No foul play in family’s blaze deaths

Prayers were said at Masses throughout Co Leitrim yesterday for a keen gardener, his wife and daughter who died when fire tore through their two-storey home at Lisnabrack, near Manorhamilton.

The blaze on Saturday claimed the lives of Dessie McDonald, 75, his wife Patsy, 77, and their daughter Patricia, 34. The fire was believed to have started in the kitchen while all three were asleep in bed.

The alarm was raised by a passing taxi driver after 2am and the house was well ablaze when the fire services arrived.

Mr McDonald and his family returned from America more than a decade ago when he retired as a bus driver in New York.

Patsy McDonald and her daughter frequently returned to visit relatives in the US.

The couple has two other daughters, one a nurse in Co Mayo and one in the US.

Neighbours Frank and Laura O’Rourke were woken by the sound of the blaze.

Ms O’Rourke said: “We are still in a state of shock. When we were woken by the fire it was extremely upsetting what we saw. There were flames coming from the house. Somebody else had already raised the alarm. We have lost wonderful, wonderful neighbours.”

Parish priest Fr Oliver Kelly, who was called to the scene, said the parish is devastated. “They were a lovely family,” he said.

A postmortem was conducted and Supt John Furlong, who is in charge of the investigation, said there was no indication the three people died of foul play.

“The deaths were tragic and due to the fire,” he said.