Man (72) who died in Roscommon house fire planned to adapt home for partner

Sean Ryan

Tributes are being paid to a devoted partner who died in a Roscommon house fire overnight.

The man who has been named locally as Des Deegan (72) died in a fire at a house in The Oaks housing estate, Frenchpark, Co Roscommon.

Emergency services were called to the house in an estate shortly before 7pm on Wednesday evening

Locals said that Mr Deegan who was originally from Dublin was a devoted partner to Alice Hetherton (63).

The couple had lived at French Park for the past 25 years having met in London and lived in Kerry for a number of years previously.

Tragically Ms Hetherton suffered a serious bleed on the brain and an aneurysm in 2023 and as a result was admitted to a nursing home in the area in July 2024.

Mr Deegan had launched a campaign locally to adapt the house and bring her home and had set up a Go-fundme page in April of this year.

Locals say he had spoken on local radio about his campaign on a number of occasions.

Speaking at the time he said’’ I've started this fundraiser on behalf of my partner Alice Hetherton, formerly of Oldcastle Co Meath.

"Alice is 63 years old, she has worked all her life caring for others as a care worker in hospitals and nursing homes across the UK and Ireland.

"Ironically Alice finds herself now in need of the support she has given to others’’.

To date the fundraiser has raised almost €7,000.

In a statement gardaí said Fire services extinguished the blaze and the body of a man was recovered.

His remains were removed from the scene to University Hospital Galway, where a post-mortem examination will be carried out.

The scene remains sealed off for a technical examination. It is unclear what caused the fire, with witnesses reporting an explosion just before the blaze broke out. No funeral arrangements have been made as yet.