ROBBED ‘CORK NATIVES’ OLIVER CROMWELL AND WILLIAM OF ORANGE DISCOVERED IN A DITCH IN COUNTY CLARE
IT was a case of ‘moving statues’ that had baffled Gardaí for more than eight years.
In the early hours of July 17, 2011 a quartet of limestone statues that had stood at the entrance gates to the stately Milltown Castle in Charleville for more than two-centuries mysterious vanished into thin air.
The pair of four-foot eagles had been mounted on 10ft pillars guarding the entrance to the estate and the five-foot high sculptures of William of Orange and Oliver Cromwell has stood on niches in the front walls of the gate lodge.
At the time Gardaí said it was most likely that a lorry with a Hiab-type arm lift was probably used to remove the heavy statues from where they had stood since 1775 after being placed there by the Bruce family.
They had withstood the ravages of time, and in the case of the stature of Cromwell an attack by the IRA in 1921 during which his nose was knocked off with a hammer, relatively unscathed.
At the time the theft generated a lot of media interest both local and nationally and despite Gardaí making extensive enquiries about the disappearance the trail went cold.
Their only lead being the sighting of a lorry at a junction in the area around the time the statues were believed to have been stolen.
However, a chance discovery by an eagle-eyed member of the public last week in a field close to a derelict outhouse near Cratloe in Clare, has at least solved part of the mystery surrounding the theft.
The person contacted Gardaí who recalled the original theft and last Friday finally recovered the fours statues, which are now set to be finally returned to Charleville.
However, Gardaí are still none the wiser as to the reason for the theft of the statues and asked for the public’s help in trying to find out where they have been for the past eight-and-a half-years.
“We are appealing for anyone with information about the theft or who may have information about how the statures ended up in Co Clare to contact Mallow Garda station on 022 31450,” a garda spokesperson told The Corkman.