THE reputed head of a 14th-century Italian saint was sold for €3,500 at an auction in Co Meath Sunday.
St Vitalis of Assisi was a Benedictine hermit and following his death in 1370 he became known as the patron saint of those suffering from genital disease.
According to legend the monk had lived a sex-filled youth but then repented and in a bid to atone for his sins went on many pilgrimages to shrines and other holy places in Italy and Europe before spending the rest of his life in poverty near Assisi.
The skull of the saint enshrined in an antique glass case had been in the keeping of a Co Louth family and was included in an antique auction at Annesbrook House Duleek by Oldcastle auctioneer Brendan Matthews because of its proximity to Drogheda, which is home to the head of St Oliver Plunkett, the 17th-century martyr who was born near Oldcastle.
Bidding for the skull opened at €2,000 and rose in €100 stages before being sold in less than a minute for €3,500 to an unnamed phone buyer from Los Angeles.
According to legend the monk had lived a sex-filled youth but then repented and in a bid to atone for his sins went on many pilgrimages to shrines and other holy places in Italy and Europe before spending the rest of his life in poverty near Assisi.
The skull of the saint enshrined in an antique glass case had been in the keeping of a Co Louth family and was included in an antique auction at Annesbrook House Duleek by Oldcastle auctioneer Brendan Matthews because of its proximity to Drogheda, which is home to the head of St Oliver Plunkett, the 17th-century martyr who was born near Oldcastle.
Bidding for the skull opened at €2,000 and rose in €100 stages before being sold in less than a minute for €3,500 to an unnamed phone buyer from Los Angeles.
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