Gardaí are investigating an incident of criminal damage after a fire was deliberately started inside Tinure Church in Monasterboice.
The incident caused significant damage in the gallery area of the Church of the Immaculate Conception after papers were set alight in a waste bin and placed beneath a pew.
Parish priest Fr Paddy Rushe said the fire was discovered shortly before 9pm last Thursday evening, although he believes it may have started several hours earlier, around 2pm that afternoon.
Speaking to LMFM Radio, Fr Rushe described the incident as deeply upsetting and said the church was fortunate to avoid much more serious damage.
“Someone had set fire to papers in a waste bin and put them under a pew in the gallery space. The fire had been burning for some time, we don’t know how long.
“It was smouldering and when it was discovered the church was full of smoke. We were very lucky, very lucky that it didn’t burst into flames. We were able to remove the smouldering bin. It may still be out at the front, I’m not sure, I haven’t checked, but certainly the floorboard of the gallery has been burnt through with the extent of the fire.”
Fr Rushe appealed to anyone who may have been near the church during the afternoon or evening to come forward if they noticed suspicious activity.
“We are looking at CCTV. We’re so blessed that we’ve been able to keep our church and churches open well into the evenings. It’s a blessing being in a country area but something like this is very serious and we don’t want to have to lock the churches. That would be terrible. So please if you can keep an ear to the ground and keep an eye out.”
He also revealed that the fire was discovered by someone who had entered the church later that evening to light a candle.
“Thank God we had a lucky escape this time. So we want to get it pinned down if we can and we hope we’ll keep things under review in the meantime.”
Gardaí confirmed they are investigating the incident and that a technical examination of the scene has been carried out.
Anyone who may have seen suspicious activity at Tinure Church between 2pm and 10pm last Thursday is being asked to contact Drogheda Garda Station.
