Pensioner killed in house fire had lost sister to hotel blaze

A MAN who died in a house fire in Limerick lost a sister in a hotel fire when she holidayed in Greece some years ago.

Francis Allen died when fire engulfed his home at St Munchin’s Street, St Mary’s Park, on Sunday night.

Mr Allen, who was 73, lived alone.

The fire may have been caused by a faulty heater.

He had been in poor health for the past year since the death of his brother.

A neighbour said: “They were very close and he took it bad.

“His sister died some years ago when she was on holiday in Greece and a fire broke out in the hotel she was staying in.”

Cllr John Gilligan, who lives in nearby Lee Estate, said: “Francis was a true Limerick character and everybody liked him. He lived all his life here and was a fine person.”

Three units of the Limerick fire brigade went to the scene late on Sunday night and fought the blaze for several hours.

Mr Allen’s body was removed to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital where a postmortem was carried out.

Meanwhile, a man and a woman arrested after a stabbing incident in which the victim’s house was set alight, have been released without charge and a file is being prepared for the DPP.

Betting shop manager, Brian Gleeson, 30, was attacked after he went to assist a woman and a baby outside his home at Mary Street on the early hours of Friday morning.

Acting the Good Samaritan, he allowed the distressed woman into his house to attend to her baby. As he did so a man came at him with a knife and repeatedly stabbed him.

As he lay injured on the footpath outside his front door a fire was started in his house by his attacker. Mr Gleeson was rushed to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital where he was treated for stab wounds to his face, stomach and shoulder.

His father, Martin Gleeson, said: “The wound in his abdomen was quite deep and it was the dangerous one. It’s beyond comprehension.