A Hungarian Catholic bishop will present a copy of a picture known as the "Irish Madonna" to the diocese of Clonfert at a ceremony in Loughrea, Co Galway, on Sunday.
Bishop Lajos Pápai is from Gyor and the original picture is in the cathedral there.
Known also as "Our Lady of Gyor", the picture was taken from Clonfert Cathedral 350 years ago by Bishop Walter Lynch, who was exiled following the Cromwellian dispossession.
Lynch belonged to one of Galway's leading families. He had been educated in Lisbon and Paris and, at the request of Papal Nuncio Rinuccini in 1646, was appointed Bishop of Clonfert.
In 1652 the Catholic clergy had to flee Galway and went to Inishbofin. From there they either escaped or were deported to the Continent. Bishop Lynch took with him a painting of the Virgin and Child. He was in Belgium for a time but eventually made his way to Hungary, where he was well received by the Bishop of Gyor.
He died in exile in 1663 and is buried in the vaults of Gyor Cathedral. The painting he brought with him from Galway was hung in a side altar.
On St Patrick's Day 1697, according to tradition, blood flowed from it and was removed by a linen cloth, which is now a relic. An altar was built for the picture dedicated to Mary, Consoler of the Afflicted.
