Gardaí in Co Monaghan investigating the sudden death of a local farmer yesterday said that preliminary results from a postmortem indicated that the man died from natural causes.
Neighbours of Charlie Connolly (44) expressed their shock after his son had found his body in his home at Cornacassa near Monaghan town at lunchtime yesterday.
There were unconfirmed reports that his death was being treated as suspicious as neighbours said they heard "some disturbance in the house" at about 5am.
However gardaí said last night that initial findings from the post-mortem showed the man died from natural causes.
It is understood that Mr Connolly's eldest son, Paul, who is in his early 20s, found his father's body in the farmhouse and alerted relatives who live nearby.
Emergency services were called and a team from the Garda Technical Bureau were brought in to examine the scene.
The house is close to the main road in a quiet residential area where the neighbours include the family of a former Garda superintendent.
At 5pm the body was removed by ambulance to Dublin where a postmortem was carried out.
The forensic team remained at the scene, which was still sealed off until late yesterday.
Mr Connolly was married with three sons - Paul, Charles jnr (20) and Patrick (17). He came from a well-known farming family in Monaghan and was a popular figure in agricultural and hunting circles.
A neighbour of the Connollys said: "We are totally shocked. Charlie was well liked and a good neighbour who would go out of his road to do a turn for you."