A CLARE man has appeared at Ennis District Court in connection with a spate of robberies of churches across Co Clare and Co Galway last year.
Eugene Scorr (22), Mill Road, Ennis, is accused of stealing €135 from coin boxes, the property of parish priests, from eight churches between September 25th and November 4th last year.
Mr Scorr is charged in relation to theft from Fr Michael McLoughlin at Connolly Church and at Kilmaley Church on September 25th. He is accused of stealing from Fr Joe Hourigan at Lissycasey Church on October 26th-27th and from Fr Martin O’Brien at St Peter and Paul’s Cathedral, Tulla, on October 27th.
He is also accused of theft from Fr Damien Nolan at Rath Church, Corofin, on October 15th, from Fr Richard Flanagan at Ballyvaughan Church on October 24th and from Fr Joe Roche at the Church of the Nativity, Loughrea, Co Galway, on November 4th. He is also charged with two counts of stealing from Coolmeen Church, Rockmount, on September 30th and October 26th.
Garda Insp John Galvin of Ennis told the court that gardaí were awaiting directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Judge Aeneas McCarthy remanded Mr Scorr on bail to reappear before Ennis District Court on February 22nd.
