Good Samaritan brings home the bacon to Limerick butchers

PETE the Pig is back outside O'Connell's Butchers after his mysterious disappearance.

However, the days of this piggy going to market are over as he is now chained up. The Leader reported last week about the theft of the hand-carved figure which has been outside the butchers on Little Catherine Street for 40 years.

Swines steal beloved Pete the Pig from Limerick butchers

Antón Togher, manager of O'Connell's, said they received reports of a couple of men carrying Pete in the Dominic Street area of the city. They did well to get that far as Pete is a bit of a porker, weighing in about 25kgs.

Antón said they thought Pete was gone for good. Then last Thursday, a person found him in that area and was delighted to hand him back in.

"Maybe Pete was too hot to handle and they dumped him. They person that brought him in got the reward which we had promised and we want to thank him sincerely. It was a great result. We did think Pete was gone because although we do not have a monetary value on it, I'd say it is an antique.

"We have him for nearly 40 years. Paul's dad had bought it at a fire sale. It has great sentimental value to us inside in the shop. Pete is part of the atmosphere. He's certainly not going to any factories or anything. We'll keep him for another while," said Antón.

He said they are located on a beautiful street and Pete is part of the furniture.

"He's been outside the door all of the time. When there are matches on we put a jersey on him. At Christmas time, we put an elf suit on him. The small kids love it because they're the same size as him. You'd see them in their buggies outside the door talking to him," said Antón.

And Pete is here to stay.

"He's on a chain now and is bolted to a bolt we had to put on. When we got him back on Thursday, there was a small bit of damage done to him, a few cracks and that. We varnished him and painted him up nice before we put him back out," said Antón, who thanked the person again for finding and bringing Pete back and local media for highlighting it.