Historic window frame stolen from ruin
The lake is on the Shannon Erne Waterway, a popular route with pleasure boats.
Local Fine Gael councillor John McCartin, who is a frequent visitor to the island, said that the window was a priceless artefact before it was taken, but was “little more than architectural salvage” to whoever had removed it.
He said Church Island had been mentioned in papal records dating back to the 12th century. The stone window frame was in a wing of the church believed to date to the 15th century, while part of the building is hundreds of years older.
A spokesman for the Department of Arts Heritage and the Gaeltacht said it had been made aware of the reported theft and an investigation by the NMS was under way.
Mr McCartin expressed concern that whoever had the window frame would have no idea of its value. “It may be sitting on a pub wall somewhere and if someone paid €40 for it at a market, I would appeal to them to return it,” he said.
He estimated that the window frame weighed hundreds of kilos.
