Elderly couple died of suicide at their Kerry home, inquest hears

Olivia Kelleher

An 83 year old woman with stage four pancreatic cancer and her husband of the same age died by suicide at their home in Kenmare, Co Kerry in November 2021, an inquest in Tralee has heard.

Tony and Phyllis Gilbert were found dead at their bungalow in Dromneavane in Kenmare, Co Kerry shortly after 10am on November 14th, 2021.

Their daughter-in-law, Beryl Gilbert, did regular shopping for the pair. Giving evidence at an inquest in Tralee District Court she said that arising out of the Covid 19 restrictions her plan that morning was to leave the shopping at the door of their home.

However, she spotted a note pinned to the door. The note on A4 paper read : “All going to plan we should be dead.”

The note writer asked her to call gardaí and it further read that there was a front door key in a flower pot with which gardaí could gain entry.

Coroner for Kerry Aisling Quilter noted that shortly after the bodies of the pair were found gardaí spotted a tape recorder which had two recordings of the couples voices.

A note directed gardaí to listen to the recordings. Tony Gilbert said in a recording that they had been “together in life” and planned to be “together in sleep.”

The inquest heard that the couple couple had moved to Kerry from the UK in the 1990s. They previously ran a successful glass engraving business on Henry Street in Kenmare.

Felicity Gilbert, a grandaughter of the couple, said that the couple were “as close as you can be companionship wise.” She said that the pair had become “quite reclusive” and were keeping their distance from society because of the Covid 19 virus.

Vincent Coakley, solicitor, told gardaí that Tony Gilbert contacted him in October 2021 by phone inquiring about the writing of a will for himself and his wife. Mr Gilbert told Mr Coakley that they were “anxious to make a will because of good health.”

He said that the couple were hesitant about coming to his office to sign their wills having given him details of their wishes over the phone.

Mr Gilbert said that they were worried about the Covid 19 virus given his wife’s vulnerabilities health wise.

However, Tony and Phyllis Gilbert presented at his office on the afternoon of the 10th of November 2021 and signed their wills.

Mr Coakley indicated that whilst Mrs Gilbert was “very infirm” both she and her husband had the mental competence to write their own wills. There was no duress and the signing of the wills was witnessed by three people.

The garda evidence was that a patrol car was called to the scene at around 10.20am on November 14th, 2021. Gardaí entered the bungalow and found the elderly couple dead in a bedroom.

There was no sign of injury or trauma on either party. The couple were in separate beds.

Chief State Pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan told the relatives of the deceased that death would have occurred fairly quickly for both. She noted that Phyllis Gilbert had stage four pancreatic cancer when she died, with the cancer having metastasised through her body.

The Coroner Aisling Quilter said that it was clear that the married couple had made plans prior to their deaths. She returned a verdict of suicide in both cases and offered her heartfelt condolences to the loved ones of the deceased. She said that it was “a traumatic” case.

Sgt Aoife Dolan offered her condolences to the family on behalf of gardaí. Sgt Dolan said that it was “very hard” for the family to lose both Phyllis and Tony at the same time.

A private cremation took place at the Island Crematorium in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can freephone the Samaritans 24 hours a day for confidential support at 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org.

Alternatively, the contact information for a range of mental health supports is available at mentalhealthireland.ie/get-support.

In the case of an emergency, or if you or someone you know is at risk of suicide or self-harm, dial 999/112.