Members of one of the best-known business families in the Midlands were subjected to a terrifying 90-minute ordeal in their own homes on Sunday.
Four armed and masked burglars broke into the home of Mr Damien and Ms Rachel Kilmartin and held the couple and four young children captive.
When the robbers were unable to open a safe containing an undisclosed amount of cash, they loaded it into the Kilmartin's BMW people-carrier and drove away.
The incident, which happened between 8.15 p.m.and 9.40 p.m. on Sunday, took place at the Kilmartin family home near the picturesque village of Glasson, Athlone. The burglars were looking for cash from the takings at Kilmartin's N6 Centre, the busy service station and restaurant six miles away on the eastern end of the Athlone bypass.
Supt Pádraig Rattigan said yesterday that the Kilmartins and a visiting child were all "traumatised" by the incident, but were not injured.
The burglars burst in through the back door of the house overlooking Lough Ree and were armed with a sledge hammer, a baseball bat and two iron bars.
"The men did not plan to take the BMW people-carrier, but took it to bring away the safe. We are appealing for anyone who saw the three-litre petrol X5 BMW to come forward immediately. It is black in colour and the number plate is 04 D 50513," said Supt Rattigan.
Garda technical experts carried out a full examination of the scene yesterday, but investigations are hampered by the fact that the men wore gloves and balaclavas.
Gardaí have also conducted house-to-house inquiries and are studying CCTV footage from the Glasson area.
The Kilmartin home is just a few hundred yards from the renowned Glasson Golf and Country Club, and gardaí are asking golfers who may have played there over the weekend to jog their memories in case they noticed anything suspicious.
The amount of cash taken is not yet known.