A murder investigation has been launched following the death of a 55-year-old man in Ballybrittas, Co Laois.
Pat Burke died following an incident at his house in Ballybrittas last night and a post mortem examination was carried out at the Dublin City Morgue.
It revealed that Mr Burke died from multiple blows to the head, said to have been carried out with a blunt instrument.
Gardaí were called to the house in the village at around 10.40pm and found the man with severe head injuries in a downstairs bedroom.
RTÉ News understands that Mr Burke had been dead for some time before the emergency services arrived at his home last night.
The Garda Technical Unit is carrying out a forensic examination of the house where the man lived with his wife Anne.
Mrs Burke was treated at the Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise for non-life threatening injuries, but ithas been transferred to St James's Hospital in Dublin this evening for further medical attention.
Pat Burke, who was a father of four, had been working for the past five years as a groundsman at the Mount St Anne retreat Centre at Killenard in Co Laois.
