A woman in her 80s, and her son aged in his 50s, have died in a house fire in Co Cavan in the early hours of this morning.
Emergency services were called to the scene of the blaze which broke out at a house near Ballyjamesduff shortly before 2am.
The mother and son, who have been named as Kathleen and Michael Lynch, were pronounced dead at the scene.
A garda spokesperson said that their bodies have been removed to the mortuary at Cavan General Hospital where a post-mortem is due to take place.
Gardaí have concluded the technical examination of the scene.
The coroner has been notified, the spokesperson added.
Local councillor and family friend Trevor Smith came upon the scene shortly before the emergency services arrived.
"I would have seen the house ablaze and followed into town to see that the fire brigade was heading out to attend the scene at Lackenmore," Mr Smith said.
"A terrible tragedy happened in our local community. Our thoughts and our prayers are with the family and the family will get all the support from the locals."
He described how tents had been erected close to the house by the local community council this morning, where teas and coffees were provided to support the family who were at the scene throughout the day.
The Fine Gael councillor also praised the emergency services who attended last night's fire.
"The emergency response, the fire brigade, the gardaí, the paramedics, even the local priest, they were so professional and yet respectful and its only when a scene like this happens that you realise the work that these guys do," Mr Smith added.
The family were well known in the area with all four of Ms Lynch's children living in the area.
Cavan County Board announced that today's local derby GAA championship match between Castlerahan and Crosserlough was postponed in the wake of the tragedy and a minute's silence is being observed at games being played today throughout the county.
In a post on social media, Castlerahan GAA club described the Lynch family as one "steeped in our club and community."
"Michael was a great supporter, a constant at every Castlerahan game and rarely missed a match," the post said.
The farmhouse that the mother and son lived in overlooks Lacken Lake and after an annual Christmas swim each year, Mrs Lynch would provide the soup, which the local GAA club described as "famous".
