Families in Monaghan and Mayo were mourning the loss yesterday of relatives in two weekend fires.
A 51-year-old mother-of-three died in a house fire on Saturday near Ballybay, Co Monaghan, while a 48-year-old man died in a fire at his home in Castlebar .
Emergency services were called to the scene of the Co Monaghan fire which claimed the life of Anne Donaghy at Kilnamaddy, off the main Castleblayney/Bally- bay Road on the outskirts of Ballybay, shortly before 1pm on Saturday.
Ms Donaghy was alone in the house at the time and it is thought she may have been overcome by smoke while asleep.
Neighbours raised the alarm and she was taken from the blazing building by gardaí and firemen.
Unsuccessful efforts to revive her were made by a doctor and ambulance crew at the scene.
Ms Donaghy was a sister of the well-known former Monaghan footballer, Kevin "Jap" Finlay.
It is understood her husband, her two sons and a daughter were out of the house at the time.
The house was sealed off yesterday while a Garda forensic team under Supt Karl Heller, Carrickmacross, investigated the fire, which is believed to have started accidentally.
The man who died in a house fire at Springfield, Castlebar, Co Mayo on Saturday morning was named as Tommy Dawson (48). His body was found in his bedroom after firemen entered the house wearing breathing equipment.
The alarm was raised at about 8.30am after smoke was noticed coming from Mr Dawson's terraced house. Two units of Castlebar fire brigade were quickly on the scene.
The fire is also believed to have started accidentally. A postmortem examination was carried out at Mayo General Hospital.
Mayo chief fire officer Seamus Murphy said fire and smoke damage was confined to a front bedroom of the house where Mr Dawson, a single man, lived alone.
He worked at the local Sacred Heart Hospital as an employee of the Health Service Executive.