Updated at 1.10pm

TRIBUTES HAVE BEEN paid to an elderly woman killed in a house fire in Kerry.

Bridie Uí Chíobháin, an 85-year-old widow, died after a blaze broke out in her home on the Dingle Peninsula, near Ballyferriter, at around 9pm on Saturday night.

Local parish priest Eoghan Ó Cadhla said she was “a popular, much-loved lady” who was well-known in the community.

Bridie had been a devoted wife to Ger Ó Cíobháin, the now deceased author of former Leaving Cert Irish book Cogarnach ar ár gCósta, who famously rowed around the coast of Ireland in a small boat, he said.

She is survived by five children.

“People are shocked and saddened,” Fr Ó Cadhla told TheJournal.ie. “She was a woman of great faith and courage, and she was always very proud of her Gaeltacht heritage.”

It is believed that gardaí are not treating the blaze as suspicious at this time.

First published on 25 October. Additional reporting by Nicky Ryan.

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