BBC Antiques Roadshow expert issues plea with viewers over vandalised statue: ‘If you know, get in touch’
Antiques Roadshow expert Chris Yeo issued a plea to BBC viewers after one guest revealed his quest to reunite a statue with a missing piece.
In a recent episode, host Fiona Bruce and the experts were in Northern Ireland at Belfast’s Botanic Gardens, delving into the history of the green oasis in the heart of the capital city.
Expert Ronnie Archer Morgan was delighted to spot the detail on one of his favourite Black Forest sculptures – a wooden bear with an artistic streak.
Marc Allum was also thrilled by a speck of dust that is quite literally out of this world.
Gordon Foster came across a medal given to an Edwardian plumber on royal duty, whilst Steven Moore puts on an impromptu performance, startling roadshow visitors with his skill on the ocarina.
However, it was Yeo who was left issuing a message to viewers after laying eyes on something more unusual for the Roadshow.
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Taking a look, Yeo noted: “Do you know there really is so much history and heritage in Belfast, it’s all around us and more so, just a few yards in that direction, at the Friars Bush cemetery.
“You are from there, you are a friar, in your full get-up, and you have brought in, rather unusual, not an item but a photo of an object that you are trying to find. Tell me more.”
The guest explained: “Well, the gentleman to the right is Andrew McKenna. He was a very prominent nationalist and newspaper editor in Victorian Belfast.
“This guy on the left is a guy called Stephen Gallagher. He found the head of Andrew McKenna in the mid ‘80s when they were clearing the Friars Bush cemetery.
“However, since then, it has disappeared. Now, Andrew McKenna was a very prominent Catholic and nationalist in Belfast.
“But he had the misfortune to actually fall out with the then-bishop, who was called Patrick Dorrian, and he lost his job as the newspaper editor of the Northern Star.
“He was attacked coming back from County Derry in 1871, and he died eight months later. So they had this beautiful monument erected within Friars Bush, and his head adorned the plinth.
“In the 1960s, a number of vandals came into the cemetery, and unfortunately,y they knocked his block off.”
Yeo was blown away by the history and added: “Poor Andrew McKenna. So, what we’re saying to viewers is.
“If you know the whereabouts of the head of Andrew McKenna, then do get in touch with us, and hopefully we can reunite the head with the statue.”
The guest gasped in hope and said: “Oh, it would be a fantastic thing to put this back where it belongs in Belfast’s most historic cemetery.“
Yeo laughed and quipped: “Well, watch this space.”