Dublin dad and son (3) died in freak fall after they picked up Easter eggs

Post-mortems will be carried out today on the bodies of a father and son which were found yesterday in a stream in Ashtown in Dublin.

The incident happened as tens of thousands of people gathered in the city centre for a high-profile commemoration of the 1916 Rising.

Gardaí are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the deaths, but it is thought it was a tragic accident .

The father and son were visiting relatives for Easter in the Ashington housing estate off the Navan Road yesterday and it's thought they used a shortcut over the Royal Canal on the way home but may have slipped.

The man, named locally as Sean Sweeney, was in his mid-30s and his son Tyler was three years old.

The bodies of the father and son were discovered by a passer-by at 3pm, who immediately alerted emergency services. Despite the best efforts of paramedics, they were pronounced dead at the scene. It is not know how long the pair were in the water.

Gardai are interviewing relatives in the hopes of piecing together the exact circumstances which led to the deaths. Despite the investigation being in the early stages last night, gardaí were not treating the deaths as suspicious.