A fire that gutted a derelict house on the outskirts of Buncrana on Monday afternoon has ‘taken a lifetime of memories’ from a family.
Kathi Davis, now based in Cork, spent her teenage years in the house, at Umricam, Buncrana and the house had returned to their family just over three years ago.
On Monday afternoon, however, three fire crews battled with the flames that engulfed the house.
Kathi’s elderly mother, Vera, who now resides in Muff, telephoned her other daughter, Jackie, to inform her of the incident, which Gardai are treating as suspicious.
“It might or might not have been deliberate and it might only have taken a moment – but it has taken a lifetime of memories,” Kathi Davis says.
“In May, 2014, my sister bought it back into the family. The house meant so much to us. We had plans for it. Obviously it is derelict, but we’d hoped to have built something there again.
“It was pretty heartbreaking. There were a lot of memories in there for us. It was our home house.
“I got married from that house, I brought my baby back to that house, I grew up there and my dad died from that house. There is so much family history there.
“Even though we didn’t live there now, we’d always have passed it driving up and we’d always say: ‘I’d love to get it back’. It was lovely then knowing that it was back in the family when Jackie bought it.
“Just looking at the pictures now, I remember jumping out that door, slamming that door behind me. Now, there’s nothing there at all.”
The late Norman Davis moved back to his native Buncrana from England in 1987. His wife, Vera, twins Kathi and Pete and daughter Jackie lived there for many years.
Kathi says: “Dad was from Buncrana – he was born in Dunree – and the always wanted to retire there, so he bought the property. I lived there until I was 17 or 18. The house was in the family from around 1987 until about 12 years ago, when it was sold to the Bradleys.”
Kathi is now based in Cork, but says: “Buncrana will always be home for us, no matter where I live.”
Gardai are keeping an open mind on the incident.
Kathi paid tribute to the fire brigade and added: “The timing of it was very odd. We’re just waiting for answers at the moment. We know that there was nothing on site that could have caused it, but only time will tell. When my sister bought it, it was stripped of everything. There was no electricity on, nothing there that could have been a fire hazard, gas cylinders or anything like that.”
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