Gardaí in Co Cork were last night continuing to question a 38-year-old woman about the fatal shooting of a 42-year-old father of two at a remote cottage near Millstreet in north Cork on Monday night.
The shooting happened in an upstairs bedroom of a dormer bungalow at Dromsicane, about eight kilometres from Millstreet town, at around 9.30pm and gardaí and the emergency services went to the scene after receiving a call.
Locals in Millstreet yesterday named the dead man as Charlie Wrench, who is believed to have been from the midlands in England but had been living for about 18 years at Dromsicane after arriving there in the late 1980s.
Mr Wrench had two daughters, Cora (8) and Fay (5), from a previous relationship, while his current partner also has two daughters, aged 19 and 11, and it is believed the three younger girls were playing outside the house at the time of the shooting.
Mr Wrench and his partner, who have been living together for less than a year, had been away visiting in Northern Ireland for a few days and only returned to the house at Dromsicane earlier on Monday.
Officers who arrived at the scene found Mr Wrench's body with a single gunshot wound to the head lying in an upstairs bedroom of the house.
A local doctor pronounced him dead at the scene and the area was cordoned off for technical examination.
Gardaí recovered a legally-held single-barrel shotgun belonging to the dead man at the scene and both the weapon and a cartridge shell found in the breach were removed for examination by Garda ballistics experts.
Gardaí later arrested a 38- year-old woman and took her to Kanturk Garda station where she was still being questioned by officers last night. The man's body was taken to Cork University Hospital where last night Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster carried on a postmortem.
Yesterday prayers were said at morning Mass in Millstreet for Mr Wrench, who was described as a popular figure in the community, where he was well-known as an accomplished musician who played bodhran in traditional sessions in local pubs.
Neighbour Patsy Vaughan, from Keale Bridge, said Mr Wrench was always kind and helpful to him.
"I couldn't say a bad word about him - he was an absolute gentleman - he'd always salute you and he often call in at Christmas and see if you were all right for everything."
Jerry Doody, who lives in Ploverfield, in Cullen, near Mr Wrench's house, said the tragedy had shocked the community, especially as Mr Wrench was so well known and had settled so well in the area. "He came here about 17 years ago or so and I suppose, like a lot of newcomers, he became more Irish than the Irish themselves - he was very involved in Irish music and used to play in various sessions around the place and was well known and well liked," said Mr Doody.
"Our hearts go out to everyone caught up in this," he added.
Mr Wrench had previously worked as a truck driver but was a yacht builder by trade and was skilled with his hands.
He had worked recently renovating houses.
He also had plans to open a fishing lodge for anglers at the nearby Blackwater.
