A gang of four armed and masked men broke into the house of a postmistress in Prosperous, Co Kildare, in the early hours of this morning.
They locked two other women in the house in a room and then drove the post mistress to the local post office where they planned to break open the safe.
The four raiders were wearing balaclavas and were armed with crow bars and a sledgehammer when they broke into the house shortly after 1am.
They locked two women in a room, one of them is in her mid-70s.
The gang then forced the postmistress into a car and drove her to Prosperous post office but they were unable to get access to money because of security settings.
They then drove the woman back to her home and locked her into a room with the other two women before making their getaway.
The alarm was raised shortly afterwards when one of the women managed to escape.
Their ordeal lasted for an hour and a half.
A little over a fortnight ago, post offices were raided in Dublin and Cloonfad in Co Roscommon during which staff endured similar attacks by armed gangs.
Gardaí have appealed to anyone who may have seen any activity from 1am to 2.30am between the postmistress's house in Ballinafagh and the Post Office itself in Prosperous to them in Naas on 045 884300.
