THE PARISH priest at Galbally Church has issued an appeal for the return of a number of precious items after a break-in last week. Heartless thieves broke into the church and stole valuable items such as the tabernacle, monstrance, chalices and various other items.

Fr Robert McGuire made the grim discovery at around 8.30 a.m. on Wednesday morning and contacted gardaí immediately. “Quite a bit was taken,” he said. “They took the tabernacle with the blessed sacrament still inside oddly enough. Then there was the monstrance and various chalices etc.”

It seemed that the thieves gained access to the church via the roof, doing some damage to the tower area in the process. Gardaí are currently carrying out a full investigation into the crime, which has caused shock in the local community.

“Everyone down here is just flabbergasted and disappointed,” said Fr McGuire. “It’s not just that it’s a crime, which is always disturbing in a rural community; but it’s the violation of a sacred building that is so dear to people’s hearts.”

Local parishioners arrived as normal to the church on Wednesday morning for Mass and were shocked to find what had happened. Fr McGuire was unable to celebrate Mass on the day, but he said that people in the local area really rallied around.

“Obviously we couldn’t celebrate the Eucharist that morning,” he said. “But people were very good. I had numerous phone calls to make sure I was okay. It was typical of the wonderful community down here.”

Going forward, Fr McGuire said that they have continued to celebrate Mass in the parish and he is hopeful that the insurance company will cover the damage to the church roof.

“Obviously with the chalices and the tabernacle, they are of great significance to the local parish here. They would go back a long time,” he said. “We would love to be able to get them back but if not we’ll have to look into replacing them.”

Galbally Church. Pic: John Walsh