Three children found dead in a house in County Dublin have been named as Conor, Darragh and Carla McGinley. The two brothers, aged nine and seven, and their sister, three, were discovered in a house in the village of Newcastle, south-west of Dublin, on Friday night.

A woman believed to be the children’s mother was found at the scene and taken to hospital. Gardai have confirmed that she is a relative.

The children’s bodies were removed from the semi-detached home by ambulance staff at around 10am on Saturday. Gardai said a family liaison officer was in contact with their father, Andrew, and the extended family.

Irish police said they were continuing to treat the sudden deaths as “unexplained” pending the outcome of postmortem examinations on Saturday afternoon, but it is understood that they were not looking for anyone else in relation to the incident.

Floral tributes had been left outside the house, where one woman said the small community was in “absolute shock”. Many attended a mass service on Saturday morning.

An officer guards the house where the three children were found. Photograph: Aoife Moore/PA

The local councillor, Emer Higgins, described the events as an “unimaginable tragedy”. “My thoughts are with everybody impacted,” the Fine Gael representative said.

“This is a really tight-knit community, it’s a small area, it’s a quiet area, and it’s just unthinkable that something like this could be happening on our doorstep. It’s so tragic. It’s unbelievable that three young people’s lives could be cut short like that, in what seems to be a particularly tragic case.”

An incident room had been set up in Clondalkin garda station and gardaí have appealed for anyone with information to come forward.