A BROTHER and sister in their 60s died in a house fire in Co Tipperary last year as they were preparing for a visit by victorious members of the All-Ireland winning hurling team, an inquest heard yesterday.
Mary Gleeson (65) had been helping out with tea and sandwiches at the village hall in Killoscully on the night of October 16th when the Liam MacCarthy Cup was taken to the hall after it had earlier been viewed in Ryan’s pub in the village.
The inquest at Cork Coroners Court into Ms Gleeson’s death heard how she had taken her sister, Catherine Ryan, and friends Peg Harrington and Nora Healy to Killoscully for the celebrations to mark Tipperary’s win in last year’s hurling final.
Ms Harrington told how Ms Gleeson had telephoned her at about 12.15am on October 17th after dropping her home to say her brother, Mattie Joe, was in bed asleep.
Her brother was a wheelchair user and members of the team were to bring the trophy to the house the next morning, Ms Gleeson told her friend.
The inquest heard that taxi driver Pat McGrath was passing by the Gleeson house at Ballinahroch just after 4.50am when he noticed sparks in the sky and then saw that the house was on fire with flames shooting through the roof.
Mr McGrath raised the alarm and together with another man, John Mulcahy, went around to the back of the house where they found the back door had been burned away.
They could see down the corridor and that the entire house was engulfed in flames.
Newport fire officer PJ O’Brien said when firefighters arrived at the scene at 5.09am flames were coming through the roof, which later collapsed.
Firefighters made the building safe and a team using breathing apparatus entered the building at 5.35am.
Mr Gleeson’s badly burned body was found in his bedroom and they recovered Ms Gleeson, who was badly burned but conscious, just inside the back door.
She was taken to Limerick Regional Hospital but was later moved to Cork University Hospital where she died on November 7th.
Garda Donal Coughlan said gardaí were satisfied the fire started in Ms Gleeson’s bedroom and was caused by an electrical fault but the damage was so extensive it was impossible to say whether it was caused by a tumble drier, an iron or an electric radiator in the room.
Cork city coroner Dr Myra Cullinane extended her sympathies to the Gleeson family on the loss of Mr Gleeson, whose inquest had been heard in Tipperary, and Ms Gleeson whom the inquest heard was a great neighbour to all the elderly people in the local community.
