A couple whose two young children died in a devastating apartment fire in Dublin in 2017 have been found dead at their home in Bray, Ireland, nine years after the tragedy that left their family shattered.
Bridgid “Biddy” O’Brien and her partner, James “Jamie” McGinn, were discovered at their home in the Cois Cairn estate on Old Connaught Avenue, north Bray, on the morning of Wednesday, October 21, 2026.
Irish police, known as An Garda Síochána, were alerted shortly before 8am after the bodies of a woman in her 40s and a man in his 30s were discovered at the property. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.
As of Thursday, October 22, investigators were awaiting the results of post-mortem examinations to establish the circumstances and causes of their deaths.
State Pathologist Dr Sally Anne Collis was conducting the examinations as forensic officers continued investigating the scene.
O’Brien’s body showed no apparent signs of violence, while McGinn had sustained injuries believed to be consistent with knife wounds. Police said they did not believe anyone else was involved in the deaths but stressed that they were keeping an open mind and following all lines of inquiry.
A senior investigating officer has been appointed and an incident room has been established at Dún Laoghaire Garda Station to coordinate the investigation.
The Garda Technical Bureau examined the property, while family liaison officers were assigned to support the bereaved relatives.
The discovery has brought renewed attention to the tragedy the couple experienced in March 2017, when a fire at an apartment in Clondalkin, west Dublin, claimed the lives of four people, including their two children.
Their son, Jordan McGinn, aged four, and daughter, Holly O’Brien, who was about two years old, died in the early hours of March 8, 2017.
Also killed were O’Brien’s cousin, Anne-Marie O’Brien, 27, who was pregnant, and Anne-Marie’s two-year-old daughter, Paris. The unborn child, whom the family had named AJ, also died.
Biddy O’Brien was the sole survivor of the fire. She sustained extensive burns and required prolonged treatment in intensive care.
She was unconscious for a period following the incident and missed the funerals of her children and other relatives. She reportedly learned of her children’s deaths several weeks after the fire.
An inquest held in 2018 recorded accidental-death verdicts for the victims. Evidence presented at the inquest indicated that a tea-light candle may have ignited a television, leading to the fatal blaze.
The loss had a profound effect on the couple in the years that followed. Reports from the Irish court proceedings later documented McGinn’s struggles with cocaine addiction after the deaths of his children.
In 2023, McGinn was sentenced over the possession of drugs for sale or supply after cocaine and cannabis worth nearly €200,000 were discovered in a shed at the property.
The court heard that he had become involved with drugs following the family tragedy and had agreed to store the substances to reduce a drug debt. The judge took his circumstances into account when sentencing him.
Residents and members of the local community expressed shock following the couple’s deaths, describing them as well-liked and the news as devastating for their families.
Sinn Féin TD for Wicklow John Brady said the discovery had caused a profound sense of disbelief in the area, noting that the couple and their extended families were well known locally.
Police have urged anyone with information that could assist the investigation to contact Dún Laoghaire Garda Station. The findings of the post-mortem examinations are expected to help determine the next steps in the inquiry.
