The names of a father and daughter killed in a fire which destroyed their home in Castlebar Co Mayo, last night have been released by gardaí.
Anthony Magnone (35) died while trying to rescue his 6-year-old daughter Toiri from an upstairs bedroom in the burning house. Mr Magnone is originally from Tully, Co Monaghan.
A Garda stands outside the house in Castlebar, Co Mayo, in which a father and young girl died this morning. The man managed to carry one daughter to safety.
He had managed to take his five-year-old daughter from two story semi-detached property at Castle Park Hill before returning to the burning building for Toiri.
His body was reportedly found in the kitchen while his daughter's body was found upstairs.
Neighbours who tried to help were beaten back by the flames. Two crews from Castlebar and a unit from Westport battled for almost three hours to bring the blaze under control.
Mr Seamus Murphy, chief fire officer for County Mayo, said the semi-detached house was extensively damaged by the blaze.
"We think the fire started downstairs and there was extensive burning throughout, upstairs was damaged by smoke and fire as well," Mr Murphy said.
"This type of incident happens so quickly, that it is very, very difficult and will have a huge effect on the town, particularly for those people on the estate and for the relations, it is terrible."
Post-mortems will be carried out later today. Gardaí are carrying out a technical examination of the scene.