A man and woman found dead in their home in Co Wicklow lost their two children in a fire that killed four people in Dublin almost 10 years ago.
They have been named locally as Bridget ‘Biddy’ O’Brien and Jamie McGinn.
The deceased woman was also trapped in the blaze and, though she survived, she suffered life-changing injuries in the fire that claimed the lives of her young children.
The remains of Jamie McGinn, who was in his 30s, and O’Brien, in her 40s, were found on Wednesday morning at their home at the Cois Cairn estate on Old Connaught Avenue in north Bray.
The deceased woman, who grew up in Bray, suffered extensive burns in the fire almost a decade ago and was in intensive care for a prolonged period.
She missed the funerals of her two children and of two other family members who died in the fire. She only learned her children had died about six weeks after the incident.
She was close to the Lynch and Gilbert families in Fassaroe, Bray, who lost 10 loved ones in the fire at a Traveller site in Carrickmines, Dublin, in October 2015.
Gardaí believe violence was a factor in the events that brought about the deaths in the Bray house. They have yet to find evidence anyone else was present or that there was third-party involvement in the deaths. Sources stressed, however, the inquiry was at a very early stage.
The Irish Times understands the remains of Jamie McGinn were found outside the house, and that he had visible injuries, while Bridget O’Brien was found in an upstairs bedroom.
Sources said the results of the postmortems and the forensic examination at the house would determine how they died and would dictate the direction of the investigation. The resources of a homicide inquiry have been committed to the case.
In a statement, An Garda Síochána said the remains of the man and woman were discovered at the property just after 8am and both were pronounced dead at the scene.
“The scene has been preserved for examination by the Garda Technical Bureau. The local coroner and the Office of the State Pathologist have been notified and postmortem examinations will be arranged,” the statement added.
“A senior investigating officer has been appointed and an incident room has been established at Dún Laoghaire Garda station.
“The outcome of the postmortems will assist gardaí in determining the course of the investigation.”
The couple were said to have “lived for each other” after the deaths of their children almost a decade ago.
Members of the local Traveller community said Bridget O’Brien and her partner Jamie McGinn, were “very well liked” and “very private”.
O’Brien was the only person to survive a fire in the early hours of March 8th, 2017, in which her two children Holly (3) and Jordan McGinn (4) died. The blaze was at a facility for women moving on from domestic violence, which they had been visiting.
Her cousin, Anne-Marie O’Brien (27), her daughter Hannah-Paris (2) and her unborn son AJ also died in the fire in Clondalkin.
Jim O’Brien, a relative and co-ordinator of the Bray Travellers Community Development Group said the organisation was “devastated” by the deaths “of two very loved member of the community.
“All we say at this stage is that we send our deepest, deepest, deepest condolences to both the families. They are both well-respected families and we offer all the support we can to them”
The community had recently marked the 11th anniversary of the Carrickmines fire which killed 10 members of the Traveller community in October 2015. Two of the three families who lost loved ones in the tragedy – Lynch and Gilbert- were from Bray.
Harry Gilbert, whose daughter Tara (27) and grand-daughters Jodie (9) and Kelsey (4) died in the 2015 blaze, lives near the home of the dead couple, and knew them well.
“I would consider myself their neighbour. They were a lovely couple. I would talk to Jamie from time to time. They went through the same thing I went through, losing their two children in a fire.”
In 2018 Amanda Gilbert, Tara’s twin, died by suicide.
“They were quiet. People liked them. People are very upset,” said Gilbert of O’Brien and McGinn.
Another local who knew them but did not want to be named said the couple “were never the same after their children died.
“They were very close, very close to each other. They lived for each other after their children died.”
Jamie McGinn had developed a drug habit, which a court was told was a result of the trauma he had endured after losing his children.
He was later pressured by a drug gang, after he ran up a drug debt, to store drugs at his home. When it was raided three years ago, cocaine and cannabis valued at almost €200,000 were discovered.
He was arrested and made admissions, telling gardaí he took responsibility for the drugs, which he said he had agreed to store to reduce a debt of several thousand euro.
When that case reached the court the judge was told the defendant had turned to drugs, developing a cocaine habit after the deaths of his children, but he had been clean for almost a year by the time of his sentencing hearing.
Although a 4½-year sentence was imposed, the final three years were suspended due to the exceptional background and circumstances of his life.
The judge was told that, but for a very small number of minor convictions, the man was a law-abiding citizen before getting drawn into drugs after the deaths of his children had a profound impact on him.
Residents of the Cois Cairn housing estate were reluctant to speak on Wednesday morning as gardaí erected a blue scene tent and screen in front of one of the semidetached bungalows.
Numerous gardaí were in attendance. Some neighbours stood in their doorways or in small groups outside their houses.
At about 12.30pm members of the Garda technical team arrived at the scene, followed by members of the Garda divisional crime squad.