One man has said that he may be the son of the late Michael Byrne, who was affectionately known as Old Man Belfield.
The man entered Donnybrook Garda Station days after news of Mr. Byrne’s death broke at University College Dublin.
He told officers who are trying to locate Mr. Byrne’s family that the homeless man could be his missing father.
Since then, Gardaí has performed a DNA test and the man is waiting for results that could solve the mystery.
Speaking to the Sunday Independent this weekend, a source said: “It is an extraordinary turn of events to think that she may have had a child.
“The man was happy to do a DNA test and is waiting for the results, which will take several weeks to arrive.
“Some of the details certainly add up, and the test will rule out this line of investigation in or out.
“Everybody wants to get to the bottom of this and find out Michael’s background and history to understand how he finally came to UCD.”
For the past several weeks, it was hoped that the publicity surrounding Byrne’s death on January 11 could lead a relative to report him.
His official closest relative, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: “It’s really sad.
“Someone knows something about him. Wouldn’t it be nice if he had a brother or sister and they knew he died comfortably?”
A separate source said a steady stream of visitors has come to Byrne’s grave since he was interred in Dublin’s Kilternan Cemetery Park, which gifted him with his final resting place.
The popular 71-year-old had spent more than 40 years wandering the South Dublin campus and died in his sleep in the open.
He was remembered by the UCD chaplain, Fr. Eamonn Bourke, as “an important member of our community.”
At the funeral at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Church in Belfield, Father Bourke said Byrne had been described as “the silent guardian of Belfield.”
He was also remembered as a “gentle soul” and “a quiet hub for all activity” on campus.
Last November, the UCD College Tribune student newspaper reported that Byrne enjoyed “a kind of informal network” of support around him, with local merchants and agencies like Focus Ireland monitoring his situation on an “observational basis.”
The newspaper also reported that he had refused assistance many times.
Miriam McCarthy, who volunteered at the Simon Community in Dublin, said she ran into Byrne in the late 1970s at a run-down site near St Vincent’s Hospital and offered him help.
However, their attempts to converse were met with silence.
