While the case was initially treated as a possible homicide, gardai are now ruling out foul play after the results of a post mortem established that he was not violently killed.

The man is described as Caucasian, 1.77m (5ft 10ins), of average build with brown hair. He is aged somewhere between his late 20s and early 40s. When his body was discovered, he was wearing navy tracksuit bottoms with a white stripe and navy Dubarry shoes with black socks. He also had a blue hooded fleece with the word 'Wicked' written on the front and a black-and-red Guinness fleece.

The man had a number of tattoos which gardai hope could be distinctive enough to be recognised by someone who may have known him. One of these is on his right shoulder to mid-chest and is a drawing of a crocodile or dragon. On his left shoulder he had a cloaked upper skeleton with serpents, while on his right calf muscle he had a hooded executioner with an axe.

This is not the first time that gardai have released images taken from a dead body in an attempt to track the identity of the corpse, although it is more usually associated with highprofile murder cases.

In the infamous so-called 'body-in-the-bag' case, gardai released a photograph of a deformed face after a suitcase containing a human corpse was recovered at Binn's Bridge on Dublin's Royal Canal in July 2001. The unidentified murder victim was quickly revealed to be 21-year-old Romanian national Adrian Bestea.

Detectives later discovered that he had been beaten to death after his Russian girlfriend hired several men to beat him up in revenge for assaulting her.

Anyone with information in relation to the images of the tattoos taken from the body is asked to contact the gardai in Howth at 01 666 4900, or any garda station.