Three hotel employees were charged in Mauritius on Wednesday in connection with the murder of an Irish woman honeymooning on the Indian Ocean island, its commissioner of police told Irish radio.

Michaela Harte, the 27-year-old daughter of Gaelic football manager Mickey Harte, was found strangled at the Legends Hotel in the village of Grande Gaube on Monday.

They have been provisionally charged with murder. Two have been charged (with murder), the other one ... has been charged with conspiracy, Dhun Rampersad told state broadcaster RTE.

The men have been remanded in police custody for a week and will return to court next Wednesday, when they are expected either to be formally charged or released.

One of the defendants asserted in court that he had been beaten while being questioned by police.

The murder of the Irish language teacher dominated the news in Ireland, with photos from her December 30 wedding splashed across front pages and an emotional statement by her father broadcast on all news programmes.

Harte, a former beauty queen contestant, was known for being by her father's side during his All-Ireland football triumphs with the Northern Irish county of Tyrone.

Gaelic football is Ireland's national game and one of its most popular spectator sports. Its players enjoy the kind of celebrity status accorded to soccer stars in other European countries.