THE family of a young woman who died in a house fire in Ireland have said they will use her upcoming wedding arrangements for her funeral service.
Grace McDermott, 26 originally from Long Island, New York, died in a house fire in Annacotty, Co. Limerick on Monday, May 1.
Ms McDermott had been living and studying in Dublin with her Irish fiancé and had been visiting friends in Limerick when the tragedy occurred.
Gardaí and fire services attended the scene of a house fire in The Oaks, in the Riverbank area of Annacotty at 3am on Monday.
While the fire was brought under control and the body of Ms McDermott was discovered in the house.
There were four other people, three men and one woman, in the house at the time of the fire and they escaped uninjured.
Grace McDermott, a PhD researcher at Dublin City University, was co-founder and editor-in-chief of Women Are Boring blog, which focuses on sharing academic research by women all over the world.
The Oaks, Riverbank in Annacotty Co. Limerick where the fire took place. (Picture: Google Maps)Speaking to the New York Post, Ms McDermott's mother explained how the family will swap her upcoming wedding arrangements for her funeral service.
“Most of all she was planning her wedding to the greatest guy in the world,” her mother said.
“Now we’ll be using the same songs, the same hymns that she wanted at her wedding, the same flowers that she wanted at her wedding, for her service,” she said.
“They say the greatest tragedy is to die and to never have lived — and she lived every second,” she added. “And we’re blessed for that."
Following her death, an outpouring of tributes were paid to Ms McDermott.
Her co-founder of the Women are Boring blog Catherine Connolly said: "So devastated to share the awful news that our co-founder, Grace McDermott, died tragically yesterday.
"She was an incredible person, and this is such a loss for the world. I am putting the blog on hiatus for a short while, but the blog will be back (Grace would be SO mad if I stopped after all the work we'd put in!)
"We were due to celebrate the first birthday of the site on Friday and it will never be the same without her. Utterly torn apart to have lost my partner-in-crime. "
So devastated to share the awful news that our co-founder, Grace McDermott, died tragically yesterday. She was an...
Posted by Women Are Boring on Tuesday, 2 May 2017
Others took to Twitter to express sympathy for the tragic death of Ms McDermott.
Our deepest condolences, Grace was an amazing student, academic and human being. RIP.
— School of Comms DCU (@DCU_SoC) May 2, 2017
We are shocked and devastated at the tragic loss of our colleague @grace_mcdermott who was wonderful and exceptionally talented. RIP, Grace.
— SoftCo (@SoftCoGroup) May 2, 2017
So sad and shocking to hear this wonderful young woman @GraceMcDermott of @WomenAreBoring has died: https://t.co/a5wqoMlY6s @IrishTimesLife
— Róisín Ingle (@roisiningle) May 2, 2017
Grace worked with me in UL a few years ago. She was a wonderful teacher and researcher and a lovely person. I am so very sorry.
— Helen Kelly-Holmes (@helenkellyholme) May 3, 2017
The British Association for Irish Studies also offered their condolences to Ms McDermott's friends and family.
We offer our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Grace McDermott
Posted by British Association for Irish Studies on Tuesday, 2 May 2017
An Garda Síochána have said the scene remains sealed off and a technical examination will take place later today.
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