Gardaí investigating multiple incidents of criminal damage in Cork town

“A slap in the face” is how Fr Peter Kehoe described graffiti that was spray-painted on the front wall of the Carmelite Friary in Kinsale over the weekend.

The Kinsale Friary was one of a number of establishments that were defaced in the early hours of Sunday morning, along with a local Garda car.

A stencil template that said ‘Kinsale eats it’s young’ with a picture of a pig underneath was sprayed on the front of the Bank of Ireland in Kinsale, two private properties, a Garda car and the Friary.

Fr Kehoe said that the Friary had just completed a refurbishment project which had cost almost half a million euros and as the wall was sandstone, it could be quite a difficult job to remove the graffiti.

Speaking to The Echo, Fr Kehoe said in the five years he had been based in Kinsale, nothing like this had ever happened before.

“I was shocked and disappointed. We don’t know who did it or what was their intention. I was disappointed that they would target a place of worship.” “We have a strong supportive community here in Kinsale, it is a slap in the face to see this. I hope they are caught and face the full rigor of the law,” Fr Kehoe said.

Gardai confirmed to the Echo that they are investigating several incidents of criminal damage in Kinsale town which occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning.