Renewed appeal into 1987 Kilcock, Kildare tragedy
Barbara Doyle (20), Mary Ellen Byrne (8) and Kerrie Anne Byrne (3) died in a house fire
On the eve of the 40th anniversary of a family tragedy which struck Kilcock, Co Kildare in September 1987, the cousin of two of the young victims is renewing his call for information for a case which has marred the town for decades.
On the morning of September 20 1987, a fire broke out at Church Lane, Kilcock, Co Kildare -
between 3am and 4am that Sunday morning a fire was reported at the house.
When emergency services arrived at the location, the remains of Barbara Doyle (20), Mary Ellen Byrne (8) and Kerrie Anne Byrne (3) years were discovered at the scene.
The children’s parents, Aidan and Elizabeth were attending a 21st party that night in the locality. Elizabeth’s sister Barbara Doyle babysat her two nieces, Mary Ellen and Kerrie Anne in their home.
Murder investigation
It was 30 years later in 2017 when what was an unspeakable tragedy was compounded by the incident being upgraded to a murder investigation.
While a suspect was questioned by gardai, they were ultimately released without charge.
Mark Keene, cousin to the two young girls who lost their lives in the 1987 fire, says: “I'm in contact with one of the girl's sisters that died in the fire, Pamela, and also it would have been the aunts and uncles of the girls that died as well. So obviously they went through the mill in 2017 when it was all brought back up again and then there was a charge and nothing went of it.
“One of Liz's final requests was to keep the appeal going. So I keep in contact with one of the sisters of the girls who died in the fire, and she's quite happy to keep going with the appeal because they've ran out of steam with it. It's too sore of a subject for them to be pursuing, and it'll be 40 years next September.”
According to Mark, gardai were unable to disclose what new evidence came to light in 2017, other than the fact it led to the arrest of a suspect, who was later released without charge.
“Everybody was in complete shock at the time. I wasn't here, I was in the UK at the time, but the whole community, the guards, no-one had ever seen anything like this before and they (gardai) made a bit of a shambles of it to be honest with you.
“It totally devastated, destroyed the family; in the blink of an eye they went out to a party and came home and their whole family and house were gone, the children were gone. The babysitter, Barbara was the sister of the girls' mother. So Liz lost her sister and her two children in the same fire, and her home.
“It devastated the whole lot of them, it destroyed them.”
Anyone who may have information relating to the events of September 20 1987 is asked to please contact Leixlip Garda station at 01-6667800 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111.