Two young fishermen died yesterday in a bank holiday weekend house fire in the Co Donegal seaside resort of Rathmullan.
The two men were named locally last night as Mr Paul McLaughlin (19), Market Street, Rathmullan; and Mr Pat McGinley (35), Forquar, Milford, Co Donegal.
They died in the fire which engulfed the house in the Abbeyview estate early yesterday morning.
Three other men managed to escape from the blaze, which is thought to have started in the downstairs area of the terraced house.
Fire crews from Milford and Letterkenny attended the scene, after the alarm was raised by one of the occupants of the house shortly after 7 a.m.
The bodies were removed to Letterkenny General Hospital, where post-mortem examinations were carried out yesterday afternoon.
Mr McLaughlin was well known in his home town, where his father, Tom, runs the popular Golden Sands Equestrian Centre.
One friend described him as someone who was "always in the best of form".
"He was one of those boys who got on with everyone. He was Celtic mad and loved the football. People are just in shock at what's happened."
Mr McGinley was also very well known in his local area. He is survived by his partner, Josephine and six children, including a newborn baby.
Gardaí have confirmed that the bodies of the two men were discovered in the downstairs sitting room.
Forensic experts carried out a detailed examination of the scene yesterday morning.
Det Insp Mick Keane, who is leading the Garda investigation, said the bodies of the deceased still had to be identified last evening.
"Our investigations are still at an early stage, but it would appear that the fire started in the downstairs area of the house, possibly the sitting room," he said.
"There were two men asleep upstairs and the other three in the sitting room. Sadly, only three of them managed to get out in time."
The five men worked together on a lobster fishing boat out of Rathmullan.
Those who escaped were a father and son from the town, and another man from Milford.
Mr McLaughlin had only started working on the boat last Friday.