Guardians with a cross to bear

THE Tullylough Cross could have been lost forever to the Irish nation. The 9th century metal processional cross was stolen from a crannóg near Tullylough in Co Roscommon in the late 1980s.

Soon afterwards, experts in the National Museum became aware of the theft of the unique object and attempts to sell it abroad.

It turned up in the Getty Museum in Malibu, California, and the sellers were looking for $1.75m. The National Museum took civil proceedings against the people who had found the object and secured its return.