The incident occurred at the Church of the Immaculate Conception on Thursday evening and was discovered at approximately 8.50pm by a person who entered the church to light a candle.
Speaking to parishioners during Mass in Tinure on Sunday, Fr Paddy Rushe said the church had a “lucky escape” after papers were allegedly set alight in a bin and placed beneath a pew in the gallery area.
He explained that the fire had been smouldering for some time before it was discovered, filling the church with smoke and causing damage to the flooring in the gallery.
“Someone had set fire to papers in a waste bin and put them under a pew in the gallery space,” he said.
“The fire had been burning for some time. We don’t know how long. When it was discovered, the church was full of smoke. We were very lucky that it didn’t burst into flames.”
Fr Rushe said the gallery floorboards were burned through due to the intensity of the heat.
It is believed the incident happened sometime between 2pm and 8.50pm on Thursday evening.
The priest urged anyone who may have noticed suspicious activity around the church during that time to contact him or gardaí, adding that CCTV footage is currently being examined.
“We’re so blessed that we’ve been able to keep our churches open well into the evenings,” he said.
“It’s a blessing of being in a rural area, but something like this is very serious and we don’t want to have to lock the churches. That would be terrible.”
He also expressed gratitude that the fire was discovered before more extensive damage occurred.
“Thank God somebody came to light a candle and that’s how it was discovered. We had a lucky escape this time.”
No injuries were reported and a technical examination of the scene has been carried out.
Anyone with information, or who may have observed suspicious activity in the Tinure area between 2pm and 10pm on Thursday, is being asked to contact Drogheda Garda Station.