The elderly man found dead at his home in Tipperary this week is believed to have died of natural causes.
According to reports, Nicholas Smith's death is now being treated as a natural one, while his wife's death is still deemed inconclusive.
Gardai are currently searching for relatives of the pair with no one having contacted them so far about the deaths.
The couple, who have been named as Nicholas (Nick) and Hilary Smith, aged 81 and 79 respectively, are originally from the UK.
Gardai found a milk carton in the fridge dated in 2020 which may help confirm the timeline of the couple's death. Mr Smith's body was found in one of the bedrooms while his wife was found in the living room.
READ MORE: All we know so far after couple discovered dead in house after 18 months
Locals had known the couple were due to travel to France at that time and that someone had been asked to cut their grass while they were away.
It's understood post-mortems on the bodies on Tuesday were inconclusive and gardaí now hope to use laboratory and toxicology tests to determine the cause of death because of the condition of the bodies. Dental records and DNA were used in the identification of the deceased.
Several upset locals in the tight-knit community of Cloneen, have spoken of their shock as they try to come to terms with the double tragedy.
“It’s such a shock for everyone. It seems their bodies were there for a long time,” one said.
“They told people they were emigrating to France or somewhere in late 2020 so people were under the assumption they had moved away,” a shocked local told this paper.
“It’s just shocking. It’s awfully sad and everyone is in disbelief, floored and shell-shocked. It’s very tragic,” another upset local said.
Another said: “It’s wicked shocking. Something like this has never happened around here before. I just can’t understand it. Everyone is in shock.”
Local councillor and publican of The Thatch pub in the village, Mark Fitzgerald said he too has been left shocked over the couple’s deaths.
With a population of only 60 residents in the small, rural agricultural village and 600 residents in the hinterland, the couple “kept to themselves,” according to Cllr Fitzgerald.
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