An adult male whose body was discovered at the Wellington Monument in Dublin’s Phoenix Park on 13 November 2026 has been identified as a man in his 40s originally from Eastern Europe who had lived in Ireland for several years.
The man’s remains were found on open ground near the monument at 10:30am on Friday, 13 November 2026. Gardaí confirmed that the deceased had been living in Ireland for some time and it is understood he may have been homeless and sleeping rough in the park.
An incident room has been established at Finglas Garda Station under the direction of a Senior Investigating Officer. A formal murder investigation had not commenced by Saturday evening. Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly said that the death was being treated as suspicious and that the full resources of a murder investigation were assigned to the case.
A post-mortem examination was completed on Saturday at Dublin City Morgue in Whitehall. Gardaí said that the results are not being released for operational reasons.
“The post-mortem will determine what happened,” a source said.
Investigators are urging anyone who visited the Wellington Monument between 2pm on Thursday, 12 November 2026, and 10am on Friday, 13 November 2026, to come forward. Authorities are particularly keen to speak with a man and a woman in their 30s, believed to be Italian, who visited the monument around 10am on Friday morning.
The discovery occurred during a large-scale security operation in Dublin surrounding meetings of European Union leaders for the European Political Community summit.
“This morning there has been a body discovered not far from here in Phoenix Park,” said Commissioner Justin Kelly. “We have obviously sealed off the scene, we have experts on the scene.”
“An Garda Síochána is not in a position to provide any more information at this early stage,” a garda spokesperson said.
“Anyone with any information can contact investigating Gardaí at Finglas Garda Station 01-6667500, the Garda Confidential Phone number 1800 666 111 or any Garda station,” said Gardaí.
