LIFELINE

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What, I wondered, was that little green-framed box on the wall of my local bank?

Turned out to be an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) but I hadn't recognised this one at a distance.

Hang on a minute. There's something distinctly odd about this one.

Closer inspection revealed that there was no defibrillator. It had been STOLEN, on one dark evening in the middle of July.

Now who the hell would steal a defibrillator? Was it an act of pure vandalism? Or was it a planned theft with an outlet already set up for the stolen property?

You'd wonder who would have a use for it until you think of the many people around with heart conditions. Someone may not have wanted to spend the thousand odd euro on a machine but would settle for a bargain falling off the back of a lorry.

There are many CTV cameras in the complex but I don't know if any of them cover that particular spot. The naming of a precise time in the notice suggests that the thief was likely picked up at some stage of the operation and no doubt the Garda are keeping their eyes open around the place.

Nevertheless I suspect the chances of recovery are slim and the whole thing does pose difficult questions for the future.

The instore defibrillator is under lock and key. Not a problem, once the store is open there will be someone there to open it up. By their nature, the outside locations need to be directly available to the public. Limiting access to authorised first responders would severely limit their usefulness. So it is really a question of trust, and what is that worth in this modern world?

Just to emphasise the point. The above is a list of locations of defibrillators around Raheny. The bank one isn't listed so I guess it may have been very recent. It does seem to have a particular importance, though. It would be the only one accessible 24/7, and also the only one available when the other locations listed are closed.

I am reminded of the analogous position of lifebuoys along a river or canal. The vandal or prankster here has tweaked the sign to reverse its meaning. Dangerous enough you might say. But at least they didn't nick the buoy while they were at it.

The text here applies equally to both devices.

I am a little more sensitive to these matters since I started following up my family history and came across three drownings of close relatives.

My maternal grandfather drowned in the Liffey in 1918. His brother had already drowned in Ranikhet, India, in 1892 while serving with the British Army. And a paternal uncle drowned in the River Suck in Ballinasloe in 1922 in controversial circumstances linked to both gender and sectarian considerations.

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Update 9/10/2016

The stolen defibrillator has now been replaced. I trust it is now under the scrutiny of one or more of the security cameras on the site.

Unholy Bodysnatchers

This is the altar to St. Brigid in her church in Killester. It was designed to highlight St. Brigid's relic which was donated to the church in 1928 by the Cardinal of Lisbon. "The who?" I hear you ask, "what had it to do with him?".

Well it's a strange story. Brigid is supposed to have died in 525 AD and for security reasons her remains were hidden in various places over the years. Most of the remains have been lost but in 1283 AD some Irish Knights took the head with them on their crusade to the Holy Land. The Knights fell to the Moors in Portugal, and the head eventually ended up in Lumiar, near Lisbon, where it is venerated to this day.

A fragment from the head was given to Killester church when it was built. It was kept in a reliquary on this side altar. The reliquary was modelled on St. Patrick's bell and was attached to the altar table.


The reliquary was stolen recently and this made national newspaper headlines. Fortunately the relic itself had been removed from the reliquary in preparation for a commemoration ceremony for St. Brigid's day which falls on the first of February.

The church has provided CCTV to the Garda in the hope it may help track down the thief. This theft follows that of a portion of the true cross from Holy Cross Abbey in Co. Tipperary. That relic has since been recovered. I wonder, however, at the wisdom of Killester's PP announcing that St. Brigid's reliquary is valued at about €10,000.


Be that as it may, forewarned is forearmed and it looks like lessons have been learned and applied to this other corner of the church, which normally houses a relic of St. Thérèse of Lisieux.


And, as you can see, the glass case is empty for the moment.

Update (Jan 2013): The Killester reliquary has now been recovered and is back in safe hands.