A woman who came to Ennis on her honeymoon at the weekend is appealing to people in Clare for the return of her wallet, which was taken from her handbag here on Saturday.
Irish American Lora Murphy and her Danish husband, Lars Moeslund, arrived in Ennis on Saturday to begin their honeymoon. However, after an hour, the couple’s plans had changed.
“We had visited Ennis last year briefly and Lars just fell in love with the place. So after our recent marriage, we decided to spend our honeymoon there. We arrived on Saturday at about 1pm and within the hour, my wallet had been stolen and that was the end of the honeymoon,” Ms Murphy said.
Ms Murphy was in a busy shop at the time of the incident and gardaí in Ennis are examining CCTV as part of their investigation.
“I didn’t notice anything and then the woman who works there pointed out that there were glasses on the floor. They were mine and they had been at the bottom of the bag, so I knew they shouldn’t be there. I knew then that something had happened. My handbag had been zipped and it was open so someone had opened it and put their hand into my bag and taken out the wallet without me noticing anything. It is a fairly deep, rectangular bag and the zip had been closed so the person couldn’t have seen inside. I looked down and you know that sick feeling you get when you just know it is gone,” she recalled.
The wallet contained bank cards, identification and a quantity of cash.
“It had my American driving licence, my student card, the money, photos of the family and that sort of thing and my debit and credit cards,” Ms Murphy stated.
“We had no money, no nothing. Every penny we had was in the wallet. We had booked into one place but wanted to play it by ear and explore. We thought it would be nice to try to stay in different B&Bs as we went and we had cash because I don’t know, I just think that a lot of B&Bs don’t take cards. They might do but that was just what I thought,” she explained.
” We hadn’t a penny. We had no option but to turn around and drive back to Cork,” she added.
Ms Murphy has asked anyone who may find the wallet to contact Ennis Garda Station on 065 6848100.
“As you can imagine, we are terribly upset and disappointed but would appreciate that if anyone finds my wallet in a bin or a hedge or wherever, that they would pass it onto the local garda station. I don’t expect there to be any money in it but I have photos and cards that can’t easily be replaced,” she said.
The Cork resident has said that despite the weekend’s negative experience, she is not put off the town.
“This, of course, put a dampener on the week but people have been so lovely. They have been really nice in how they responded and that has been a huge part in making me feel a bit better about it. It makes a huge difference,” Ms Murphy concluded.
By Nicola Corless
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.