Clergy and churches continue to be seen as soft targets by the perpetrators of the growing number of burglaries across the country and in recent weeks, priests and churches in Counties Mayo, Cork, Wexford and Clare have been the victims of theft from their homes.
The house of Fr Paddy Kilcoyne, PP in Kiltimagh, Co. Mayo, was burgled while he was out in an incident in which thieves kicked in the back door and stole a safe containing what was said to be a “sizeable amount” of money from a Missions collection.
The people of the town were said to be angry and disappointed at Fr Kilcoyne’s experience by Kiltimagh county councillor Eugene Lavin.
“It’s absolutely unbelievable that a parochial house would be targeted but hopefully, the Gardaí will be able to apprehend the people involved,” he said.
His colleague in Carracastle, Fr Michael Quinn was another victim, who returned after being away for a day to find thieves had smashed their way into the house.
He was slightly luckier however, as while the intruders had also targeted the safe, they had abandoned it unopened at the back door, which led local Gardaí to speculate that they had been disturbed.
In the south of the country, a Cork priest who is known for his warnings about security to his parishioners has himself become the latest victim of crime. Fr Liam Kelleher, who is parish priest of Grenagh, and a keen photographer to boot, was broken into hours after he warned his congregation to be vigilant against burglars.
When Fr Kelleher returned to his home at 11:15pm after a five-hour absence, he found a glass panel in his front door broken in and his valuable photographic equipment stolen.
The thieves made off with a Nikon D300 camera and a Sony semi-professional hi-definition movie camera worth €4,000 and a 300mm professional sports lens worth €1,500.
They also took a memory card with thousands of photos belonging to the priest, who regularly documents the life and times of his community.
Churches across the country have also fallen victim to crime, with one diocese warning clergy and parishioners to step up security and vigilance.
In Clonroche Co. Wexford, the sacristy at St Clement's church was thrashed by burglars trying to open the safe. In the process, they pulled panelling off the wall of the vestry room, damaged robes and destroyed security cameras to prevent themselves being recorded.
Parish priest Fr Richard Hayes who discovered the damage, said he was “fine but obviously very unnerved” by the event. He said that, fortunately and despite all the damage they had caused, the raiders had netted very little of value in the raid.
Elsewhere in County Wexford, four people appeared in court as part of a Garda investigation into thefts at two churches at Tara Hill and Ballyfad. At St. Kevin's Church in Tara Hill a newly installed video recorder was stolen, doors were burst in the sacristy, keys were taken, and a collection box was chopped off the candelabra. As part of a Garda investigation, two men and two women, all of whom were already the subject of bench warrants, were arrested.
John Doran (27) from various addresses in Arklow and Wicklow, subsequently appeared before Judge Murrough Connellan at Gorey court. Charges included counts of possessing instruments including pliers and a hammer that could be used in the course of a crime, stealing €557 worth of groceries from Tesco in Arklow and burglary and driving without insurance.
The judge heard bench warrants had been issued for the arrest of Doran at courts in Dun Laoghaire and Westport as he failed to show up for various sittings.
Meanwhile, brazen thieves in Ennis recently stole a donation box from the town’s cathedral while a funeral was in progress. And in the past five months, a spate of incidents have been reported at churches in County Clare have been reported.
Brass candle stands, candelabra units and donation boxes were the most common items taken by thieves from churches in Kilnamona, Kilmaley, Connolly, Coolmeen, Rath, Kilmore Broadford, Lissycasey and Clouna. In some of the incidents, efforts were also made to gain access to sacristies.
Chief Superintendent John Kerin said the focus on churches by thieves was “a really nasty and despicable crime” and said that he suspected even more churches may have been the subject of crime but, in some cases, the priests might not know.
“We, as Gardaí, have a role to play and we are monitoring the churches during the day and we are hoping the community in all rural areas can assist and if they see a car during the day, take a note of the number plate and make.”
Crime prevention officer Sergeant Joe Downey has met with diocese representatives including the bishop of Killaloe about the problem.
The diocese communications officer Fr Brendan Quinlivan said criminals are taking advantage of “vulnerable locations and people.”
“I would be concerned that people using the church would have a fear if this kind of thing is happening,” he remarked.
“These are the people that they are hurting and they have no concept of the value people take from lighting their candle; I would hate to think that someone would be afraid to go to church,” he continued.
Fr Quinlivan said the diocese has drawn the attention of worshippers to the issue at Masses across the county.
“We are appealing to people to be observant - it is happening during the day, in areas where there is not a lot of passing traffic,” he said. “These are crimes of opportunity and are happening when churches are empty and when there is no one around.”
“People do drop in intermittently to churches during the day, whether it is to light a candle or to say a prayer and the last thing we would want to do is to have our churches locked all day.”
He said that he personally empties donation boxes every day so there is not much money to steal.
“A lot of things being targeted are of no real commercial value other than in their historical nature as part of church and the fabric of the community.”