Undertaker describes tragic scenes as worst he has seen

A Mayo undertaker who was called to the two tragedies which claimed five lives last said the scenes were the worst he has encountered in his 40-year career.

A Swinford couple died after a fire broke out at their home in the early hours of Tuesday morning and a mother and her two children were killed in a car accident near Claremorris later that afternoon.

Tom and Eileen Mahon, died when flames swept through their two-storey home at Deerpark on the outskirts of Swinford.

The Mahons ran a family retail business in the town, selling furniture, carpets and blinds.

The couple have two daughters, neither of whom were in the house at the time of the fire.

Una Bowden (47) and her daughters Ciara (14) and Saoirse (9) were killed in the fatal road collision.

The incident occurred on the N17, a short distance from Claremorris, at about 2pm on Tuesday, when the car driven by Ms Bowden was involved in a collision with an articulated lorry. They lived in Gortachalla near Moycullen, a Gaeltacht area in west Galway.

Cllr Michael Kilcoyne made the comments at a meeting of Castlebar Muncipal District.

“I was out at both scenes. I was in Swinford and the house looked like a scene from Gaza. It was total oblivion, just the concrete walls standing. It was frightening to see the damage that fire can do.

“I was at Claremorris as well. It’s just heartbreaking,” said Cllr Kilcoyne.

He said more will be known about the accident once the Garda investigation is completed. Cllr Kilcoyne said a dog was killed at the scene which may raise questions about whether one of the vehicles swerved to avoid the animal.

“I am 40 years at this kind of work and it was the worst I ever seen,” said Cllr Kilcoyne.

“You would swear it was a plane crash at the scene. There was rubble all over the place,” he added.

Cllr Al McDonnell described the events as a ‘very dark day for the county.’ A minutes silence was observed by councillors.