RTÉ Prime Time interview Kerry mother whose 5 year old daughter and husband died in arson attack and her fight for justice

RTÉ Prime Time interview Kerry mother whose 5 year old daughter and husband died in arson attack 

– Kelly O’Brien spent 10 years seeking answers after Gardaí ruled fatal house fire an accident
– In 2022, a man came forward confessing to being a part of the crime

In 2012, Kelly O’Brien’s husband, Anthony, and their five-year-old daughter, Nadine, were killed in a house fire. For years, Kelly insisted the fire was deliberate but Gardaí ruled it an accident and closed the case.  In 2022, Philip Griffin came forward with a confession that he and another man had broken into Kelly’s home and the fire was deliberately set. Tonight, in her first television interview, Kelly O’Brien speaks to RTÉ Prime Time about that night and her continued fight for justice.

On the night of the fire, Anthony managed to get Kelly out of a first-floor window of their home, but he was unable to save himself or Nadine.

Recalling the night of the fire Kelly tells RTÉ Prime Time, “I was screaming for help, I was screaming ‘help Anthony, help Anthony’. The plan was I was to catch Nadine. So, I was just sitting there with my hands open, screaming for help and waiting for Nadine. But I got a bad feeling, I knew something was wrong.”

When fire crews gained access to the house in the early hours of that morning, they found Anthony and Nadine together in the back bedroom beneath the window.  Nadine was cuddled into her father.

“I carry them with me all the time, the strength I saw from Anthony that night, and even Nadine, she was five, she fought, she did, she fought to try and be here.  The only comfort I have is that Anthony had her in his arms, she didn’t die alone.”

The intervening years took a toll on Kelly’s mental health, “I was put in and out of psychiatric (care).  I attempted to take my life several times.  I was in there because I was told that I wasn’t accepting the fact my husband and daughter were deceased.  I was explaining ‘no I know they’re deceased; it’s the reason why they’re deceased that I have a problem with.”

After a decade, Philip Griffin confessed to Gardaí that he and another individual had broken into the O’Brien house in the early hours of 12 May 2012, and the other man set fire to a couch because of a disagreement on the previous day. At a Central Criminal Court hearing in December 2024, the court heard that Gardaí had closed the file on the case in 2013 after no evidence of a crime was found. Mr. Griffin pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison.

A fresh Garda investigation to bring to justice the other person involved in the crime continues. Kelly O’Brien says she will continue to keep pressure on those with information to bring it forward. She is urging people to ‘do the right thing’.

Watch the full interview on Prime Time tonight March 11, at 9:35pm RTÉ One and RTÉ Player and read the online report on RTÉ.ie/primetime.