Thieves take holy relic from monastery

The miniature artefact brought to Holy Cross Abbey in Thurles, Co Tipperary, in the late 12th century was taken by two masked men in a broad daylight raid.

Armed with an angle grinder, hammer and screwdriver, the pair stole a gold and bronze cross about 12 inches high with a glass-fronted centrepiece used to hold the relic.

It had been stored securely in a steel-bound display case.

Father Tom Breen, parish priest of Holy Cross Abbey, said the relic has been the source of devotion and pilgrimage for the last 900 years.

“I would like to appeal to the thieves in the strongest possible terms not to damage the relic – just leave the artefacts in some church and they will eventually come back to me or we will use a third person,” he said.

“It is impossible to put a value on it commercially or an intrinsic value, and from religious and emotional point of view it’s immeasurable.

It was housed in a steel-framed display broken open by the thieves using an angle grinder, hammer and screwdriver.The tiny relic was originally brought to the monastery when it was first consecrated by Cistercian monks in about 1180.

It is believed to have been a gift from Donal Mor O’Brien, King of Munster, who founded the abbey.

A gold and silver cross around 12 inches tall was also stolen.