Heroic saviour of Laois convent cross is revealed

THE identity of a workman who risked his life to save a Laois convent cross from destruction has been revealed.

Paddy Langton from Rathnamanagh, Portlaoise, bravely climbed onto the roof of the Brigidine Convent in Abbeyleix, moments before the building was demolished in 1992.

Determined to save the historic rooftop monument, he tied a rope around both his waist and the base of the cross while heavy machinery ripped through the building.

Despite falling through collapsing timbers while still tied to the cross, he somehow escaped without serious injury. Then he calmly lifted the heavy four-foot cross into his van and brought it home, where it lay undisturbed in a shed ever since.

As reported in the Laois Nationalist last Wednesday, the incredible story came to light when local historian Noel Burke received a phone call two days earlier. He was told that the family wanted the cross to return to Abbeyleix but wished to remain anonymous. However, they subsequently agreed that the courage of the man who rescued it should be acknowledged.

Paddy Langton passed away last November, at the age of 91. Last Friday, it was a poignant but proud moment when Paddy’s son, Patrick, invited Noel into his home to collect the cross, ensuring that a unique piece of local heritage would be preserved for future generations. Patrick also shared the extraordinary story of how his father rescued it in the first place.

The identity of the mystery workman was finally revealed by Noel the following day, when he described the late Paddy’s actions as ‘the stuff of legend’.

In a social media update on Saturday, Noel explained that Paddy was an employee of the construction company hired to demolish the disused convent. When Paddy realised the cross on the rooftop was about to be lost forever, he made a split second decision that would change everything.

Noel wrote: ‘Paddy climbed up onto the roof, tied a short rope around his own waist and then around the base of the cross. His plan was simple but brave: as soon as the Hymac machine began tearing at the roof beneath it, he would pull the cross inward, so that it wouldn’t fall out over the edge and shatter on the ground below.

‘When the machine pulled at the foundation, the heavy cross began to sway. Paddy hauled on the rope with all his strength to guide it inward - and it worked. The cross fell safely into the building, but its weight was so great that it crashed straight through the roof and down into the floor below, dragging Paddy with it.

‘He fell through the collapsing timbers alongside the cross, landing hard beside it. Despite the shock, the fall and the chaos around him, Paddy somehow escaped without any broken bones - a miracle in itself.

‘Shaken but determined, he got himself patched up, gathered help, lifted the massive cross into his Renault 4 van and brought it home for safekeeping. And there it remained, protected quietly for more than three decades.’ 

Noel added: ‘Thanks to Paddy’s courage, quick thinking and sheer instinct to preserve a piece of Abbeyleix history, the ornate Brigidine Convent Cross has survived and is now on its way back to the community it once watched over.’ 

The cross once stood proudly above the clock on the roof of the landmark convent, which was erected in 1842. For almost 150 years, generations of students were educated at primary and secondary schools in the convent complex.

There was immense shock and sadness in Abbeyleix when the convent building was demolished. The secondary school had closed in 1990, when Heywood Community School was formed. The only part of the original convent complex that still stands is the nuns’ chapel.

Noel summed up: ‘A cross that survived demolition. A cross carried away in secret to save it. A cross now coming home. A sad chapter … with a beautiful ending.’ 

It is planned that the 184-year-old cross will be placed in the museum at Heritage House, Abbeyleix, a testament not only to the town’s finest educational institution but to the courage of one man who was determined to save it.