A NORTH CLARE MARRIED COUPLE who were found dead on Thursday afternoon have been named locally.
After a family friend raised the alarm, emergency services attended the scene of a domestic property in Kilnaboy on Thursday afternoon, at approximately 2:30pm where they discovered two bodies.
Joe and Claire Collins, a married couple both aged in their fifties have been named locally as the two fatalities. Claire was manager of the Burren Centre while Joe worked in Ennis and was an active member of Dolmen Cycling.
Their bodies were removed from their home on Thursday night for a post-mortem examination to take place at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) by Assistant State Pathologist Dr. Margot Bolster.
These post-mortems will determine the course the investigation takes, Superintendent John Ryan confirmed.
A Family Liaison Officer has been appointed to the family of the deceased. Gardaí in Co. Clare are appealing to anyone who may have information to contact them. Anyone with information is asked to contact Ennis Garda Station on 065 684 8100 the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.
In a statement on Friday morning, Dolmen Cycling Club paid tribute to their deceased member. “On behalf of Dolmen Cycling Club and the wider cycling community in Clare and beyond we announce the untimely deaths of our club member Joe Collins and his wife Claire at their home in Kilnaboy our deepest sympathies go out to the immediate family and friends of the Collins family. It is hard to imagine our spins without Joe”.
Colleagues of Claire’s have described her as “not just our manger but one great friend”.
