Gardaí release man (20s) arrested over Edenderry fatal fire

He was the fifth to be detained last week over suspected petrol bomb attack

Members of the fire service and Garda Technical Bureau at the scene of a fatal house fire in Castleview Park, Edenderry, Co Offaly, in December. Photograph: Colin Keegan/Collins
Members of the fire service and Garda Technical Bureau at the scene of a fatal house fire in Castleview Park, Edenderry, Co Offaly, in December. Photograph: Colin Keegan/Collins

Gardaí have released a man arrested last Wednesday in connection with a Co Offaly house fire that killed a young boy and his great-aunt last December.

The man in his 20s was the fifth to be detained as part of the investigation into the suspected petrol bomb attack at a house at Castleview Park, Edenderry, on the evening of December 6th.

Gardaí said the male has not been charged, but a file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Tadgh Farrell (4) and Mary Holt (60) died in the incident. Their remains were discovered in the front room of the house “where the fire was deliberately started”, gardaí said at the time.

Mary Holt (60) and Tadgh Farrell (4) who were killed  in a  house fire in  Edenderry, Co Offaly. Photographs: Families
Mary Holt (60) and Tadgh Farrell (4) who were killed in a house fire in Edenderry, Co Offaly. Photographs: Families

Three other men (20s and 30s) and a teenage boy were also arrested last week.

Michael Dunne (22), with an address in Co Kildare, was last Friday charged with criminal damage and endangerment in connection with the fatal fire.

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Ellen O’Riordan

Ellen O’Riordan

Ellen O’Riordan is a reporter with The Irish Times