A 48-year-old mother of five died in a fire at her home in Ballybrack, Co Dublin on Saturday.
The woman was alone in her house at Inagh Court when the alarm was raised shortly after 9pm. She was named by local people yesterday as Wendy Murdoch. She is survived by her husband, five adult children and grandchildren.
Yesterday, in the quiet cul-de-sac neighbours gathered, shocked and too distressed to talk about the death of the popular woman who had lived there all her married life.
The house was badly damaged in the fire and the lower windows and front door were boarded up, the upstairs windows gaping black and open. Debris from the fire was piled up in the front garden.
On the garden wall, neighbours and friends had placed bouquets of flowers and continued to bring them during the afternoon. People who brought flowers stood for a moment in silence.
All the bouquets carried the same sentiment: "Thinking of you all."
Ms Murdoch had brought up her children, who are now adults and living locally, in the house.
The tributes on the flowers reflected the popularity of the family in the neighbourhood.
Neighbours who spoke to reporters yesterday did so quietly and somewhat reluctantly. They all described Ms Murdoch as a popular, pleasant woman.
One said: "It's a shocking tragedy. The children are gone from the house and are living locally. There are a couple of grandchildren as well."
Another commented: "She was a very nice girl, very popular, a very nice family."
"It's very sad, the family's left without a mother and a home," one neighbour said.
The fire is being investigated by gardaí at Shankill. The scene was preserved yesterday for forensic examination but gardaí said they believed the cause of the fire was accidental.
Ms Murdoch was brought by ambulance to St Columcille's Hospital in Loughlinstown but was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.