Man fatally assaulted at Co Laois hotel reported to be an American

Investigations are underway surrounding all the circumstances of the death of a man at a hotel in North County Laois, An Garda Síochána said in a statement on Tuesday, November 12.

Gardaí said on Tuesday night that shortly before 8 pm, they were alerted to an incident at a hotel where a male, aged in his 60s, was found deceased.

One man, aged in his 30s, was arrested and detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 at a Garda station in the Eastern Region.

The services of the Garda Technical Bureau and Office of the State Pathologist were requested on Tuesday evening.

A Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) has been appointed to lead the investigation and an incident room has been established at Portlaoise Garda Station. A Family Liaison Officer (FLO) will be appointed to support the family of the deceased.

Investigations are ongoing.

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The fatal assault reportedly occurred at Ballyfin Demesne in Co Laois, a five-star luxury resort that has been visited by celebrities including George Clooney and Kim Kardashian.

The hotel was one of only two hotels in Ireland that received a Three Key distinction by Michelin this year for providing "an extraordinary stay."

Several Irish outlets, including RTÉ News, have reported that both the man who was killed and the man who was arrested are US nationals. The two men are believed to have been known to each other, with some outlets reporting that they are father and son.

BreakingNews.ie reports that, according to Garda sources, the detained American man, who is currently receiving treatment at a nearby hospital, arrived at the hotel several days ago following a trip around mainland Europe.

The younger man had started to act erratically during his stay at the hotel and staff alerted his father, who was in the US.

The deceased man arrived at the hotel in the last couple of days in an effort to help the man who is currently detained.

Concerned staff contacted the man’s father in New York, who travelled over to Ireland to be with him.

ABC News reports that emergency services "discovered the victim’s body in a bathroom in a leisure area" on Tuesday.

Local Independent Councillor James Kelly told RTÉ News on Wednesday that there is a lot of "shock" in the community following the fatal incident.

"It's something that we didn't think we'd be waking up to this morning," he said.