A MAN has been arrested in connection with the discovery of four bodies in a house in Co Limerick.

The bodies of two children and two adults were found in a house at Newcastle West this afternoon. Gardai were called to the house in the Hazel Grove estate in the Co Limerick town just before 2pm by a member of the public. The officers who came to the scene found the bodies of two children upstairs and the adults downstairs.

The two female adults are believed to be best friends, both in their 20s. The two children were a boy, aged three, and a girl, aged one. They are the children of the dead women.

The Limerick Leader newspaper reported at first that gardai were looking for a gunman in connection with the deaths but it is now believed that they the adults were found with stab wounds. A man has now been arrested in connection with the deaths.

The house in Newcastle West was sealed off for forensic examination and the arrival of members of the State Pathologist’s Office.

The Chairman of Limerick County Council called today a “black day for the people of Newcastlewest”. He continued:

I would call on the people of County Limerick and indeed, the rest of the country to pray for the loved ones of those whose lives have been so tragically cut short. Newcastle West is a close-knit community that works together in making the town a great place to live, work and visit. the community is in a state of shock and disbelief at this tragedy. On behalf of the people of Limerick, I would like to express my heartfelt condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives in the town today.

Meanwhile, the Assistant State Pathologist had already been called this morning to a house in Ballycotton, Co Cork where the bodies of two sisters, one aged six years and the other aged two years, were found. A man in his 40s died just two kilometres away when his car hit a tree on the road to Shanagarry. It has been reported that he is the girls’ father. The girls’ mother had left for work in Cork city at around 7.30am.