Gardaí have ruled out foul play but have yet to establish the cause of a fire at a farmhouse near Macroom in Co Cork early yesterday morning which claimed the life of a mother of six.
Widow Abina O’Connor (85) died following a fire which broke out at her two- storey farmhouse in Kilvoultra, 5km north of Macroom, where she lived with her son Donal, who is in 40s, and her daughter Margaret, who is in her late 30s.
It is understood that Margaret, who has Down syndrome, was awoken by fumes shortly before 7am and alerted Donal, who went to a neighbour’s house to raise the alarm. When he returned moments later, Margaret had got out of the house and his mother had collapsed near the back door. Together with neighbours, they brought her clear of the farmhouse, which was burning strongly.
Macroom Fire Brigade and two units of Millstreet Fire Brigade attended at the scene. Firefighters tried to resuscitate Ms O’Connor without success and she was later pronounced dead at the scene.
Yesterday a Garda spokesman said a technical examination had confirmed that there was nothing suspicious about the fire and they were satisfied that it began accidentally.
