TRIBUTES HAVE BEEN paid to a woman in her 60s who died in a tragic accident in Co Kilkenny.

Mary O’Shea was chopping wood as a branch fell on her on Saturday evening by her home in Raheen, Piltown.

The farmer, who was also a respected historian and poet in the locality, was later pronounced dead and her body was removed from the scene by gardaí.

It is understood her death is being treated as a tragic accident. 

O’Shea, who was a longstanding member of the South Kilkenny Historical Society, has been credited as the “go-to person” for people visiting the local area to trace their family history.

She wrote four books outside of her farm work, ranging from documenting her local parish of Templeorum to a history of a farmers’ cooperative in nearby Piltown, according to the society’s chairperson Eddie Synott.

“She does leave a rich legacy. Not alone was she knowledgeable but she had a great appreciation of what our ancestors left behind,” Synott told The Journal.

“She was a very quiet person but was very clued-in and intelligent. If anyone wanted information on something she’d try help them as much as she could. She will be sorely missed by everybody who knew her.”