Funeral of Mayo fire victims to take place on Wednesday

THE Funeral of a Swinford couple who died tragically in a house fire last Tuesday will take place in the Cultural Centre in the east Mayo town on Wednesday morning.

Thomas Mahon and his wife Eileen of Derrpark, Kilkelly Road, Swinford were tragically killed when a fire engulfed their family home in the early hours of Tuesday, March 26.

Thomas and Eileen will repose in the Cultural Centre in Swinford on Tuesday evening, April 2 from 4pm to 7pm and their funeral ceremony will take place in Swinford in the Cultural Centre on Wednesday morning at 10am, followed by a private cremation.

Thomas was a native of Ballaghaderreen where the family had run a supermarket while Eileen, nee Cooper, was a native of Castlerea in Co Roscommon. They are survived by their daughters, Claire and Pearl and sons-in-law, Mike and David; and her four grandchildren Maya, Bonnie, Abhainn and Phoebe and all of her extended family, neighbours and wide circle of friends.

The news of their death shocked the east Mayo town where they both ran a successful business, Mahon's Furniture and Flooring located on the Ballina Road.

The blaze was reported to the emergency services in the early hours of Tuesday morning, March 26. The house was extensively damaged by the time the local fire services brought the blaze under control and the discovery of two bodies in the house was made.

The scene was preserved by An Garda Síochána and the Garda scenes of crime investigators carried out technical examinations at the location to determine the cause of the fire.

A minute silence was observed at the meeting of the Castlebar Municipal District last Wednesday where the death of Thomas and Eileen Mahon were described as a ‘very dark day for our county’.