LAST UPDATE | 8 Jul

TRIBUTES HAVE BEEN paid to Jamey Carney, the woman who was found dead at a house in Killarney yesterday. 

Gardaí investigating her death are treating it as a murder case. It is understood gardaí are continuing to search for a man who was known to Carney and who is believed to have fled the scene. 

She was found dead with severe head injuries in her house in Homeland, a small estate of detached houses on the Muckross Road in Killarney.

A garda spokesperson said this evening that a post-mortem examination had been completed but that the details were not being released for operational reasons.

“The scene at Muckross Road, Killarney remains preserved, and a technical examination of this location is continuing,” the spokesperson said.

“A Senior Investigating Officer has been appointed to lead the investigation. An incident room has been established at Killarney Garda Station.”

Carney was a 43-year-old health worker originally from Westchester in New York, was the mother of a teenage daughter.

She worked for a telehealth and outsourcing company based in the US and Ireland, and had been living in Ireland for the past four years.

The Mayor of Killarney, Councillor John O’Donoghue said that he frequently saw Carney around the town as she was an “active” and “social” person who had built up a network of friends in her time living there. 

“Her daughter plays football with a local team and she herself was well known within the community, she had a wide circle of friends” he said. 

O’Donoghue added that the local community is “shocked” at the tragic news. 

“People have been out enjoying the good weather, there’s been a happy uplifting atmosphere, and with this news everyone is in total disbelief. This sort of thing does not happen here, and everyone is just very impacted by it, and thinking of her daughter and her family,” he said. 

The National Women’s Council of Ireland today said: “Our hearts are so heavy this morning as we mourn the death of Jamey Carney, another woman killed in violent circumstances on our island”. 

“Women everywhere deserve to live free from fear and violence,” they added. 

Sarah Lynch, a woman who was in a WhatsApp group for American women living in Kerry that Jamey was a member of, said that she and the other members of the group are “in shock”. 

“The shock to our group is very heavy today. We’re all grieving for our little expat community but especially for her daughter and her family,” she added. 

A cul-de-sac off Muckross Road in Killarney was closed off by gardaí yesterday. Google Maps Google Maps

Gardaí and emergency services responded to what they described as an “incident” at the property, where Carney was pronounced dead at the scene.

A post-mortem examination has been carried out, the results of which will further inform the course of the investigation. 

Forensic tests were also conducted, and a senior investigating officer has been appointed to lead the inquiry.

Gardaí are continuing to appeal for witnesses.

Anyone who was in the Muckross Road area of Killarney between the evening of 6 July and the afternoon of 7 July, and who may have CCTV, doorbell camera or dashcam footage, is asked to contact gardaí.