A man killed in a second fire at a house in Edenderry, Co Offaly, where two people, including a four-year-old boy, died in a suspected petrol-bomb attack last year, has been named locally as Christopher “Crunchie” Holt.
The latest blaze took hold in the early hours of Tuesday, with gardaí, paramedics and firefighting crews attending the scene. The victim’s remains were found in an upstairs room.
Tadgh Farrell (4) died at the house on Castleview Park, Edenderry, in December in a suspected petrol-bomb attack, which also claimed the life of his grandaunt Mary Holt (60), and left his grandmother severely injured. The fire was linked to organised crime in the midlands.
The man who died in the blaze at the same property early on Tuesday was Mary Holt’s brother and Tadgh’s granduncle. He had been living in the house for some time, including last year when the first fire broke engulfed the property after the petrol bombing, believed to be linked to a local drug-related feud.
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Though the property was badly damaged last December, and remained boarded up, he returned there and was living in the end of terrace local authority house, which had no power or heating.
Gardaí are trying to determine if Holt was using candles inside the house, which may have caused the fire resulting in his death.
Sources stressed the investigation in the cause of the fire was still in its early stages. However, it is suspected the blaze was started accidentally rather than through third party involvement, though gardaí said further inquiries were required.
Local people who spoke to The Irish Times at the scene said Holt was well known in the area. As he was living in very poor circumstances, and had personal issues including that of addiction, neighbours had tried to help him in recent months.
This included some people on the Castleview estate inviting him into their homes for personal care, including taking a shower, as he did not have any facilities in the badly damaged property in which he was living.
“You would see him around the place and he was in a bad way,” said one neighbour, with another reporting he had seen him on Monday, adding locals were in “complete shock” in the aftermath of both fires at the house.
Holt had been before the courts earlier this year to face a charge of being in possession of a knife on a street in Edenderry last April. However, he was intoxicated in court on the day and deemed “not in a fit state” to participate in proceedings.
When the matter was dealt with a week later, Holt was also deemed to be intoxicated and the case again could not go ahead.
The court heard he was living “solely in the kitchen” of the fire damaged property on Castleview Park as “the rest of the house is uninhabitable”. He was effectively squatting in the property, which was not intended for tenants, such was the extent of the fire damage since last December.
Holt’s remains were taken from the house at lunchtime on Tuesday, with local people looking on from outside a garda crime scene cordon around the property. The remains were taken to the Midland Regional Hospital in Tullamore where a postmortem examination was due to take place on Wednesday.
“The postmortem will be conducted to determine the cause of death, which will determine the course of any Garda investigation,” Garda Headquarters said in a statement.
“The scene is currently preserved for forensic examination, the results of which will also assist in determining the course of any Garda investigation.”
Uniformed gardaí could be seen calling door-to-door in the Castleview estate throughout Tuesday in a bid to gather information as their part of their investigation into the cause of the fire.
However, if the fire is ruled accidental, and arson is discounted, the Garda investigation will not be criminal in nature and will be conducted solely to inform a Coroner’s inquest.
Gardaí believe the attack last December was carried out by people involved in drug dealing in the region and was intended to target a man who previously lived at the property. The incident has been linked to a fight in prison earlier the same day between people linked to the local drugs trade.
There have been a number of arrests as part of the investigation to date, including a man arrested in January on suspicion of murder, though he was released without charge.
Tadgh Farrell was visiting his grandmother and his grandaunt when the attack happened shortly before 7.45pm on December 6th.
The remains of Mary Holt and Tadgh were discovered in the front room of the house, “where the fire was deliberately started”, gardaí said. Tadgh’s grandmother, Pauline Holt, was also in the property in Edenderry when the attack occurred. She was seriously injured.
