Gardaí remain unsure as to the cause of the death of the couple found dead in a home in Bray yesterday. 

Yesterday, Gardaí were called out to the Cois Cairn estate on Old Connaught Avenue, following the discovery of a man and a woman’s body. 

Both individuals were pronounced dead at the scene and have been named locally as James 'Jamie' McGinn, who was in his late 30s, and Bridget ‘Biddy’ O’Brien was in her early 40s. 

Both bodies were sent to the morgue in Whitehall for post-mortem examinations. 

“Jamie's body was found outside the house at the front of the property while Biddy was discovered inside,” Chief Reporter Barry Whyte explained on Newstalk Breakfast. 

“It's understood Gardaí are examining the possibility that Biddy may have died sometime before her partner.

“Her death remains unexplained and there were no obvious indications that she had suffered violence. 

“Gardaí are also examining the possibility that Jamie's fatal injuries were self-inflicted. 

“But I think it's important to stress the precise circumstances surrounding both deaths have yet to be established.”

Gardaí on Old Connaught Avenue, Bray. Picture by: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie.

This is not the first time the family have been in the news for the most tragic of reasons. 

In 2017, the couple’s Clondalkin home was engulfed by fire and their two young children, Jordan and Holly died. 

Their cousins, two-year-old Paris and 27-year-old Annmarie O’Brien also died. At the time, Ms O’Brien was eight months pregnant and had named her unborn son AJ. 

“Biddy herself survived the fire but suffered horrific injuries, including serious burns and damage to her lungs,” Mr Whyte recounted. 

“She spent weeks in hospital, much of that time in an ingest coma.

“One of the most heartbreaking details is that when she eventually regained consciousness, she didn't know her two children had died.” 

Gardaí on Old Connaught Avenue, Bray. Picture by: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie.

So severe were the extent of Ms O’Brien’s injuries, that she was in a coma for several weeks and it was only when she woke up that she learned that her children were dead. 

Recently, she spoke to the Irish Independent about how the death of her family in such horrific circumstances changed her life forever, with Christmas an especially hard time.  

“She described how her two children, Jordan and Holly, were constantly on her mind,” Mr Whyte said. 

“I was also looking through Jamie's social media yesterday, where he used the surname Summers; what really struck me was the number of photographs he continued to share of his two children. 

“There were dozens of pictures of Jordan and Holly, even posted recently.” 

The couple were well known locally and Mr Whyte said there is a “real sense of shock” among people living in the tight-knit Wicklow town.

Main image: Jamie McGinn and Bridget O’Brien's home. Photo: Eamonn Farrell/© RollingNews.ie