Friends may have thought deceased had ‘moved on’

A MAN who lived in Castletownbere for 20 years was found dead in his rented apartment off the town’s Main Street recently.

It is understood that Mark Watters (61) died around Christmas time but it was only last week that his remains were found in the hallway of his apartment by maintenance men.

A local man spoke to The Southern Star and said the man, a screenwriter who came from Walkinstown in Dublin, was not well known in the town and was reclusive.

Mark Watters did have a profile on Facebook but he wasn’t known to interact much with the community. It is understood that he, like a sibling before him, had moved to Beara, but that relative had since moved on.

It is understood that the deceased has a son in Canada and an ex-partner.

‘No one really knows what the story is. Mark did have a few friends, and it is surprising that none of them noticed he was missing. Maybe they thought he had moved on,’ said the local.

He was living in one of about 12 units at the Courtyard Apartments, which is located in the centre of town.

‘A lot of people didn’t know who he was, even after it was announced. There are so many people who have come into Beara in recent years and if they are not involved in the community, and especially if they are reclusive, they can go unnoticed,’ the local man said.

The Castletownbere resident contrasted the writer’s death to that of a local bachelor farmer – a man in his 70s – who was also found dead last week.

‘The farmer, who died of natural causes, was found in the morning because a neighbour had gone to check in on him,’ said the local.

There were no signs of trauma on Mr Watters, and no signs of forced entry or disturbance at the property.