She survived a fire that killed her two children. Now she and her partner have been found dead

Gardaí are investigating the deaths of a couple found at their home on the Dublin-Wicklow border on Wednesday morning, nine years after they lost their two young children in a fatal Dublin apartment fire.

The deceased have been named locally as James "Jamie" McGinn (38) and Bridget (also spelt Bridgid) "Biddy" O'Brien (45). Their bodies were discovered shortly after 8am at a semidetached bungalow in the Cois Cairn estate on Old Connaught Avenue in north Bray. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

It is understood Mr McGinn's body was discovered in the garden just outside the property with visible injuries, while Ms O'Brien was found inside in an upstairs bedroom with no visible signs of injury. While earlier reports noted that investigators were examining whether violence played a factor, sources now indicate that gardaí believe the couple died in tragic personal circumstances and do not suspect foul play or third-party involvement at this stage.

Read Also: Jamie McGinn and Biddy O'Brien Finally Reunited With Children Killed in Fire

The bodies were removed on Wednesday afternoon to the Dublin City Morgue at Whitehall, where postmortem examinations are being carried out by State Pathologist Dr Sally Anne Collis across Wednesday evening and Thursday. Detectives expect to wait several weeks for toxicology results to help establish the exact cause of death.

Gardaí from the Serious Crime Unit in the Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR) East have committed the resources of a full inquiry to the case, with the postmortem results set to determine the direction of the investigation. A Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) is leading the inquiry from an incident room at Dún Laoghaire Garda Station, and Family Liaison Officers have been appointed to support the bereaved relatives. The residence remained cordoned off on Wednesday evening, with a blue forensic tent and screens erected outside as the Garda Technical Bureau and divisional crime squad conducted detailed examinations.

The tragedy follows a devastating personal history for the couple. In the early hours of 8 March 2017, Ms O'Brien brought their children—four-year-old Jordan and three-year-old Holly McGinn—to stay overnight at a domestic refuge in Clondalkin, west Dublin, with her relative Anne-Marie O'Brien, who was seven months pregnant with her unborn son AJ, and Anne-Marie's two-year-old daughter Hannah-Paris.

A fire broke out at the property, claiming the lives of both McGinn children, Anne-Marie, her unborn baby, and Hannah-Paris. An inquest later heard the blaze was accidental and likely sparked by a tea light or candle igniting a large television screen. Ms O'Brien was the sole survivor of the fire. Having suffered severe, life-changing burn injuries, she spent weeks in intensive care and missed her children's funerals, only learning of their deaths from Mr McGinn after regaining consciousness up to six weeks later.

As confirmed by Daily Dazzling Dawn, the trauma of losing their children led both to struggle with substance abuse. In February 2024, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Mr McGinn had developed a drug addiction to cope with his grief and accumulated an €8,000 drug debt. Pressured by a gang to store narcotics at his home to reduce the debt, the property was raided the previous year, resulting in the seizure of nearly €200,000 worth of cocaine and cannabis.

Mr McGinn, whose only prior convictions were for road traffic offences, made full admissions to gardaí. Observing the exceptional background of his grief and noting he had been drug-free for almost a year, the judge imposed a four-and-a-half-year sentence with the final three years suspended, resulting in an 18-month prison term.

News of the couple's deaths has caused widespread grief across the local community. Jim O'Brien, a relative and coordinator of the Bray Travellers Community Development Group, said the organisation was devastated by the loss of two well-loved community members.

"All we say at this stage is that we send our deepest, deepest, deepest condolences to both the families," he said. "They are both well-respected families and we offer all the support we can to them."

Locals described the pair as very private and well-liked people who "lived for each other" after the 2017 fire, noting they "were never the same" after losing Jordan and Holly.

The couple were also close to the Lynch and Gilbert families in Fassaroe, Bray, who lost ten relatives in the October 2015 Carrickmines fire. Neighbour Harry Gilbert, who lost his daughter and granddaughters in the 2015 blaze, paid tribute to the pair. "They were a lovely couple. I would talk to Jamie from time to time," Mr Gilbert said. "They went through the same thing I went through, losing their two children in a fire."

Sinn Féin TD for Wicklow John Brady described the news as "unbearable and unimaginable for everyone," telling RTÉ that a profound sense of shock and disbelief had gripped the tight-knit estate, where extended family members also reside.

Friends also shared tributes online, recalling the couple's warmth and generosity. "Our hearts are shattered," one friend wrote. "Not a day went by without u calling into us for some lunch or dinner or a chat—how life can go on without that big laugh, that helping hand around our home? Hug and hold your babies, they deserve to have you back with them."

An Garda Síochána is appealing to anyone with information in relation to the incident to contact Dún Laoghaire Garda Station on (01) 666 5000, local officers at Shankill Garda Station, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.