It has emerged that a man and woman found dead at a farmhouse in Limerick may have died in a joint suicide pact.
Local farmer and mechanic Thomas Ruttle and convicted fraudster Julia Holmes were found upstairs in their home lying on a bed at 3 am on Monday.
The bodies are believed to have been in the house for two months and had started to decompose. There were containers containing a small amount of liquid substance found close to the bodies.
Toxicology tests are to take place to determine if poisoning was the cause.
Gardai are also investigating two hand written notes that were left on the kitchen table.
They were believed to have been signed by both Thomas and Julia and they guided the Gardai upstairs to their bodies.
Gardai are appealing to anyone who may have seen the couple in the past two months.