THE Co Clare woman who was tied up, punched and robbed in her house by a gang who stole about £60 on Thursday night said the experience, which lasted less than 15 minutes, was "desperately frightening".
Ms Marian Murnane, who is in her 30s, was alone in her home at Quilty, west Clare, when she answered a call to her door at about 7.30 pm. A man asked if her husband P.J. was at home and when she said he was not, the pushed her into the hallway and demanded money.
"It was when he asked for P.J. that I became wary, but he pushed me back into the house and asked me where we kept the money. I told him no, that we had none in the house."
The raider shoved Ms Murnane into a bedroom and told her to remove her clothes. She managed to convince her attacker that a group of guests would be returning shortly.
"He wasn't in a hurry at all. He was quite relaxed... All he wanted me to do was to take my clothes off.
"I told him I had guests staying and they would be back any minute. So then he panicked and left me in the room and closed the door."
She said the man, who was joined by two others, became extremely abusive. The raiders then tied her up and left with £55.