A religious book believed to be more than 110 years old has been found in Greerton – and St Mary Immaculate Church member Dermot Blake hopes to see it returned to its rightful owner.

Dermot discovered the book three weeks ago while walking his dog in Greerton’s wetlands.

“I found it on the arm of a bench park seat and I thought somebody must have been resting awhile, had a little look through the book and forgotten it and walked away.”

The pocket-sized book is called ‘Garden of the Soul – A manual of devotion’. Written in both English and Latin, the book appears to have been published in 1910.

Dermot thinks it’s either a bible, prayer book or a hymn book.

What’s more, Dermot – who is in his eighties – says: “I would’ve read that when I was back home in Ireland as a boy going to church and it’s kind of a reminder in life when you read things like that and they come back to you 70-80 years later”.

“It did touch me when you think of yourself as a little boy and you sing hymns. The book just revived a lot of pleasant memories.”

With this personal significance, Dermot was tempted to keep the book, however he says: “It must be a family thing and that’s more important than anything”.

He believes the book is likely to have been passed down through generations and is being missed.

“It’s not just one owner. It’s probably 100 owners, a whole family and thousands of different moments in life.”

If you knowing anything about this book or the owner, please email: newsroom@thesun.co.nz