Community Corner
Long Island Native Grace McDermott Dies In Ireland House Fire
The 26-year-old PhD student was found dead on Monday, according to reports.
An East Islip native and Ph.D. student died in a house fire in Ireland where she was currently living on Monday, according to a report in the Irish Mirror.
Grace McDermott, 26, was found dead in a bedroom of a three-story home in Limerick, according to the report. Four other people inside the home were able to escape from the fire uninjured.
The fire is believed to have been sparked by an electrical fault involving a cellphone charger in the bedroom where McDermott was sleeping, the Irish Times reported.
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McDermott, an East Islip High School graduate, was a Ph.D. researcher at Dublin City University, investigating Middle Eastern/Arab identity and Islamophobia in U.S. news and digital media.
She previously studied at the University of Limerick, where she received her master's degree in international tourism, and at SUNY New Paltz, where she received her bachelor's degree in journalism and public relations.
Find out what's happening in Islipfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
McDermott also co-founded the blog Women Are Boring along with Catherine Connolly.
An awesome write up on @WomenAreBoring by @siliconrepublic: https://t.co/1r6P8LFbBZ #FeministFriday #phdchat pic.twitter.com/aj9iz9Pvw4
— Grace McDermott (@grace_mcdermott) July 22, 2016
"So devastated to share news of tragic death of my friend and feminist academic partner-in-crime," Connolly wrote on Twitter. "Such a loss for the world."
In addition to Connolly, many others turned to Twitter to express their condolences:
We are shocked and devastated at the tragic loss of our colleague @grace_mcdermott who was wonderful and exceptionally talented. RIP, Grace.
— SoftCo (@SoftCoGroup) May 2, 2017
So devastated to share the news that our co-founder @grace_mcdermott died tragically yesterday.Women Are Boring is now on hiatus for a while
— Women Are Boring (@WomenAreBoring) May 2, 2017
Heartbroken to hear about the tragic death of @grace_mcdermott honoured to have sat in her lecture room
— Aishling Ennis (@AishEnnis) May 2, 2017
@WomenAreBoring So sorry 4 ur loss. I was running alongside @grace_McDermott on GLR & we started chatting & she was encouraging me as we ran
— Mags Browne (@MagsBrow) May 2, 2017
#BHGLR here we go! pic.twitter.com/WyfFTeZjf5
— Grace McDermott (@grace_mcdermott) April 30, 2017
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