Man arrested yesterday still detained in connection with Portumna death

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Galway Daily news girl injured by firework

A man arrested yesterday in connection with the death of an elderly woman on her Portumna farm is still being held.

Chrissie Treacy (75) was killed in April when she was struck by an agricultural vehicle on her family farm in Boula, Portumna.

GardaĆ­ conducted extensive examinations of potential crimes scenes and interviewed many witnesses at the time.

Yesterday, a man in his 50s was arrested in connection with her death and detained at Loughrea garda station overnight.

He is being held under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act which allows gardaĆ­ to detain him for up to 24 hours, excluding rest times, without charging him.

TheĀ Irish IndependentĀ reports that the man was well known to Ms Treacy, and was originally one of the witnesses they interviewed.

A file for the Director of Public Prosecutions is understood to be nearing completion by the officers leading the investigation.

One line of inquiry pursued was to understand if Ms Treacy had been in conflict with any of the people she had close relations with in the time before her death.

On April 27 Ms Treacy, who lived alone on her family farm, was found fatally injured having been struck by a teleporter.

Emergency services were called to the scene and she was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.

The scene was preserved for examinations by the State Pathologist and Garda Technical Bureau.

Parish priestĀ Fr Michael Byrnes was also called to the scene that day.

He told theĀ Irish IndependentĀ that this tragedy has had a profound impact on the local community.

He described Chrissie Treacy as a “warm, hard working lady, who was well known”, one whose passing has left people in the area deeply saddened.