IT WAS an eerie scene at Grange Lane in Rathnure on Thursday of last week, as quietness descended on the scene where the day before a fire had torn through the country cottage of Pat Brennan, tragically claiming his life.
Tape tied at the front of the house by fire services marked it out as the site where the tragedy had occurred, however, tucked away behind bushes, you could almost pass it by. A beautiful part of the countryside, Mr Brennan, aged 77, lived there by himself in the shadow of the mountains.
He is the second pensioner to have lost his life in a house-fire in recent months following the passing of 81 year-old Paddy Colfer after a blaze broke out in his home on November 26 of last year.
The blaze at Mr Brennan’s small country cottage is believed to have broken out at some stage around 4.30 p.m. and Enniscorthy Fire Services received a call at around 4.40 p.m. from a neighbour that had seen the flames. Two units responded and rushed to the scene, expertly negotiating the narrow laneway, however, fire blaze had already largely engulfed the house by the time they arrived.
“The fire had been burning for a while and was well into the roof by the time we arrived on the scene,” a spokesman for Enniscorthy Fire Service said. “It was burning a while before anyone saw anything. The call only came in when neighbours noticed the flames coming from the house. We gained access to the house easily. The windows and doors were already out.”
Mr Brennan’s body was found in the sitting room of the house, after some searching.
“By the time we got in, the roof had caved in and part of the chimney had collapsed, so we had to search under the rubble before locating the body,” the spokesman for the Fire Service said. “At the moment we’ve no idea how it started, but Gardaí are investigating the matter.”
By the time the flames were extinguished at the Rathnure home, it was dark and would’ve been unsafe for Gardaí to carry out an examination. The house was subsequently cordoned off and a Garda forensic team arrived on Thursday morning to carry out a full and comprehensive examination of the scene and a Garda was still posted outside the residence in the afternoon. A spokesman for Enniscorthy Gardaí said that an investigation into the cause of the fire was still ongoing, however, they were not suspecting any kind of foul play.
There was an eerie silence on the quiet country laneway as fog enveloped the mountain and a solitary garda car was pulled up in the driveway of a house which was under construction right opposite where the flames had torn a house down just a few hours before.
Described locally as a quiet and unassuming character, Mr Brennan lived alone in the country cottage for years. He was well-known in the local community and it was said that he could often be seen strolling down the laneway of an evening and cutting through the fields to Conran’s Pub.
“He used to walk down to our pub every evening,” said John Conran, owner of the pub. “He’d have a few drinks and a bit of chat and he was really likeable, a real gentleman. I’ve never heard him say a bad word about anybody. He was a lovely person and it’s very sad to see the way he went in the end.”
Mr Brennan’s funeral mass took place on Saturday morning at St Anne’s Church in Rathnure where members of the community gathered to pay their respects and bid a final farewell. His burial took place afterwards in Rathnure Cemetery.
House at Grange, Rathnure which was destroyed by fire, and claimed the life of Pat Brennan on Wednesday evening. Pic: John Walsh