Father-of-two dies in house fire
A Cork father-of-two, who helped train one of the greatest draghunting hounds in Ireland, died in a house fire early today.
Maurice Keating, aged 51, from Kerry Pike, died in the bungalow he lived in all his life after a fire broke out at around 1am.
The cause of the fire is not yet known and gardaí are currently carrying out a technical examination of the scene.
The father-of-two was the only person in the house at the time.
A spokesman for Cork City Fire Brigade said three fire units attended the scene — one from Ballincollig and two from the city.
Gardaí and an ambulance also attended the scene, but it is not known who raised the alarm.
Members of the fire services forced down the door before finding Mr Keating in a room.
He was immediately taken to Cork University Hospital (CUH) but he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
A post-mortem is expected to be carried out this evening.
Maurice Keating, along with his brothers Christy and Tommy, are well known in draghunting circles across the country.
In the early to mid-1970s, Mr Keating helped his brother and internationally renowned trainer Christy, train Cartgate Laddie, who went on to win three consecutive Senior Championship titles in 1975, 1976 and 1977.
Cartgate Laddie also became the first hound to win the inaugural international match between Ireland and England in 1975.
So successful was Cartgate Laddie, that Christy named his home after the dog.
A close friend of the Keating family, said Maurice was 'One of the nicest people you could hope to meet'.
“He’s been involved in draghunting all his life and people would always see him out walking the dogs,” he told The Evening Echo.
“He helped train the incredible Cartgate Laddie whose records will probably never be matched again,” he said.
