Candle sparked blaze that killed woman and child

A candle sparked an intense house fire which claimed the life of a young mother and her five-year-old nephew in Cork last year.

Garda crime scene investigators told Cork City Coroner’s Court that, despite arson being suspected in the early stages of the investigation, they are satisfied the blaze at 5 Nutley Grove in Mahon on Apr 24, 2011, started accidentally in the sitting room.

Helena O’Dwyer, 25, with an address at St Michael’s Ave, Mahon, and Ryan O’Dwyer Hayes, aged 5, who lived at Sun Valley Drive, Fairhill, died when fire swept through Helena’s parents’ home in the early hours of that Easter Sunday.