THE funeral of a young woman who died in a house fire in Adlington over the weekend was taking place in Southern Ireland today.

Ciara Tenanty, aged 22, died after a fire that started in a chip pan spread through the Railway View house she shared with boyfriend David Hough in the early hours of Sunday.

Mr Hough, aged 32, suffered smoke inhalation and head injuries as he "valiantly" attempted to get back into the house to rescue his stricken girlfriend.

Firefighters found Miss Tenanty's body in an upstairs bedroom as they tackled the blaze.

Mr Hough was taken to Chorley and District Hospital for treatment and was released on Monday.

Both the communities of Adlington and Miss Tenanty's birthplace of Dunleer, Co Louth, reacted with shock and dismay at news of her death.

Miss Tenanty's brothers Brian and Paul arrived in Lancashire on Monday to make arrangements for her body to be returned to her home town where her funeral will take place today.

Her mother Peg died two years ago and her father Matt and sister Fiona were too distraught to speak about her death.

But a spokesman from her old school -- Scoil Ui Mhuri -- said: "She was always a very bright and alert and helpful person who won Student of the Month I don't know how many times."

Miss Tenanty left Dunleer five years ago for the Isle of Man. She moved to Bolton where she worked in the administration department of Furnitureland on the Middlebrook Retail Park for the past eight months.

Staff at Furnitureland were given the news of her death on Sunday during a training day.

Manager Alex McWilliams said said staff at the store had been left traumatised by news of her death.

He said: "Ciara was a very bubbly and lively character and I certainly found her to be conscientious and hard working.

"She was taken on as a temp but was so good at what she did she was kept on.

"Her work in the admin department involved a lot of pressure but she always kept her sense of humour.

"She was a pleasure to work with and will be greatly missed by all the staff."