Burglars who stole an urn from the home of mother of five Rosaleen Kelly containing her parents’ ashes also took her family’s Christmas presents, including those her youngest children had received from Father Christmas.
“They took so much that they used the baskets for washing clothes to help them carry it all away,” Ms Kelly told The Irish Times at her home in Deerpark Place, Tallaght, west Dublin. “They even took a double duvet cover off one of the boy’s beds so they could carry the stuff.”
New grandmother
Ms Kelly, who became a grandmother for the first time just hours before discovering the break-in, said while she was most upset that her parents’ ashes had been taken, the intrusion of her privacy and theft of a large number of other items was also distressing.
After gaining entrance to the property via a living room window at the back of the house, the burglars caused considerable damage “smashing up the place”. “They took a lot of other stuff, a lot of it that the kids had gotten for Christmas.” Among the items taken were jewellery that had belonged to her mother and a guitar her father had played.Also taken were three Nintendo gaming machines, four televisions, three DVD players, cash, a television Sky box, two cameras, a large range of toys including tablet computer devices, two XBox stations with games and two small heaters.
A Garda spokesman said: “Obviously this crime has caused considerable distress to the family and anyone with information should contact Tallaght Garda Station.”
The urn is described as a 6in (15.2cm) square black box with a glass top and two dolphin emblems on one side.
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