Bouquets of flowers covered the front gate of the small terraced house in Sligo yesterday where seven-year-old Sarah Jinks died in a fire early on Saturday morning.
A card on one from "Granny and Grandad" read: "To little Sarah, we love you and miss you."
The charred remains of furniture was piled in front of the house, which was burned out. Six members of Sarah's family, including her parents and sister and brother, Breege (9) and Philip (2), escaped without serious injury.
Mrs Cathy Scanlon, a relative of the family who lives a few doors away, said the fire spread through the two-storey house within minutes.
"It was terrible. It was just like an inferno. First I heard shouting and a baby crying. Then the front windows went in and the flames came out," she said.
The tragedy was made all the worse because Frank and Philomena Jinks were due to move into a new home in the Co Sligo village of Ballymote within weeks. They moved into the house with Philomena's brothers, Val and John Conlon, only on a temporary basis as the final work was being done to their new home.
The fire is believed to have started downstairs shortly after 2 a.m. Mr Frank Jinks and the two Conlon brothers were downstairs as Mrs Jinks and the three children slept upstairs.
Desperate attempts to reach them resulted in Philomena and the two other children being rescued, but Sarah was trapped in an upstairs bedroom.
Two units of Sligo Fire Brigade were at the scene within minutes and managed to prevent the blaze from spreading to the two adjoining houses.
Chief Fire Officer Mr Pat Forkin said two teams of firemen using breathing apparatus had to fight their way upstairs to find the girl's body. It was initially thought three family members were trapped upstairs.
Two firemen suffered minor injuries and were treated in Sligo General Hospital but were not detained. Members of the family were also treated for smoke inhalation and minor burns. The cause of the blaze is not yet known.