Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Mother of Irish music star appeals for crib statue return

The mother of a prominent Irish music star has appealed to thieves who stole a statue from her local church crib to return it.  

Eileen O'Riordan, who is the mother of The Cranberries lead singer Dolores O'Riordan, said that she will get a mass said for the person who stole a statue of Our Lady from her local church in Ballybricken in County Limerick if they return it.

The statue of Our Lady was one of a number of items stolen from Ballybricken parish church recently.  

However all the other items have since been recovered with the exception of the statue. 

Eileen O'Riordan said, “I'm still hoping, it would be really special if we got her back.  I would leave a reward and we would get a mass said for the person who took it.”

She said that parishioners first noticed the statues gone when the parish priest noticed that a painting of Sr Faustina on the side of the altar was gone.  

Further searches revealed that a number of statues were missing from the crib except one shepherd and three wise men. 

According to Eileen, “The sacristan found one of the statues, a shepherd, in the hallway.” 

“Whoever took the statues were disturbed because they left the three wise men as well. We were very upset. It was a terrible shock. Those statues were there for as long as I can remember because I used to help the sacristan when I was small.”  

She continued, “I was baptised there, got my First Holy Communion there and was married there in our little church.  To think that we have to lock our church now is very sad.”