Dublin tops the table when it comes to burglary figures with 622 people coming before the district and circuit courts
Cathal Ryan Reporter
17:28, 13 Jan 2026
Over 1,500 people were before the courts for burglary offences in the first nine nine months of 2025.
According to figures provided to Ireland South MEP and former barrister Cynthia Ní Mhurchú from the Irish Courts Service, 1,187 people were before the district courts throughout the first nine months, while a further 347 people were sent forward for trial in the circuit court for burglary offences between January and September 2025, a total of 1,534 people.
In the first nine months of 2025, 1,771 burglary cases came before the District Court, 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.
Dublin tops the table when it comes to burglary figures with 622 people coming before the district and circuit courts there for burglary in the first nine months of last year.
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, pointing to either low burglary rates, or low Garda detection rates.
Below are the figures for the number of persons who came before the courts for burglary in the first nine months of 2025 (January to September) broken down by district court office.
District Court office
District court for burglary
Circuit court
Total
1
Dublin
472
150
622
2
Cork
75
20
95
3
Limerick
57
26
83
4
Clonmel
47
13
60
5
Waterford
44
10
54
6
Naas
41
12
53
7
Mullingar
36
10
46
8
Wexford
37
7
44
9
Tralee
33
10
43
10
Bray
27
13
40
11
Portlaoise
28
9
37
12
Carlow
25
7
32
13
Ennis
24
8
32
14
Kilkenny
26
4
30
15
Galway
26
3
29
16
Letterkenny
19
9
28
17
Trim
26
2
28
18
Nenagh
22
5
27
19
Dundalk
20
5
25
20
Cavan
12
3
15
21
Roscommon
11
4
15
22
Tullamore
14
1
15
23
Longford
11
2
13
24
Monaghan
12
1
13
25
Clonakilty
11
1
12
26
Mallow
9
2
11
27
Sligo
7
4
11
28
Donegal
5
2
7
29
Loughrea
4
2
6
30
Ballina
3
1
4
31
Carrick-on-Shannon
1
1
2
32
Castlebar
2
-
2
TOTAL
1187
347
1534
Ní Mhurchú has reiterated Garda calls on 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.
Ní Mhurchú called for a range of measures to tackle burglary including an end to the practice of letting burglars out on temporary release from our prisons. 38 burglars were on temporary release as of June 23, 2025, according to figures provided by the Irish Prison Service.
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 Ireland.
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