Neighbours gathered in prayer on Wednesday night as fire crews battled a fatal house fire in Roscommon.
A man named locally as Des Deegan died following reports of an explosion in The Oaks housing estate in Frenchpark shortly before 7pm on Wednesday.
The blast destroyed Mr Deegan's property and caused significant damage to others as neighbours tried desperately to come to his aid.
The deceased man's body was later recovered and brought to University Hospital Galway for postmortem examination.
A Garda technical examination was also carried out to determine the cause of the fire.
Local parish priest Fr Micheál Donnelly said neighbours gathered together as emergency crews carried out their work:
Fr Donnelly says the local church will do all it can to support residents:
