Two men have been questioned by Irish Police after arriving at Hosey's Shop and Post in the small Irish town of Carlow with what appeared to be a dead body.

The pair were reportedly supporting the deceased elderly man's body by the shoulders but staff and onlookers noticed his feet were dragging along the floor.

The two tried collecting the deceased man's pension but were denied. And, when questioned by the staff, fled the scene -- leaving the body right there on the floor of Hosey's.

According to staff, one of the men -- who has been identified as Declan Haughney (40) -- had tried collecting the man's pension earlier in the morning only to be denied; he was told by staff the pensioner had to be present for the collection.

The deceased man turned out to Peader Doyle, Declan's uncle with whom he has lived with his entire life.

Doyle was a painter. He passed away at 66.

Declan claims his uncle was alive when they left the house to collect the pension and that he had most likely died while entering the post office.

"I wasn’t trying to rob him. I’m not an eejit [irish slang for 'idiot'] Why would I want to rob my uncle? I’m 40 years of age yeah, I’m not a child, I’m not a young fella. I’m not an eejit to walk into Hoseys with a dead man and collect his money."

“Am I cuckoo? Am I cuckoo? I’m not.”

When interviewed for the Sunday Herald in Carlow, Haugney was nursing a black eye and "bleeding freely from facial" wounds. He claimed he had been beaten up over the incident which has since gone viral across hundreds of media outlets across the world.

Haughney's companion has been identified as Gareth Coakley. He claims that Doyle was alive, albeit sick, the morning of the incident and that Haughney had simply tried to retrieve his uncle's pension for him so he could rest at home.

"The papers are saying he was already dead but that's bullsh*t." Coakley said that Haughney had asked for his help in bringing him down to the Post Office to collect his pension after being denied earlier that morning. That they'd given Doyle a glass of water before haphazardly helping him to the post office situated a short distance from the house.

"We're hardly going to drag a dead man down the road, for f**k sake. He was still alive, and the autopsy will prove there was water in his system and what time he died."

The following autopsy ruled out foul play as a cause of Doyle's death. Reports state that authorities are now investigating whether or not Doyle's remains were knowingly used to try and collect his pension.

"He was alive - 100 percent. He probably died in the post office - at the ice-cream freezer, I'd say that's where he dropped off." Coakley added. "I was only doing him a favour by helping to bring his uncle down to get his money. But he died there. I've told the guards everything and people might call me a rat but f**k that. My family's name is being destroyed over this. It's a f**king joke." Coakley added.

Haughney subsequently served as a pallbearer for his uncle's funeral.

Doyle was widely loved by his community in Carlow.