A holy shrine which normally contains a relic of St Brigid has been stolen from a church as worshippers prepare for the patron saint's feast day.
Thieves made off with the rare Celtic-designed reliquary - an ornate container for relics - which was screwed into the altar at St Brigid's Church in Killester, north Dublin, on Monday.
Believed to be worth 10,000 euro, the distinctive press, fashioned in the style of St Patrick's Bell, housed a small piece of St Brigid's skull brought back to Ireland from Portugal in 1929.
But parish officials had only removed the relic, which is fixed to a cruciform, in recent weeks as the double-door reliquary underwent renovations as part of general maintenance at the church on Howth Road.
The theft is thought to have occurred some time between noon and 3pm on Monday - two days before St Brigid's Day.
It follows the robbery in Co Tipperary last October of another ancient relic, believed to be from the cross on which Jesus was crucified. That priceless artefact was returned to Holycross Abbey, near Thurles, earlier this month after gardai carried out a search in the midlands.
Killester parish priest Monsignor Alex Stenson said it was unclear if the latest theft was targeting the relics of St Brigid, one of Ireland's three patron saints.