A church sacristan lost her hearing when lightning hit a chapel during mass.
Dozens of parishioners had a lucky escape when bolts of lighting came down from the heavens and struck Cockhill Church in Buncrana.
The lightning came down through wires on the building’s alarm system before causing an explosion in the church sacristy.
The bolt caused thousands of euro of damage after it blew the sound system and smashed a stained glass window.
The sacristan had a lucky escape as she was standing just feet from the explosion but has since regained her hearing.
Priest Fr Rafal Janusewski, who was saying mass at the time, managed to calm the congregation before continuing in candlelight.
He revealed “There was a big noise and the thunder bolt was amazing. We heard the storm; suddenly a flash of lightning shot into the church.
“The speaker system was destroyed and there was an explosion in the sacristy.
“The sacristan was a little deaf afterwards but she is a very brave woman.”
The drama happened on Tuesday night during 7.30pm mass.
The local Garda station was also struck during the huge electrical storm which knocked out its entire communications system.
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