The tragic news that an elderly couple were found dead in the home in Mayo broke yesterday evening.

The bodies of the man, believed to be in his 70s and the woman, believed to be in her 60s, were found in the house by Gardaí after an alarm was raised by a family acquaintance at approximately 3pm on Tuesday afternoon. The couple’s bungalow is located in a secluded area about a mile from Irishtown village. The identities of the deceased have been confirmed by The Irish Times this morning as Tom Fitzgerald, a painting and decorating contractor and his wife, Kitty. According to The Times, the couple were considered “community stalwarts” and good neighbours. Sources say the couple received severe injuries, consistent with being beaten. A third person at the scene was found with injuries. The man, in his 30s is believed to be the couple’s son. He was first taken to University Hospital Galway but it is believed that he has been transferred to a Dublin hospital for treatment. Local man, Joe Reapy, spoke to The Independent. "Tom had a great spirit when it came to community matters. If anything was going on Tom was sure to have a hand in it.” "It's shocking hard to believe this lovely couple are gone," he said. Parish Priest, Fr Martin O’Connor said: "It is the biggest tragedy to have hit the area.” "Tom was a eucharistic minister for years. He was very heavily involved in the community with Foróige and the football club.” “Anything that was for the betterment of the community Tom was all for it.” "Both of them were lovely people to meet. You always felt better for it if you had a conversation with them." Our thoughts are with the family of the deceased.