Gardaí in Mayo believe that a fire which claimed the lives of an elderly couple in the village of Crossmolina on Thursday night may have started accidentally.
A post-mortem was carried out at Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar yesterday morning on the bodies of the couple, who were named locally as Mr Donal O'Neill and his wife Una.
The retired couple, said to be in their early 80s, were parents of nine children, now living abroad and in various parts of the country. Family members were travelling to Crossmolina yesterday after being notified.
Neighbours of the couple who tried valiantly to rescue them were too shocked to comment but Father Pat Munnelly, the parish priest who lived nearby on Chapel Road, described it as terrible loss to the community.
He witnessed the fire brigade passing his house at 9.15 p.m, and rushed to the scene to try to assist. Dr Michael Loftus, coroner for north Mayo, was also called out with his daughter-in-law, Dr Eleanor Fitzgerald. "I got a phone call and arrived just before the fire brigade units from Crossmolina and from Ballina," Dr Loftus told The Irish Times. "The smoke was billowing out of the house and there was a blaze in the front room. Paddy Heffernan, a neighbour, had raised the alarm and great efforts were made by him and others to try and reach the couple.
"The neighbours broke a window because the doors were locked, but the smoke drove them back out. The fire brigade also did their best. Mrs O'Neill's body was taken out shortly before 10 p.m. and Mr O'Neill's came shortly after. They were taken by ambulance to Castlebar. There was really nothing anyone could do," Dr Loftus said.
Dr Loftus said he knew the couple for some 40 years, and said he had delivered many of Mrs O'Neill's children. "They were charming people, very talented, and Mr O'Neill could turn his hand to anything, particularly anything of a technical nature."
It is understood that Mr O'Neill was originally from Kerry and his wife came from Co Clare. Mrs O'Neill had not been well, but both were very involved with the community and the choir at St Tiearnan's Church.
