Mother and baby die in suspected murder-suicide in Dublin

A mother and her seven-month-old baby were found dead in their home on the Meath/Dublin border on Saturday afternoon in an apparent murder-suicide. 

Kate Donohoe, who was in her 40s, and her seven-month-old son Vincent may have been dead for several days before their bodies were discovered in their house in Clonee. 

Gardaí (Irish police) are treating the incident as a murder-suicide following the discovery of a note at the scene, the Irish Independent reports. 

The house was sealed off on Saturday as members of the Garda Technical Bureau carried out a technical examination of the property, while toxicology tests are also being carried out to help determine the cause of death. 

A Garda source told the Irish Independent that the woman, who was found in a room upstairs, had been dead for at least 24 hours when her body was discovered. 

Emergency services attended the scene at around 3 p.m. on Saturday after concerned neighbors in the Beechfield Court estate tried to contact Donohoe and subsequently raised the alarm. 

Donohoe has been described as a dog lover and a champion of animal welfare. She was also described as a well-respected neighbor who had never come to the attention of gardaí before her death. 

Neighbors left flowers, toys, and a chocolate teddy bear wrapped in silver foil outside the house as a tribute to the mother and daughter, while a number of people paid tribute on social media. 

One woman wrote that "the world was a better place with Kate in it", while another said that Donohoe was "always generous with her time". 

"I knew her to be so kind and generous with her knowledge and time. A huge loss to this world," another person said.