Elderly couple killed in house blaze

A PRIEST told yesterday of how he followed a fire engine to the scene of a house fire and discovered to his horror that two of his parishioners were trapped by the flames.

Fr Pat Munnelly praised the courage of neighbours, fire brigade members and gardaí who tried in vain to save Donal and Una O’Neill, both in their early eighties, when fire broke out in the sitting room of their home at Chapel Road, Crossmolina, Co Mayo on Thursday night.

Mr O’Neill, a former electrician at the ESB generating station in Bellacorick, Co Mayo, was a native of Co Kerry but had lived in Mayo for more than 40 years. His wife, Una, was a native of Co Clare. The couple had nine grown-up children.