Funerals to take place of mother and son who perished in house fire

The funerals will take place tomorrow (Thursday) of a mother and son who died in a fatal fire at their home near Ballyjamesduff at the weekend.

Kathleen and Michael Lynch have been described as “wonderful community people”.

They perished in the blaze that broke out in one room of their rural country farmhouse home in the early hours of last Sunday morning, September 10.

A joint funeral mass will be celebrated tomorrow Thursday at 12 noon in St Joseph's Church in Ballyjamesduff, with burial afterwards in St Joseph's Cemetery on the Oldcastle Road.

Along with a wealth of tributes to the deceased and their legacies in life, praise has been heaped on the efforts of emergency services personnel. They arrived to the scene at Lackenmore quickly but, sadly, were unable to save the pair despite their best efforts.

The Celt understands the alarm was first raised by a group of young people returning from the cinema in Cavan Town. They then endeavoured to flag down other passing motorists, and gardaí and the fire service were both contacted. Two fire brigade units - from Ballyjamesduff and Virginia - attended and extinguished the fire. The impact of both deaths have been felt far and wide. Many locals awoke on Sunday morning to learn of the “terrible tragedy”.

As a mark of respect, the Castlerahan and Crosserlough senior football match, scheduled for later in the afternoon, was called off.

Ms Lynch had four grandsons all of whom played on the Intermediate winning Castlerahan team last year, and her granddaughter played with the club's Intermediate Championship winning ladies' side also.

Another grandson is a member of Castlerahan's U17 panel, while Ms Lynch's son Andrew is heavily involved in coaching with the club's underage teams.

Fine Gael councillor Trevor Smith said his thoughts and prayers and those of the whole community after this “terrible tragedy” are with the Lynch family, their relatives and friends at this “difficult time”.

He said both Ms Lynch and her son as “wonderful community people”.

“The Lynch family are very popular, a number of them are involved in business in and around the town, and they're heavily involved as well in GAA, Castlerahan men's and ladies' teams and in underage. It's a huge blow. Kathleen was a lady. Hers was a céilí house, always very welcoming. She'd nearly be insulted if you didn't call.”

Her son Michael worked at Cavan Box and Cllr Smith described him as “very helpful to a lot of his neighbours, especially older farmers".

He was described as a "kind" person with "a good heart".

Cllr Smith added: “Theirs is a presence that'll be missed, very much so. On Christmas morning the Lynchs was a very united house, all the grandchildren, they loved 'Granny', from young to old, how well she was got within her family, so she'll be a massive miss to them as well as the wider community.”

Ms Lynch was also fondly remembered in post shared by Castlerahan GAA online for her “famous” heart warming soup that she prepared for participants after they took part in the annual Lacken Lake Christmas swim.

The club acknowledged her son Michael, who often helped serve the soup and died alongside her. He was “a great supporter, a constant at every Castlerahan game and rarely missed a match”.

A minute's silence was observed at GAA matches across the county on Sunday as a mark of respect to the Lynch family and their contribution to the sport, both on and off the pitch.

Gardaí are continuing their investigation into the exact cause of the fatal fire.

The scene was preserved for a technical examination after the bodies were taken to the mortuary at Cavan General Hospital where a post-mortem took place.

A spokesperson for An Garda Siochana confirmed: “A woman (aged in her 80s) and a man (aged in his 50s) were pronounced deceased at the scene.”

They added: “Enquiries are ongoing.”

Cllr Smith concluded by paying firm tribute to the emergency services for their response, and credited other members of community who've rallied round the Lynch family in their time of grief. “The response has been incredible really. It's something that would make you proud to see just how supportive everyone has been, how they've come together, to be there for the family and their friends at this difficult time,” commented Cllr Smith.

“I can't compliment the emergency services enough for the swiftness of their response. I was there and watched them working, so professional, and so respectful once they knew that the outcome was as tragic as it was. You can get all the training you want, but it's experience that counts, and that shows. These people do an incredible job, and the local priest as well, Fr Kevin [Donohoe], he was there, and it just brings to mind how important community is at a time like this.”

Kathleen (née Donohoe) and Michael Lynch are survived by their family Rose (Seamus), Catriona (Sean), and Andrew (Caroline); grandchildren and nephews/ nieces Róisín, Shane, Jamie, Kieran, Cormac, Gavin, Loyla-Mai and Cian; relatives, wide circle of friends, and colleagues.