Mags GarganFr Liam McKinney, based in Crossmaglen, Co. Down, is among of number of priests who have been robbed in recent weeks in a spate of often vicious attacks
A priest in the Archdiocese of Armagh escaped a burglary unharmed thanks to his quick thinking, when he trapped the thieves in his house and called the police.
Fr Liam McKinney, based in Crossmaglen, Co. Down, is among of number of priests who have been robbed in recent weeks in a spate of often vicious attacks. Two young men called at his parochial house under the pretext of getting a blessing, but when it became evident they wanted to steal money Fr McKinney, who was robbed at knifepoint in 2007, managed to lock them in his office and lock himself in a bedroom while he called the PSNI. The intruders escaped out a window with a small sum of cash.
This robbery is among a recent number of break-ins to parochial houses both north and south of the border, leading both An Garda Siochana and the PSNI to urge priests to be “vigilant and aware of their own personal safety”.
A PSNI spokesperson told The Irish Catholic there was no link between this robbery and the attack on Fr Dermot Maloney, who lost a tooth when three teenagers broke into his house in neighbouring Jonesborough last week and beat him with a hammer. Fr Maloney was locked in a bathroom while the robbers made off with a small sum of money, but managed to climb out a window to raise an alarm.
Fr Diarmuid Byrne was treated for a fractured skull and cuts to his head requiring 26 stitches, among other injuries when he was savagely attacked by a burglar at his home in the Rialto, Dublin on October 16. Earlier this year Galway-based Fr Pat O’Brien was tied to a radiator and threatened by four masked raiders who broke into his home.