Gardaí are investigating a house fire which claimed the life of a 43-year-old man in west Cork overnight.
At this stage they believe the fire started accidentally.
Firefighters recovered the body of the man from an upstairs bedroom at the remote farmhouse at Shanagh, 7km north east of Dunmanway, shortly after 10.15am on Sunday. He was pronounced dead at the scene by a local doctor.
Garda technical experts are due to begin examining the badly damaged firehouse this afternoon to try and locate where the fire started but preliminary examinations have found nothing to suggest foul play.
Gardaí have also confirmed the dead man was seen alive yesterday afternoon but inquiries are continuing to establish his movements prior to returning home.
The body of the man, who lived alone, is due to be removed shortly to Cork University Hospital where a postmortem is scheduled to take place on Monday to establish the exact cause of death, along with a formal identification.
Firefighters from Dunmanway and Clonakilty brought the blaze under control this morning after neighbours noticed the farm house on fire and alerted the emergency services.
The fire is the second fatal house fire in west Cork in the last four months and follows the death of a 59-year-old man in a fire at the apartment where he lived alone on Main Street in Drimoleague in early July.
