A South Dublin church and community was left reeling after an alleged pair of masked thieves stole a donations box and Christmas gifts.
The brazen robbery took place at the Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel on Mourne Road in Drimnagh on Monday afternoon.
The poor box, located at the shrine to St Anthony in the Church, where parishioners would drop their change in as they lit their candles, was ripped from the monument and stolen - leaving a literal hole in the heart of the church.
Parish priest Fr Dave Brannigan said the pair must have had a "heavy tool" to dig the box out of the shrine.
"As far as we can make out it was two people who waited until the parish secretary left for lunch, and the few people saying a prayer had also left," he told Dublin Live.
"They must have had some sort of heavy duty tool with them, as they pulled the poor box which was embedded into the wall clean out of its casing.
"Only the gaping chasm and the bolt which the box was attached to was left behind.
"This happened between 1.30pm and 2pm while Deirdre our Secretary was at lunch - in fact she alerted me when she realised the parish room door was now ajar.
"After further investigation, she realised it had been pulled asunder and ransacked."
And sadly, Fr Brannigan realised quickly that it wasn't just the box that had been stolen when he arrived at the church.
"When I came over I realised a number of bottles of whiskey, Christmas gifts for church volunteers, which we hadn't yet managed to pass on yet because of COVID, had been pilfered also," he said.
"They also attempted to break into the office.
"It was only as I walked around the church did I realise that they had pulled the poor box out of the wall.
"Then as I checked the other shrines, there was signs of damage and attempts to prise them open as well, but unsuccessfully."
Fr Brannigan said that the church community were "very distressed" - but he remained philosophical, saying he was thankful nobody was hurt.
"The parishioners both young and old are very distressed as this is the first time in 77 years, that the church has been the target of something like this," he said.
"The most important thing is that nobody got hurt.
"Shrine boxes and damage can be replaced and fixed, people not so much."
Gardai confirmed they are investigating the robbery.
They told Dublin Live: "Gardaí are investigating a burglary that took place at a property on Mourne Road, Drimnagh at approximately 1:30pm yesterday afternoon.
"A sum of cash was taken during the incident.
"No arrests have been made, investigations are ongoing."
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