Dublin father and son jailed for string of burglaries of rural homes and pubs – The Irish Times

A Dublin father and son who broke into several homes and pubs in the west of Ireland stealing thousands of euro in cash and jewellery have been sentenced to nine years and six years respectively in prison.

In sentencing Edward “Ned” Connors (51) and his son Larry Connors (30) of Cloverhill Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 2, Judge Kenneth Connolly described their “bold” and “utterly casual execution” of the burglaries as “a scourge on rural communities”.

Having viewed extensive CCTV footage of the burglaries at their sentence hearing at Sligo Circuit Criminal Court on Thursday, the judge said it struck him that “if it had been on Netflix, it would have been a flop as there was no sense of fear or urgency. It depicted lawlessness at its most casual. They had no regard for businesses, property rights or society in general. It was simply the normalisation of crime”.

The judge said Edward Connors had been living in Dublin and drove to rural villages for the sole purpose of enriching himself and played a senior role in his criminal organisation. In sentencing the father of six to nine years imprisonment, he said he had to send “an utterly robust message of deterrence to protect rural communities”.

He suspended the final 12 months of Larry Connors’ six-year term for two years post release. Both sentences were backdated to when they first went into custody in November 2024.

Both men along with Connors’ nephew Edward Connors jnr (30) of Drumkerrin Park, Fettercairn, Tallaght, Dublin 24 had previously pleaded guilty to a range of burglary offences in Mayo, Galway, Roscommon, Tipperary and Kildare in 2023-2024.

Det Gda Conor Jordan told the hearing the three men were caught red-handed with jewellery stolen from two homes in Galway and Mayo and all their break-in tools when the Garda Emergency Response Unit swooped on them as they were making their way back to Dublin on November 29th, 2024.

They were still wearing gloves used in the burglaries when the ERU forced their high-powered GTI Volkswagen Polo to a stop outside a graveyard as they tried to evade arrest at Cadamstown, Johnstown Bridge, Co Kildare. Their windscreen was shattered and the front of the car was damaged in the operation.

Edward Connors snr was driving and sustained head injuries in the incident for which he received stitches afterwards. His son Larry was also hospitalised for a number of hours afterwards. Inside their car, which had false number plates attached, gardaí found gloves, torches, a pry bar, pliers, a heavy-duty axe, screwdrivers, a signal interference device to block nearby Garda radio communications, a telescopic ladder, a vehicle refuelling kit, surface disinfectant and two sets of vehicle registration plates that were not matching the chassis number of the vehicle in which they were found.

Det Gda Jordan said their arrest was the culmination of more than a year’s investigative work into several rural break-ins and burglaries of pubs, shops and homes between April 2023 and November 2024 and code-named called “Operation Black Cumann”.

All three men pleaded guilty to possessing the break-in tools while intending to use them in the course of a burglary.

The three men also admitted to handling stolen property the same day at the same location, including a gold bracelet, a gold chain and a ring stolen from a home in Roslahan, Manulla, Co Mayo and two sets of gold and diamond stud earrings, stolen from a home in Meelick East, Tuam, Co Galway the day before, November 28th, 2024.

Edward Connors snr also admitted entering McDermott’s Bar & Restaurant, Castlebaldwin, Co Sligo, as a trespasser and committing theft for the benefit of a criminal organisation on April 22nd, 2023.

He further pleaded guilty to entering The Hideout Bar, Monard, Co Tipperary, as a trespasser on August 9th, 2024 and committing theft for the benefit of a criminal organisation.

The bar owner, Pat Twomey, wrote in his victim impact statement that he had left the pub industry as a result of the burglary. He said he and his wife Mary had both been stressed, found it hard to sleep and it affected their health. He said they robbed €3,000 in cash, thousands of euro worth of cigarettes and caused €1,000 damage to his roof and €1,000 damage to his alarm system. He said he was “totally shaken, upset and afraid” he would fall victim to another burglary.

Larry Connors pleaded guilty to entering the home of Eoin Carty at Lisseenanmaragh, Dysart, Co Roscommon as a trespasser and committing theft for the benefit of a criminal organisation on November 29th, 2024.

In his victim impact statement, Carty said he would “never forget” coming home to find his patio door smashed and said his sense of safety had been taken away. He said he and his wife had both been putting money aside for a family holiday (€10,000), which was stolen by Larry Connors.

Margaret Concannon and her daughter Samantha Concannon also gave victim impact statements about the burglary at their home in Meelick East, Tuam, Co Galway on November 28th, 2024 in which two sets of gold and diamond stud earrings and other items of jewellery were stolen. “My home no longer provides a sense of comfort,” she said.

Edward Connors jnr (30) was remanded in custody to Longford Circuit Court onJuly 8th for the preparation of a probation report to assess his suitability for community service.