Couple who died in Mayo house fire named locally

A couple who died tragically following a house fire in Swinford yesterday morning have been named locally.

Tom and Eileen Mahon, both in their 60s, ran Mahon's Furniture and Flooring in Swinford for many years, and were well-known within the community. They are survived by their two adult children.

Emergency services were alerted to the fire in a house at Deerpark, on the outskirts of Swinford, at around 2am.

Both were pronounced dead at the scene before their bodies were removed in the early afternoon to Mayo University Hospital in Castlebar for postmortem examinations.

Gardaí have sealed off the fire-damaged property as they begin a forensic examination.

Fianna Fáil councillor John Caulfield said the whole community were shocked and saddened by the news.

“The whole community is shocked and saddened. Tom and Eileen were very well known and respected businesspeople,” he said.

News of the tragedy comes just a fortnight after an elderly woman died in a house fire in Kiltimagh.

Mary B. McNicholas, aged 93, was pronounced dead at the scene of the house fire, which occurred at her residence in Cordarragh, on the outskirts of Kiltimagh on Monday, March 11.

“It’s devastating that this has come so soon after another tragic fire in nearby Kiltimagh,” Cllr Caulfield added.