The parish priest of Cong in County Mayo has vowed not to follow in the footsteps of his one of his predecessors and steal the famous Cross of Cong. It was approximately 1870 when the then Parish Priest of Cong, Fr Patrick Lavelle, daringly stole the Cross of Cong from the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin to repatriate it to Mayo.
Fr Lavelle tucked the 12th century relic under his cassock and walked straight out the door of the Academy with it.
However he was caught before he got on the train west.
Speaking to this week’s Mayo News newspaper, current Parish Priest, Fr Paddy Gilligan, jokingly claimed that he hasn’t ruled out following in Fr Lavelle’s footsteps to bring the priceless relic to the shores of Lough Corrib.
The efforts of Fr Lavelle have gone down in local legend in south Mayo.
The Cross had left Mayo in 1839 to be housed at the Royal Irish Academy but Fr Lavelle attempted an audacious robbery and was nearly successful.
Now, as the Cross of Cong returns to Mayo for the first time since 1839, to be housed at the National Museum of Country Life at Turlough Park, Castlebar, Fr Gilligan, has called for the Cross to be on display in Cong and teases museum officials with the legend of Fr Lavelle.
In a letter to Manager Keeper at Turlough Park, Mr Tony Candon, Fr Gilligan makes a roughish nod towards the adventures of the flamboyant priest.
“I am not the first PP of Cong to attempt to have the Cross returned. You may be aware of the story of Fr Patrick Lavelle. He was a man who challenged the high and the mighty in defence of the people of the west. I decided to try the legal route first!”
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