How familiar Oscar was with his half-sisters is questionable due to the social implication of the time, Sir William Wilde cared and provided for all his illegitimate children including their education and kept in touch with them. In the social circles of Dublin of the 1800s this knowledge would have been a topic of extreme scandal therefore the three illegitimate children were kept well out of the limelight.  His brother Ralph became the guardian of Emily and Mary and  in 1871 they were living with him at Drumsnatt in County Monaghan where he had just become rector of St Molua's Church. The two girls were invited to a Halloween Ball at Drumaconnor House near Smithboro, County Monaghan on October 31^st 1871 and the reverend gave them permission to attend.

Towards the end of the evening the host ask Mary for a dance and as they twirled around the room her crinoline dress touched either one of the candles or the open fire and immediately caught fire. Emily rushed to help her sister and in doing so her dress also went up in flames, as guests tried frantically to put out the fire, Emily ran out of the house to the lawn where she rolled on the grass to extinguish the flames. Although the flames were eventually stopped both girls suffered horrendous burns which would lead to both of them losing their lives, Mary on November 8^th and Emily on November 21^st 1871.  After their death  the news of the tragedy was covered up to prevent it becoming a topic of gossip in social circles, pressure was brought against having an inquest, this resulted in two inquiries being held instead.

In the coroners reports the girls are named as Miss L and Miss M Wylie, daughters of Sir William Wylie, the inquiries defined the deaths as accidental. Whether intentional or not the deception kept the knowledge of the tragedy from wider circles for over one hundred years. The two girls remained at Drumaconner House until their death and burial at Drumsnat Church, their father visited the girls while at Drumaconner House and attended the funeral and by all accounts was stricken with uncontrollable grief. The Wilde family had several connections in the area which may have been why the Reverend Ralph Wilde came to St Molua's at Drumsnat, Oscar Wilde also attended Portora Royal School in nearby Enniskillen from 1864 until 1871, the year of this tragedy..

The girls headstone at Drumsnat identifies them correctly and reads:  In Memory of Two loving and beloved Sisters, Emily Wilde aged 24 and Mary Wilde aged 22 who lost their lives by accident in this parish in November 1871. They were lovely and pleasant in their lives and in their death they were not divided. The Reverend Ralph Wilde was so devastated by the tragic loss of these two young girls that he requested to be move to another parish, it is only my assumption that he came to St Patrick's.

This tragedy was not an uncommon occurrence at the time, these highly inflammable and very fashionable crinoline dresses resulted in the deaths of many young women. 

(Reference for parts of this account and the coroner information:  Historian Theo McMahon - Clogher Historical Society - 'The Tragic Deaths in 1871 in County Monaghan of Emily and Mary Wilde, Half-Sisters of Oscar Wilde.

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