Unholy Art Heist in Ireland Shocks Priests

LIMERICK LEADER
By Anne Sheridan

Stripped bare: Fr Tom Ryan stands in front of one the frames where the paintings were cut out with a stanley knife, in the Holy Rosary church on the Ennis Road, where the theft occurred. Picture: Michael Cowhey

IRELAND---Prayers were said at the weekend for the return of five paintings stolen from the Holy Rosary church in Limerick, which are estimated to be worth at least €25,000. The religious paintings by the renowned artist the late Fr Jack Hanlon had been hanging proudly in the Ennis Road church for over 50 years. But on Wednesday last - some 20 minutes after Fr Tom Ryan left the church - a thief with a newspaper covering his face entered the church and cut the five paintings out of their frames with a stanley knife. [link]