Valuable religious artifacts that were stolen last year have been discovered following a search operation in the midlands this week.
The relics are said to be part of the original cross Jesus was crucified on and were stolen from the Holycross Abbey in Thurles, Co Tipperary, last October, by two masked men, who used an angle grinder to remove them.
For hundreds of years, people have made a pilgrimage to Holycross Abbey to view the relics. Holycross parish priest Father Tom Breen identified the artifacts after they were discovered undamaged in a field.
Fr Breen said: “The people and the clergy of Holy Cross and the thousands of pilgrims who come to pray at the abbey will be overjoyed at the news that the precious relics of the cross have been found.”
Father Breen said the relics would be immediately put back up on display in the church, although he confirmed security around them would be stepped up.
Even though they have no monetary value, they are of enormous devotional importance and must be protec