A MAN armed with a hammer has caused major damage to a 370-year-old statue of the Virgin Mary in a Limerick church.
The timber statue, brought to the city in 1640, was
pulled off its plinth at the Dominican church in Glentworth Street where
it had been on display for decades.
Gardaí investigating the attack say a man in his 20s is a likely main suspect. They have been trawling CCTV footage from the security camera network which monitors the city centre.
This was the third attack on the statue which was given to Fr Terence Albert O’Brien. It survived the persecution of the Cromwellian period.
The statue’s gold crown and rosary beads were broken off in an earlier attack in 2004. In another incident, somebody tried to topple the statue after tying a rope around it.
The statue was moved to various locations in the city over the centuries and it was placed in St Saviour’s Dominican church on its opening in 1816.
Fr Jordan O’Brien, prior of the Dominican priory, said yesterday the damage will be repairable as the statue was made of timber.
"It was an absolute shock to see this happen to a statue that is very venerated in the city," he said.
Randel Hodkinson of J Hodkinson & Sons Ecclesiastic Decorators, has brought the statue to his workshop in Henry Street to carry out repairs.
He said: "Somebody climbed up and pulled it off. They would need a lot of strength to pull it down."
As the statue was carved in separate sections, Mr Hodkinson said the repair work will be done piece by piece. He said: "There will certainly be a few weeks work on it."
One churchgoer said yesterday: "This is sickening, a shame. Whey would somebody do such a thing."
Gardaí investigating the attack say a man in his 20s is a likely main suspect. They have been trawling CCTV footage from the security camera network which monitors the city centre.
This was the third attack on the statue which was given to Fr Terence Albert O’Brien. It survived the persecution of the Cromwellian period.
The statue’s gold crown and rosary beads were broken off in an earlier attack in 2004. In another incident, somebody tried to topple the statue after tying a rope around it.
The statue was moved to various locations in the city over the centuries and it was placed in St Saviour’s Dominican church on its opening in 1816.
Fr Jordan O’Brien, prior of the Dominican priory, said yesterday the damage will be repairable as the statue was made of timber.
"It was an absolute shock to see this happen to a statue that is very venerated in the city," he said.
Randel Hodkinson of J Hodkinson & Sons Ecclesiastic Decorators, has brought the statue to his workshop in Henry Street to carry out repairs.
He said: "Somebody climbed up and pulled it off. They would need a lot of strength to pull it down."
As the statue was carved in separate sections, Mr Hodkinson said the repair work will be done piece by piece. He said: "There will certainly be a few weeks work on it."
One churchgoer said yesterday: "This is sickening, a shame. Whey would somebody do such a thing."