Revealed: 30 people charged with burglary at Kilkenny courts

Kilkenny courts heard 30 burglary cases in the first nine months of last year, figures from the Irish Courts Service have revealed.

The figures are included in data provided to Ireland South MEP and former barrister Cynthia Ní Mhurchú.

1,187 people were before the district courts across Ireland for burglary offences in the first nine months of 2025. A further 347 people were sent forward for trial in the circuit court for burglary offences between January and September 2025.

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Local Court
Kilkenny District Court saw 26 people charged with a burglary offence while four burglary cases came before Kilkenny Circuit Court.

A total of 1,771 burglary cases came before the District Courts, nationally, involving just 1,187 individuals — highlighting a high level of repeat or multiple offending.

A similar pattern emerged in the Circuit Court, where 729 burglary cases were tried over the same period, committed by just 529 offenders.

Miss Ní Mhurchú says these figures point to a relatively small group of repeat offenders that are responsible for a disproportionate share of burglary offences.

Dublin tops the table when it comes to burglary figures with 622 people coming before the district and circuit courts during this time. Dublin is quickly followed by Cork and Limerick.

Clonmel has a surprisingly high rate of burglary and Waterford, Naas, Mullingar, Wexford, Tralee and Bray also make the top 10 when it comes to number of people before the local courts for burglary.
Castlebar, Carrick-on-Shannon and Ballina are some of the local courts with the lowest number of people before them for burglary.

Crime prevention
The MEP reiterated Garda calls for people to stop posting holiday pictures on social media, which advertise that they are not at home, and also to look out for any suspicious vehicles or activity on their neighbours property - in particular in very rural parts of the country during the dark winter months, a peak time for the offence of burglary.

MEP Ní Mhurchú has called for a range of measures to tackle burglary including an end to the practice of letting burglars out on temporary release from prison.

Safety Fund
She has also called for more targeted community supports to protect communities against burglary including a doubling of funding under the Community Safety fund, more funding for community CCTV and consideration to be given to expanding grant aid schemes for security alarms to be installed in the homes of older people, in particular those who are living alone in rural areas.

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The Seniors Alert Scheme provides grant support for the supply of personal alarm equipment but not house alarms.
The Community Safety Fund allows for the proceeds of crime, seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) and An Garda Síochána, to be directed back into communities, in order to fund innovative local projects aimed at building stronger, safer communities.

According to Miss Ní Mhurchú, community leaders she interacts with don’t know about this fund.
The €4 million fund can provide funding for things like diversion programmes for repeat and young offenders, drug awareness programmes and restorative justice initiatives. There is also a stream of funding for community CCTV projects and Community Alert support programmes.

MEP Ní Mhurchú has asked the Department of Justice to inform community groups of the 2026 funding allocation, consider doubling it and advise politicians and community leaders when the funding call opens for applications.