One of the two men who died in a house fire in Co Kildare in the early hours of Tuesday morning has been named locally as Charlie Vaughan.
Mr Vaughan (76) was the owner of the house and was well-known in Kildare town, and a keen artist.
The fire at Tully East, near the Irish National Stud in Kildare, also claimed the life of a man in his 30s who has not yet been named. He was a visitor to the property, gardaí said, and was not related to Mr Vaughan.
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Emergency services were alerted to the fire at about 2.30am. The scene was attended by three units of the Kildare fire service as well as gardaí and ambulance crews.
The semi-detached house was gutted by the fire. Its roof collapsed and the scene has been preserved for a technical examination.
Evacuated as precaution
The adjoining semi-detached property was also badly damaged and the occupants were evacuated in the early hours of the morning as a precaution.
Mr Vaughan's cousin Elizabeth Duggan spoke to the Leinster Leader about the shock the deceased man's extended family, who live locally, are experiencing. She said her cousin, retired for several years, was a keen artist who loved painting.
The bodies of the deceased were found inside the property by firefighters. One was found to the front of the house, and one to the rear, in a bathroom.
The deceased were removed to Naas Hospital on Tuesday morning for postmortem examinations.
The State pathologist is due to carry out the post mortems on Wednesday morning.
Supt Martin Walker of Kildare Garda station, speaking at the scene, said it was too early to say what caused the blaze, but investigations are continuing.
“This morning at 2.40am local gardaí in Kildare responded to an alarm activation here, there was a fire in progress... they were the first to arrive at the scene and when they did arrive the house was engulfed in flames and the roof had collapsed,” he said.
It took several hours to get the fire under control, he added.
He said because of the nature of the injuries sustained by the two men who died they had not yet been formally identified. DNA analysis would be required.
As to the cause of the fire he said: “We have preserved the scene for the purpose of establishing exactly what happened and where the seat of the fire was and we have established that at this juncture. But we will continue with our investigations and I imagine it will be tomorrow before they are actually concluded,” the superintendent said.
He urged anyone who may have information to contact Kildare town Garda station on 045 527730.