Forensic examination into blaze that claimed lives of three family members
John and Mary Daly, both in their sixties, and their 24-year-old son, Shane, died after flames engulfed their two-storey farmhouse less than a mile from Castlemaine.
The family’s eldest son James, 29, travelled to Dublin for yesterday’s All-Ireland clash with Armagh. He returned to Kerry yesterday. Two other members of the family, two daughters, were not in the house at the time. The fire was spotted by a bus driver shortly after 8.30am yesterday. By the time emergency services arrived, which is set back off the main Killarney to Dingle road, the roof was partially collapsed.
Fire officers are baffled as to the cause of the blaze, but believe the fire may have started either in the sitting room or an upstairs bedroom. The three bodies were removed by ambulance to Tralee General Hospital shortly after 1pm. Garda Supt Pat O’Sullivan, who attended the fire said: “This is a tragic accident in which three people lost their lives. Our thoughts at the moment are with the family and relatives of the deceased.” The Daly family is well-known in the area. Shane worked on the farm and at Griffin’s Bar in Castlemaine at weekends.
Meanwhile, a huge crowd is expected to attend the removal tonight of a 28-year-old man who died after a fire broke out in the kitchen of his family’s home at Brooklodge, Glanmire, Co Cork. Frantic attempts to resuscitate Kieran McCarthy failed after a blaze broke out in the bungalow shortly before 3am on Saturday.
Parish priest Fr Liam Hickey, who comforted the McCarthy family said: “Kieran was a very popular young man from a large, well-known and popular family. It is a terrible tragedy.” Mr McCarthy’s father, Cal, was treated at Cork University Hospital for hand burns.
Mr McCarthy is also survived by his mother Rose, seven brothers and three sisters. His removal is at 7.30pm tonight from Barry’s Funeral Home, Glanmire, to Sacred Heart Church, Glounthaune. He will be buried tomorrow in Little Island Cemetery following 2.30pm Requiem Mass.
