Gardaí in Dublin are now following leads from CCTV camera footage taken from Christ Church Cathedral in a bid to identify those responsible for the theft of a relic last weekend, the cathedral authorities have said.
The heart of the patron saint of Dublin, St Laurence O’Toole, which was encased in a wooden, heart-shaped container within a small iron-barred box, was stolen from St Laud's chapel at the cathedral early on Saturday.
In a statement, the cathedral said it could now confirm the theft took place between the hours of 9.30am and 11am on Saturday morning and that the relic was last seen at 10.30am.
“Detectives are appealing for witnesses who visited the Cathedral between those hours to come forward,” the statement said.
“They also ask that anyone who took photographs during those hours to please come forward and hand them in at Kevin Street Garda station or at Christ Church Cathedral as they may contain further evidence.”
It’s believed the thieves entered through the main doors shortly after 9.30am and left via the same doors a little over an hour later.
The Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, the Very Rev Dermot Dunne, thanked the detectives and gardai at Kevin Street station for their “tireless work” on the case.
He also thanked the media, the people of Ireland and the “wider Christian community” for the generous support and kind wishes received “in what has been one of the most difficult periods in the history of Christ Church Cathedral”.
Dean Dunne noted the priceless and treasured relic, with eight centuries of visitation to its credit and with links to a Christian tradition of reliquaries “going back to the earliest days of the Church”, was one of the most popular tourist attractions in Dublin.
“Since its theft last Saturday, thousands of people from home and abroad have poured in through the doors of the Cathedral to see an empty cage which once contained the heart of Dublin’s patron saint.”
Dean Dunne said all he asked was that whoever took it would return it “with no questions asked”.
“It's valueless to anyone but the Cathedral and our community and the community of Dublin. We are grieving over this and are still horrified that someone should deprive us of such a special link to our past and to our Christian founder.”
He said he was very confident gardaí would recover the relic just as they did the relics of the True Cross, which were stolen from Holy Cross Abbey in Co. Tipperary last year.
Detectives appealed for witnesses to contact Kevin Street Garda station on 01 666 9400 or to call the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111.