O\u2019Connor and their son Evan, who had autism, were subject to a preliminary examination at the scene by a pathologist before their removal from the property on Monday night for full postmortem examinations.<\/p>\n

While the results of those postmortems were required before the nature of the criminal investigation under way could be formalised, garda\u00ed believe all three suffered stab wounds.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Couple killed in Co Louth had recently celebrated 33rd anniversary and paying off mortgageOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Superintendent Andrew Watters said garda\u00ed are continuing to investigate all of the circumstances of the \u201cfamily tragedy\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cA family liaison officer has been assigned to support the O\u2019Connor family.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na will keep the family informed of the ongoing investigation and support them as they come to terms with this tragedy. I am appealing for privacy for the family at this time.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na will also closely support the local community in the Drumgowna area over the coming days as they come to terms with the violent death of their neighbours.<\/p>\n

\u201cShortly after garda\u00ed arrived at the house yesterday morning, other responding garda\u00ed arrested a male nearby, aged in his 30s, in connection with this homicide incident.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe male is currently detained at a Garda station in the Louth area under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na are today continuing an investigation into all of the circumstances of this family tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The man\u2019s period of detention has been extended, meaning he must be charged or released by Tuesday evening. <\/p>\n

Supt Watters said postmortem examinations on the three victims would start on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe scene remains subject of an ongoing forensic examination by the Garda National Technical Bureau and Divisional Search Team. The offices of the coroner and the state pathologist have been notified.<\/p>\n

\u201cYesterday evening, the remains of the deceased were removed from the scene to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda and postmortem examinations will commence today.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn incident room has been established at Ardee Garda station.<\/p>\n

\u201cA senior investigating officer has been appointed to oversee this investigation. An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na is not looking for any other person in connection with this homicide investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am appealing to any person with any information on this incident to contact the Garda Investigation Team by calling Drogheda Garda station at 041 987 4200, the Garda Confidential Phone Number on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GardaiGardai at the scene of the fatal incident at a house near Tallanstown, Co Louth on Mondya. Photograph: Colin Keegan\/Collins, Dublin. <\/p>\n

The O\u2019Connors, who had three adult sons, had celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary on September 12th. Mr O\u2019Connor posted a photograph of himself and his wife on their wedding day on social media, saying they were \u201cstill very much in love\u201d. They had finished paying their mortgage in June, a milestone they celebrated.<\/p>\n

Mr O\u2019Connor worked for the National Advocacy Service Ireland, which provides advocacy for people with disabilities. Ms O\u2019Connor was very active in a wide number of social causes, including fundraising for mental health services and cancer charities.<\/p>\n

The family home, a bungalow on a remote road in rural Co Louth, was sealed off on Monday, with all roads into the location blocked by garda\u00ed. Members of the Garda technical bureau could be seen in white forensic suits gathering evidence at the scene, with the remains of the three victims still in situ. – Additonal reporting: PA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three members of the same family found dead in Co Louth were an \u201cintegral part of their local…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52511,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[45,61,60,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-52510","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-an-garda-siochana","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}