Almost €40,000 raised in 12 hours for Cork mum of five hit by double festive tragedy

Mary Gore was unable to retrieve any of her personal belongings following a fire at the family home at College Wood in Mallow on Tuesday.

Her children, who are all under the age of eight, have been left with just the clothes on their backs.

Her friend Carol Guerin contacted Cork’s Red FM this morning to discuss their plight and the radio station urged her to set up a Go Fund Me Page which has since been flooded with donations.

The Gore family have been inundated with offers of help from furniture stores in Cork. They have also been offered shopping and hotel vouchers. The total money raised had surpassed €24,000 in six hours.

Anyone who wishes to donate to the Gore Go Fund Me Page can do so here.

Earlier: Over €20,000 has been raised online this morning for a Cork mother of five who lost all of her belongings in a house fire which occured just one month after her husband passed away from cancer.

Mary Gore was unable to retrieve any of her personal belongings following a fire at the family home at College Wood in Mallow on Tuesday.

Her children, who are all under the age of eight, have been left with just the clothes on their backs.

Poignantly Mary managed to retrieve army medals from the house which belonged to her late husband Chris who died last month.

Her friend Carol Guerin contacted Cork’s Red FM this morning to discuss their plight and the radio station urged her to set up a Go Fund Me Page which has since been flooded with donations.

Ms Guerin told Red’s Neil Prendeville, that the Gore kids left for school on Tuesday morning with their mother Mary. Mary was subsequently informed that her house was on fire.

"The kitchen is completely destroyed. The ceiling is gone. Literally everything they have in the house is obviously very damaged by smoke.

They literally have the clothes on the back. I am not sure how it happened.

We do know its the cooker but its fairly bad. Toys, clothes, beds and furniture. Everything they have is gone. All Mary was able to salvage was some important pictures and medals that they had in the house. They can’t take anything else out because of smoke damage."

Mary Gore is mother to two boys Adam and David who are aged seven and eight and triplets Sarah, Ellen and Teresa who are just five years old.

Carol says children have had a tough time following the loss of their father last month and were looking forward to Christmas.

"They were getting excited for Santa cos dad died. Chris God love him had cancer and he was diagnosed just around a year ago. He died last month. He was just about to hit 44. His birthday was the week after he was buried."

Carol says Mary is in shock as she is still in the midst of the grieving process having lost her husband so recently.

"She is trying to keep herself together for the five kids and had just started coming out and doing her few bits and trying to get ready for Christmas and focusing on a happy time. Then I suppose the house going set her back. They couldn’t go back to the house.

"Her brother very kindly offered to put them up. The kids are unaware what is going on. They probably think they are on a grand sleepover."

Carol said the family went to see Santa last week so that the "kids could still be kids."

"They had put up the decorations and had tried to make it all nice for Christmas. Mary had put some pictures of Chris around the sitting room so they could look at them and remember him. Everything is gone.

"The kids went out in their uniforms that morning and the girls had their Christmas play. Mallow Act of Kindness have been absolutely fantastic and now we have the Go Fund Me page. People have been amazing. Quite a bit has been raised so far."

Since the show aired at 9am today the Gore family have been inundated with offers of help from furniture stores in Cork. They have also been offered shopping and hotel vouchers. The total money raised had surpassed €24,000 in six hours.

Meanwhile, local Independent Councillor, John Paul O’Shea has urged the people of Cork to continue to get behind the family.

"I would be asking them to rally behind them from an emotional and a practical point of view. It is very sad. Chris only died last month and he was very young and they are a young family."

Anyone who wishes to donate to the Gore Go Fund Me Page can do so at www.gofundme.com/mary-gore