Search continues for stolen Gougane Barra altar stone
Gardaí are investigating after an altar stone which formed part of the old church in Gougane Barra was taken in mid-May. One theory is that it may have been thrown into the lake next to the church, but a team of divers spent hours searching the area on Saturday and did not find it.
Parish priest for the area, Fr Martin O’Driscoll, said he and the Bishop of Cork, John Buckley, were saddened about the theft and both have appealed for the safe return of the slab, which is believed to have been on the Gougane Barra site since the early 1700s.
Fr O’Driscoll said people realised the slab, which has characteristic markings on it left by visiting pilgrims, was missing on May 17, but he said it may have been taken a number of days before that.
As part of efforts to recover it, some locals are now contacting any wedding parties who have visited the area since April and will be asking them to review any photographs they had taken in the area to see if the slab is present. The church typically hosts around 100 wedding ceremonies a year, as well as other events.
Fr O’Driscoll said he has no idea what the motivation could be for stealing the stone, which is an important prayer point for visitors to Gougane Barra and which forms part of ‘the Rounds’ at the site.
“Both I and the bishop are very saddened by what has happened,” he said. “I was only talking to the Bishop this morning to tell him that the dive had been unsuccessful. We are very concerned. We would ask that whoever took it would return it,” he said.
One theory is that the stone was removed as an act of vandalism, although Fr O’Driscoll said another possibility was that someone had taken it for religious reason to have in their house or garden.
He said he did not know if there was any monetary value on the slab, but he stressed it had historical and religious significance as it dated back to Penal times.
Saturday’s dive took three hours with a private firm drafted in by the parish to conduct a comprehensive search of the lake, although such is the size and weight of the slab it is thought unlikely that it could have been dumped far from where it rested for so many years.
Neil Lucey, the manager of the nearby Gougane Barra Hotel, said it would have needed up to three people to lift the stone and carry it off, adding that local people were very concerned at the loss of the relic.
The round of prayers, during which people stop at 10 points on the Gougane Barra site, is due to take place on June 23 and on St Finbarr’s Day on September 25.
