A post mortem is to be carried out today on the skeleton of a woman discovered on Monday by a doctor on a house call in east Mayo.
The doctor was called by the dead person's brother to attend to his other sister, who hurt her leg after falling in the bathroom.
While on his call, the doctor asked about other residents in the house and when he went to check he found the body, which had gone well past the decomposition stage.
The dead woman was named as Agnes Lyons, a single woman who lived with her brother, Sonny, and sister, Mary Ellen, in a bungalow at Carrownedan, Aughamore, Ballyhaunis.
The surviving sister is believed to be in her late 60s while Sonny, a former milk salesman, is in his early 70s.
It is understood that there may have been what are described as "communications problems" between members of the family for some time and that the woman who died may have isolated herself in her room.
In latter years, according to neighbours, she is believed to have made contact with the rest of her family by passing notes beneath her bedroom door.
Prior to conducting a post mortem in the morgue of Mayo General Hospital, pathologist Dr GP Solan travelled to the bungalow where the dead woman lived to examine the scene and investigate the conditions in which she lived.
The house where the family lived is unoccupied at the moment as Sonny Lyons has gone to stay with relations and his sister is in hospital for treatment for a leg injury.
Neighbours are shocked that such a thing should happen.
"If we knew there was anything wrong, we definitely would have acted. Nobody knew she was dead. One of the neighbours even visited the night before the body was found," said an eyewitness.
He added: "We did not think there was anything wrong, even though we hadn't seen Agnes for a long time."
Both of the sisters "went out of circulation some years ago", according to neighbours. Their brother did all their shopping for them.
The brother and sisters were very religious and looked after their parents extremely well until their deaths. In recent years, the family became increasingly reclusive and introverted.