Maureen O'Hara may not have looked twice at them, but gardaí in Mayo have been alerted to the theft of cap-stones from the church used as a set in The Quiet Man.
The limestone capstones were taken some time between April 27th and 29th last, according to Rev Alistair Grimason, dean of Tuam and rector of St Mary's church in Cong. The capstones had been hand-cut from Connemara limestone, dating to the 1850s, he said, and "as such, they are irreplaceable".
Mr Michael Conneely, a surveyor and member of the Old Galway Society, described the missing capstones as "the most famous pillars in film history". "It would appear that they may have been stolen to order," he said.
The exterior of the Church of Ireland building was used as a set in the 1951 film, The Quiet Man, while the inside of the local Catholic church was used for the interior shots. Directed by the late John Ford and starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, the film was one of the first to be shot in technicolour outside the US.
It is said to have attracted generations of North American tourists to Ireland during the past five decades, eager to visit west of Ireland locations featured in the film, such as Maam Valley, Cong, Oughterard, Lettergesh and Ballyglunin.
The ruins of the original "White O'Mornin" cottage are in the Maam valley, and Mr Paddy Rock,organiser of a 50th anniversary Quiet Man celebration, recently called for the restoration of the building.
Much of the original stonework had already been taken, he pointed out.
