Grieving daughter pleads for return of late father’s wedding ring stolen from Slane home

A grieving daughter has made an emotional appeal for the return of her late father’s wedding ring that was stolen from her family home in Slane.

Enya Gleeson (18) says she is “inconsolable” after her her dad’s wedding and “most precious possession” was taken by callous thieves who broke into her home on Monday evening while she was at work and her mum and siblings were attending her little brother’s school play.

Enya’s father, Pat Gleeson passed away suddenly in July from a heart aneurysm aged just 53 leaving the family “devastated.”

Since then the heartbroken daughter has worn the gold ring on a chain around her neck “for comfort”, however, worried that she might lose it during a busy day at work during the festive season, the teenager left it at home that day for safety.

"It would not be worth much to whoever took it but for me it’s priceless,” said Enya. " It’s irreplaceable and the loss of it cannot be put into words,” she added.

"After dad died, mam gave the ring to me. I have it with me when I’m feeling overwhelmed and I wear it around my neck and I grab on to it and I find a huge comfort in it. It’s one of the only things I find comfort in and now it’s been taken, I am completely heartbroken and would do anything to have it back.

“Our first Christmas without dad has been hard enough, this is after absolutely devastating us.

" As well as that, it is mam and dads 20th wedding anniversary this year so the thought of the ring gone forever is unbearable for us all."

The Queens University student describes what happened the evening of the burglary.

“On Monday I was working until 7pm in Navan and then I met my friend after work,” said Enya. " My sister rang me and she asked me have you been home because there were things thrown on the ground and they thought I might have been looking for something and made a mess.,” she added,

"I told her that I hadn’t been home and then she noticed that the back window had been smashed in and she hung up the phone.

“She rang me back and said we have been broken into and straight away I said go upstairs and check on my desk if dad’s ring is there. She ran up and couldn’t see it.”

Enya rushed home but when she got to her room she knew it was gone.

"As soon as I came home I sprinted up the stairs and straight away I knew it wasn’t there because I knew exactly where it was.” she said.

"That morning, I said will I wear it today and I said no I’m working nine hours I don;t want to lose it running around the place in work.

“When I discovered it was gone I just broke down crying, I was hysterical, it was just heartbreaking, they all had to calm me down. I was absolutely inconsolable.

"That was the only thing that they took, that we actually cared about, you’d rather them take everything in the house."

Enya who is facing the first Christmas without her “best friend” dad is pleading for anyone with information on the stolen ring to come forward.

"It’s a particularly big large gold ring, it wouldn’t fit the average man’s finger and there is a line through the middle and inside is engraved with the jewellers name Michael Perry Jewellers.

“It could be posted on Facebook Market Place or other online shops or in any pawn shops. If anyone happens to come across it we’d just appeal to people to let us know so we can try to retrieve it because it is just heartbreaking.”

Pat originally from Tipperary ran a solicitor’s firm with his wife Maeve Carbin in Ratoath and along with Enya is dad to Eabha, 16, Siofra, 14 and Jim 11. He was a well known and popular figure in Slane and his untimely passing left his beloved family and the community in shock according to his heartbroken daughter who said:

"He was only 53, he had no health problems, he was just in the shower and he collapsed one Monday morning."

"He had an aneurysm in his heart and it killed him instantly. At 9am my sister heard a bang and said dad are you ok and straight away I jumped up out of bed, I went in and opened the door and I found him there on the floor. My sister had to start CPR on him and we rang an ambulance that arrived seven minutes later but there was nothing they could do. Everything was done to save him but it was too late.

"It was completely out of the blue, he had all his clothes laid out on the bed ready to go to work and he just died.

"I was due to go on my 6th year holiday the next day, he had given me my passport the night before, he was cracking jokes with my mam at the table that morning before she went off to work.”

Enya says her dad was “the most caring and kind man” and a “real character” in Slane.

"My dad was the funniest man I knew, he was larger than life,” said Enya. "The house is so quiet without him. He was such a caring and friendly man and he had time for everyone.

“He’d go into work and would be on the phone all day, I don’t know how he got any work done because he’d give so much of his time to everyone.

"He was hugely involved in Ratoath GAA with the hurling team under 11s but you would have sworn it was an All Ireland team, he had match plans they’d go through during the week, not normal things for an under 11s team to do!”

The English and Film student says one of her father’s most proud achievements was introducing hurling to the people of Slane!

"He was a very proud Tipperary man and he had all of the lads in the estate in Tipperary jerseys.” she said. "He brought all the young lads in the estate all over the country for matches, he was like a second dad to them.

"He was just so interested in everything about everyone which is very unusual nowadays but he just had so much time for people, but he didn’t have all the time that he thought he had.

"He was just such a special person. He was a real character, they don’t make them like him anymore."