Post-mortem examinations will take place today on the bodies of three brothers who died in a suspected double murder-suicide in Cork.
60-year-old Paddy and 66-year-old Willie Hennessy were found beaten to death at the family farm near Mitchelstown yesterday morning.
Their brother, 59-year-old Johnny, was found dead in a river nearby a short time later.
A dispute over land or farm income is being considered as a possible motive.
Armed Support Units were sent to the farm on Thursday night after a woman called Gardaí and informed them that her father had been killed at his family's farm.
A cordon was set up around the farm and officers found the body of one man in the yard of the farmhouse and a second body in a barn.
Gardaí believe the two men were killed before the third fled in a van belonging to one of the victims.
Ambulance crew at the scene near Killacluig, close to Mitchelstown, yesterday. Credit: Brendan Gleeson/PA Wire/PA ImagesAn alert was launched earlier to trace the whereabouts of a red Toyota Corolla van, with registration 03-WW-1556, in connection with the investigation.
People were urged not to approach the vehicle, and instead contact Gardaí by calling 999.
The car has been removed from the Killacluig farmhouse for a technical examination.
'Visible shock'
Ralph Riegel, Southern Correspondent for the Irish Independent, said people were "visibly shocked" when the news emerged yesterday.
He told Newstalk Breakfast with Susan Keogh that the three men were friends as much as brothers who worked together and were described as"salt of the earth people".
"They were always doing favours for neighbours, they were always helping out, very popular within the community," he said.
They were private, quiet men but were "stalwarts" of the local community, Ralph added.
He said: "I suppose what has really exaggerated the level of shock is the sheer violence that was involved here
"Unfortunately, in relation to the death of Willie and Paddy, it is believed it was an axe that was used.
"In the case of Johnny, whose body was recovered from the river, just a couple of kilometres from the family home where the bodies of his two older brothers were found, Johnny is believed to have drowned."
Garda forensics arriving at the area near Killacluig Church, close to Mitchelstown, yesterday. Credit: Brendan Gleeson/PA Wire/PA ImagesNo indication of something amiss
Ralph said that people who knew the bothers were "doubting themselves" following the tragedy, looking for signs that might indicate there was something wrong.
He added: " Every person I spoke to said there was absolutely no inkling that something like this could happen.
"That's what really shocked people, as well as the level of violence, the fact that there was absolutely no indication that there was anything wrong here or any kind of a precursor or warning of these awful events to come.
Gardaí are appealing to anyone with any information to contact them.
Additional reporting by Jack Quann and Michael Staines
