Gabrielle Kavanagh said the break-in occurred on Friday evening between approximately 6.04pm and 6.30pm at the family’s home in the Willow Grove estate, after both of her parents had left.
Describing the sequence of events, Ms Kavanagh said a vehicle entered the estate at 5.34pm and parked beside her brother’s van. Her father left the house at 5.48pm and the car allegedly followed his car up the road at 5.51pm. Her mother then left the house at 5.59pm.
Ms Kavanagh said that the vehicle did not come back down the road until 6.29pm, and three individuals were seen getting back into the vehicle around the corner at 6.31pm.
Ms Kavanagh said the perpetrators entered the property from the rear. After allegedly striking the family’s two dogs with a metal pole and locking them in a shed, they climbed pipework at the back of the house and forced open a locked bathroom window, having climbed onto the air-to-water system. Footprints were later found on a toilet seat and throughout the house.
Bedrooms in the property were ransacked during the incident, with a large amount of money taken, along with all of her mother’s jewellery.
Ms Kavanagh believes her parents are not the only victims.
“They drop one guy off at the house, where he goes in and knocks on the door. If you answer, he will ask, ‘Do you want any firewood?’ If you don’t answer, they will try break into your house,” she said.
“As you can imagine, the stress and pain this has caused my parents with their personal belongings taken and the money they had saved up.”
Ms Kavanagh has urged anyone with information to come forward.
“I’m asking the people who may have any information to send it on. To please check any Ring door bells/cameras on your house to see if you have any footage of these people, anything big or small.
“If anyone comes across the items of jewellery anywhere for sale or handed into any pawn shops, especially in the Dublin/Kildare areas please let us know. A reward is offered.”
A statement issued by the Garda press office said: “Gardaí are investigating a burglary at a residential property in Willow Grove, Arklow, which occurred on the evening of February 6. The house was unoccupied at the time. No additional information is available. Investigations are ongoing.”
Ms Kavanagh’s post on social media prompted an outpouring of support from members of the community, with many expressing sympathy for her parents and hoping they would recover the jewellery.
“I hope somehow she gets her sentimental stuff back,” one person wrote, while another commented: “Oh Gabrielle, hope your mam and dad find the strength to overcome this.”
Others described the incident as “absolutely disgusting behaviour” and said they hoped the perpetrators would be caught.