DUBLIN, Ireland: A 52-year-old woman will have to sell her home to compensate a chef from whom she stole more than 300,000 euro, a court has heard.

Nessa Gilsenan appeared before the Cork Circuit Criminal Court on February 10 and pleaded guilty to nine charges. These related to theft and submission of false documents to TV chef Martin Shanahan, from whom she stole 300,000 euros between 2017 and 2022.

Gilsenan worked at the well-known Fishy Fishy restaurant in Kinsale when the crimes happened.

She admitted that she changed the staff payroll system to take money for herself in 2020, 2021, and 2022.

In 2017, she stole more than 26,000 euros from the Shanahan family business. In 2018, she stole almost 55,000 euros, and in 2019, she took over 75,000 euros from her employer.

She then took in more than 63,000 euros in 2020, almost 69,000 euros in 2021, and nearly 15,000 euros in 2022.

All the charges cover the period from January 1 to December 31 of each year. The offences fall under Ireland's Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001. She was first charged in March last year.

Her lawyer, Donal O'Sullivan, told the judge that she had paid 15,000 euros in compensation. She had also paid another amount at an earlier court hearing. The lawyer asked for more time so the property could be sold, with the proceeds used to repay Shanahan.

The judge allowed her to remain on bail and set November 4 for sentencing, when all the details of the case will be presented. The hearing is expected to last about an hour.

Shanahan is one of Ireland's best-known seafood chefs. His cooking show, Mad About Fish, first aired on television in 2009, followed by best-selling cookbooks and additional TV series, including Surf 'n' Turf with Paul Flynn.