One of two men who died in a house fire in Tully East in Kildare this morning has been named locally as Charlie Vaughan, a 76-year-old bachelor who owned the house.
The fire, which broke in the early hours, also claimed the life of a man in his 30s, who has not been identified.
The fire at the semi-detached bungalow broke out sometime before 2.30am, when emergency services were alerted.
By the time they arrived the house was engulfed in flames and the roof had fallen in.
Fire crews spent more than four hours putting out the blaze, and neighbours were evacuated for fear it would spread.
The bodies of two men were discovered, one in the front of the house and a second in a bathroom at the back.
One of the victims is believed to be Mr Vaughan. Relatives say he was a keen artist who grew up in the area.
The second man had been staying at the house.
Post-mortems are expected to take place tomorrow at Naas General Hospital, and gardaí say only then will they be able to positively identify the two men. It is not yet known how the fire started.
Gardaí are appealing to anyone who was in the vicinity of Tully East and noticed anything unusual to contact them.
