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POPE FRANCIS IS paying a visit to Knock in Co Mayo this morning ahead of the main event of his Irish visit, his Phoenix Park mass, this afternoon.
45,000 free tickets for the Mayo visit were snapped up hours after being made available earlier this summer, and more than a million-and-a-half pilgrims visit the holy site each year.
As the village once again finds itself at the centre of global media attention, here’s a quick guide to the history of Knock and the events said to have happened there just over 139 years ago.
Fifteen villagers who gathered at the gable end of the parish church of Knock on 21 August 1879 later testified that they had witnessed an apparition of the Virgin Mary at the site.
Not just Mary, though. They also told the local archbishop that St Joseph, the Lamb of God and St John the Evangelist were also there.
The villagers’ testimony is available to view in the history section of the Knock Shrine website.
The night in question was a dark and rainy one, the locals said. Between 7pm and 9.30pm, people began to notice something extraordinary on the outside walls of the church.
Amid the gloom of the evening, Mary and the other holy figures appeared to be glowing.
“The night was dark and raining, and yet these images, in the dark night, appeared with bright lights as plain as under the noonday sun,” 36-year-old Dominick Byrne later said.
Nearly all the witnesses said that Mary was standing and praying, in a white cloak, with her eyes cast upwards, and with a golden crown.
St Joseph stood to her right, with what one called “iron-grey whiskers”.
On her left was St John the Evangelist, identified because almost everyone mentioned he was holding a book, “as if teaching”. Some said he had a mitre on his head.
At least two of the witnesses claimed to have seen something that surely must have terrified them – figures floating above the ground.
Mary Byrne, who was 29 at the time, reported:
They stood a little distance out from the gable wall, and, as well as I could judge, a foot and a half or two feet from the ground.
Patrick Hill said:
I distinctly beheld the Blessed Virgin Mary, life size, standing about two feet or so above the ground clothed in white robes which were fastened at the neck.
Said Dominick Byrne: “I was so affected that I shed tears. I continued looking on for fully an hour.”
Bridget Trench, then aged in her 70s, said she immediately threw herself on her knees upon witnessing the three figures, exclaiming:
A hundred thousands thanks to God and to the glorious Virgin that has given us this manifestation.
She attempted to kiss the feet of the Virgin Mary but “felt nothing in the embrace but the wall”.
As you might imagine, news of the apparition spread far and wide. Reporters flocked from around the world and Catholic pilgrims soon began to visit.
The 1879 Commission set up by Archbishop MacHale of Tuam consisted of three local parish priests and six local curates.
They took a deposition from each of the witnesses – fourteen in English and three in Irish – and the Commission went on to find that the words of the witnesses were “trustworthy and satisfactory”.
Surviving witnesses were interviewed again in 1936. Mary Byrne, then 86, told the later inquiry:
I am clear about everything I have said and I make this statement knowing I am going before my God.
She died six weeks later.
Now, hundreds of jobs are now supported in the area, thanks to the Marian Shrine – and an expansive campus of churches, chapels, retreat centres, and bookshops has been constructed over the past century.
Monsignor James Horan, who was parish priest from 1967 t0 1986, is credited with reinvigorating the site and transforming it into a modern religious destination.
One of his most ambitious projects was the building of Knock Basilica, which was completed in 1976. The following year, he began the annual public novena – now attended by over 100,000 people each year.
In 1979, he also played a major role in preparing for the visit of Pope John Paul II to Knock in what was the centenary year of the apparition.
In the 1980s, another unexpected appearance at Knock made headlines internationally – as Horan spearheaded a campaign to build an airport for the region.
The project was dismissed by many as a white elephant – but against all odds, Horan succeeded and the airport was declared open in 1986. Ireland West Airport, as it’s now known, broke new records last year – with more than 750,00 passengers coming or going.
The current parish priest, Fr Richard Gibbons, has been presiding over a further revamp of the site in recent years. As part of that process a massive mosaic, constructed in Italy and transported by truck in 300 sections to East Mayo, was unveiled in the basilica in 2016.
Made up of more than 1.5 million pieces, it depicts the apparition as described by the 15 villagers who claimed to have witnessed it.
Strange Occurrences in a Small Irish Village, a documentary by award-winning director Aoife Kelleher, was also released in 2016. The film took its title from press coverage the Knock apparition received back in 1879.
Many pilgrims who visit Knock have a strong belief in the healing power of the shrine – and while the official emphasis these days is on spiritual comfort and reawakening, the Anointing of the Sick still takes place at masses throughout the summer.
TheJournal.ie spent a day at Knock back in August 2016. According to our article from the time, one of the information centres on the site displayed leaflets advertising an event hosted by a woman who claimed to have been cured of a decades-long debilitating illness after attending one of those masses.
We also spoke to an elderly man in one of the many giftshops that now lines the village’s main street. He imparted the following parable - passed down through the generations, and no-doubt told to cynics and sceptics, whenever eyebrows are raised at tales of healings and apparitions in Knock.
“The day after, in 1879, the story goes, fellas like yourself came down from Dublin and asked one of the women who saw the apparition ‘How did you know it was the holy family?’.
The woman’s response:
Aragh, sure everyone around here knows the holy family.
- With reporting by Aoife Barry and Dan MacGuill
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Isn’t it quite the coincidence that these ‘apparitions’ don’t seem to happen now that everyone is carrying a high definition camera in their pocket?
@bopter: more hate more cynicism. What bad has come of the shrine either way?
I’m not religious but the hate and cynicism on these comments this weekend have been disturbing. I watched done of it this weekend and I must say it has been uplifting. That Zimbabwean man for example was electric. Riverdance etc. Let people have their faith.
@Jim Ni Suilleabhain: people should be cynical of outrageous claims which have no evidence.
@Jim Ni Suilleabhain: I didn’t say anything hateful or that anything bad had come from it.
I know lots of people experience joy and find inner peace from visiting the Knock shrine.
I‘m particularly pleased for the blessed merchant sellers down there who enjoy the 1.5M annual pilgrims.
@bopter:
more hate.
More cynicism.
Go for a walk feel better.
@Seán Ó Briain: Sean they took depositions form the people, which means evidence taken from an expert witnesses. So there is your evidence ! After that it is up to the individual to believe or not but either way it more then what you’ve got in this argument.
@bopter: what do you mean by “quite the coincidence”?
I ask, (like many other non-haters who are not that religious), why all this passive aggressive cloaked hatred and cynicism towards other’s beliefs?
Tiresome trope at this stage mate.
@bopter:
What did he say?
He said ‘blessed are the meek’.
Oh, that’s nice, I’m glad they’re getting something, they have a hell of a time!
@Jim Ni Suilleabhain: more hate ? Just truth and honest observations by many posters. Anyone who challenges or questions the claims of supernatural activity are treated as haters… when the fact is the superstitious like the church hate being challenged !
@Jim Ni Suilleabhain: People who can see through all the jiggery pokery of the church see what it really wants, control and oppression. We don’t want it controlling any aspect of our lives anymore at governance/political level so yes we will call it out for what it is.
@bopter: ramen
@Nucky: which is more likely to be the truth? These were actual apparitions of characters from a 2000 year old book or someone had a Magic Lantern and projected an image on the wall of a church?
If there was nothing miraculous then the adoration is pointless.
We should all apply critical thinking to everything. Faith does not allow for critical thinking as you will be punished for doing so.
@Nucky: it’s quite possible something was seen but I’d wager it was an hallucination the cause ? ergot , alcohol , who knows ! But this link might help you to understand a bit better http://hallucinationhelp.blogspot.com/2013/04/hallucination-types-introducation-to.html?m=1
@Ted Logan: magic lanterns were weak in their illumination power so would have had to be close to the wall. Do you not think one of the witnesses might have noticed the big beam of light projecting from right behind them. Also their shadows would have disturbed the apparition. Not a believer btw but you have to be sceptical about the sceptics as well
@Jim Ni Suilleabhain: I think your confusing Cynicism with Skepticism
@Jim Ni Suilleabhain: Facts are only offensive to those who have taken refuge in fiction.
@Beabad Bishop: I don’t need to understand anything only that people can believe in whatever they want and it’s not up to you or me to judge them for it. Maybe that will help you a bit
@Nucky: state the obvious.. but when those beliefs are visited upon the innocents are used to extort or control or used to cloak criminality then there is no sitting on the fence I’m afraid
@bopter: this is an opportunity for some good knock knock jokes !
@Jim Ni Suilleabhain: seriously why would you expect people not to be cynical of this nonsense
@Nucky: any open minded examination of the goings on at Knock, a reading of the conflicting testimonies, a reconstruction of where the people were standing and how they approached the apparition etc would lead one to conclude that it was indeed a magic lantern that created the images.
@Peter Hughes: I don’t believe that following and practicing the catholic faith is compulsory.
If you don’t believe or you have anger and hate inside then don’t follow and don’t practice or participate. But above all don’t hate and abuse those who do. Allow them to have their happiness and support their god and follow their faith. If we gave this weekends amount of abuse to Muslims or Hindu’s or Jews about their religion I bet there would be a few people on here arrested by now.
@Gareth Cooney: we as former Catholics & are now atheists are always reminder by our community to never forget the RCC when it was powerful and abusive & now it comes to us all meek & ingraciating because it has to & its trying to hold on to its power & influence & expects us to pay for it. I don’t hate Catholics. That’s both foolish and unnecessary but if you wish to stand in our Phoenix park & promote this stuff be prepared for criticism. I see many Catholics still laughing and pointing at those at gay pride so suck it up.
@Gareth Cooney: Exactly—Dead right mate!!
@bopter: Indeed, Mary probably just takes a selfie now when she visits.
@Jim Ni Suilleabhain: Jim, you’re both correct (comment 1 annd 2) but at least you have the decency and bravery to use a keyboard under your own name.
@bopter: you should go to medjugorje
@Ted Logan: Correct, no electric lighting, raining, very biased, hyper religious people, magic mushrooms??
Could they have been hallucinating?
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence!
I will be accused of being biased, but it was my grandmother [who reared me] here sister who was very well off, had a hunting shooting fishing lifestyle and married to a Judge in a very large palatial home, used visit Knock.
She decided to give up her lifestyle and went to Rome, Paris and worked her ass off to get Knock on the Map, her money, and was instrumental in getting the handmaids to help the sick.
She was an intellectual and simple and modest and did not want anyone to know she was knighted by the pope. Dame Judy Coyne, there is a book about her. She was not easily conned. One is free to judge if it was hallucinations or not during the terrible poverty but Mary tended to ‘appear’ to very poor and prayerful people so people constantly on mobiles [as has been said here] would hardly be the people chosen. If you d on’t believe that’s fine. But to mock is nasty. She was a great character and up to the day she died spent hours praying and doing good. Stop the Vitriol and let the believers believe. Thanks and have a lovely Sunday whatever you do.
@Rosemarie Martin: So the laws of science and logic are all wrong then?
@Edward Smith: Edward can you reconcile the clash between the theory of relativity and quantum theory?
If you can, great. But no scientist using the laws of science and logic has been able to so far.
@Rosemarie Martin: Mental health issues don’t discriminate. I don’t say that to diminish mental health. I take it very seriously. Perhaps medical intervention rather than a shrine to those hallucinations would have been more appropriate.
@Edward Smith: and yet The law of evidence is in use here . What have you got ?
@Jim Ni Suilleabhain: that’s the great thing about Science, it doesn’t claim to know everything, if new facts become available then the theory changes, in religion you change the facts to suit the dogma.
@Jim Ni Suilleabhain: Einstein spent the rest of his life trying to convince us what we now know: The Theory of Relativity is woefully lacking. He was one of the few rock stars of his error and no one would listen to him.
@Julia O’Bryne: ^^Error = era. No Freudian slip there. Nope.
@Rosemarie Martin: yes you are biased now try really hard to look beyond it and try figure out the motive
@Rosemarie Martin: Faith is belief without evidence. Those with faith are conditioned to believe myths without evidence from a very early age.
@Rosemarie Martin: It’s funny that china with a greater population density. was overlooked by jesus and mohamed?
@Beabad Bishop: It’s also interesting that the images they saw are relatively recent ones from material they would have seen before in churches and prayer books. They were certainly not 1st century Jewish men and women.
@Jim Ni Suilleabhain: They are both scientific theories that can be explained through repeatable, measurable demonstrable experiment. The evidence for both are scientific facts that explain our current understanding of the natural world. We do not currently understand everything and their are massive gaps in our understanding. That does not mean that it is okay for you to fill these gaps with supernatural unfounded superstition.
@SteoG: but it’s ok for you to judge others for it
@Nucky: People have the right to believe whatever they like, that doesn’t detract from others’ right to judge them for believing in fairy tales. The freedom of belief doesn’t mean that you have the right not to ever be challenged on your beliefs, if you can back up all of your beliefs with reasonable evidence and/or argument without having to rely on ‘faith’ (which is belief without evidence) then I’ll stop challenging and judging.
@Patrick J. O’Rourke: good point , of course simple peasant folk wouldn’t have realised that they were artists impressions And didn’t reflect a true image of the characters…not that they probably existed in the first place
@Patrick J. O’Rourke: It’s also interesting that the Land War was at it’s height at that time and that the Parish priest in Knock was big land holder with quite a few tenants and that he was totally opposed to “The Land League ” and Michael Davit and consequently was(unusual for the time)on very bad terms with his parishioners!
@Jim Ni Suilleabhain: wow now’s there’s a leap. Do you understand the quantum & by the way I most certainly don’t but it’s proveable & calcuable & our scientists use it. See just like all God of the gap pseudo intellectualism you make claims you can’t back up. Deepak Chopra is another such character that shares your views but there is a problem. People like Laurence Krauss & Stephen Hawking understand the quantum more than you think & in actual fact it further disproves your God include the explanation of something from nothing. Nice try but religion is an ever receding pocket of scientific knowledge & the quantum further endorses that not defies it.
@Sean Conway: Ah come off it Sean—–THEY HAD MAO!!
I’d be surprised as well if i saw a bunch of middle eastern people in Knock in 1879.
@Stan Stynes: No shortage of them now.
@Edward Smith: not the point i was making. No problems with anyone coming to Ireland to make a life for themselves.
@Stan Stynes: Jesus and Mary were from the middle East.
@Nicola Keenan: not the ones in this story. It was the white Mary and her friends. They actually all agreed independently that it was the white, French, version that appeared.
@Stan Stynes: exactly, why has the Virgin Mary always appeared to be a white western woman, when in reality, she would have been middle eastern origin, according to where she lived in the bible. When there’s an apparition, what physical features do people see, is it the westernised version, if so it can’t be really her?
@Stan Stynes: I would even be more surprised with you Stan because that would make you over 140 years old.
@Freda Hanratty: and not only was she mid eastern, she was in all likelyhood aged 14 or 15 max
@Gulliver Foyle: they moved in mysterious ways alright, hahaha
@Freda Hanratty: sure all JCs homies were from the middle East but had names like Peter, Matthew , mark, Luke etc ..that’s mad ted
Does the sun still dance around the sky there?…..asking for a friend!
@Reg: no, it shines out of your h0le
@Seamus Mac: Funny, my SO is convinced it shines out his.
@Reg: Is your friend Leo?
@Reg: you’re getting you’re knock confused with your Fatima, or is that Medugiore? So many apparitions I’m getting mixed up.
A total fraud, but I suppose it’s harmless compared to a certain other “peaceful” religion.
@Edward Smith: Harmless?, have a look through history and come back to us on that one there, its far from harmless when let have its own way, the only reason is harmless these days is because we freed ourselves of its oppression now.
@Edward Smith: And there I saw Maradonna, i knew it was him because he has heading a ball into a net with his hand. Next to him was Henry Ford, I knew it was him because he was driving a Ford. Then there was John Spillane , I knew it was him because nothing rhymed and the lyrics were shite
@Edward Smith: you’re an absolute clown with little to no knowledge of history.
@Tommy C: and I saw weeDaniel singing and dancing I knew it was him because I threw up!
The hallucinogenic opiate of the masses.
@Peter Canada: that’s a misquote. One of the most famous misquoted speeches.
I saw Mary in a stump a few years ago. Rathkeale I think it was in. Worth a visit
@Hughiealonso: Mons Horan was the first body to be brought through Knock airport having died in Rome .
Fact among fiction
Is it coincidental that the time of the year the apparitions appeared is also the time of year that certain wild mushrooms start to appear in the Irish countryside? Perhaps the locals were supplementing their meagre diets with a bit of foraging… And were tripping absolute balls!
@jl: I agree, it was most likely magic mushrooms.
How exactly did they come to the conclusion of who the three apparition were , one had a book the other whiskers lol
Poitínu
@Sam Cairns: my thoughts exactly… the old Mayo moonshine can be stronger than the others.
Shrooms. Definitely shrooms.
The ultimate long game… get enough people involved using the same story and watch the story grow and grow. Look what the area got out of it…
Knock smock, it’s always been the holy stone of clonrichert for me. I heard a youngfella was cured there.
There always “strange occurrences” down in mayo…..:)
Lunatics
@Decky: surely everyone realises this is boll#x wtf
@Decky: irrespective of my own believes can you prove it ? No you can’t , so live and let live . When someone told you last year that there was No Santy Clause you stopped believing only because your were told. So until someone tells us all different people are entitled to believe in something,someone etc until they are told different.
@Nucky: can you prove that I am not Zeus? If someone told you today that they saw an apparition on their way home what would your response be? ‘Oh that’s grand,must be true’? Such claims should be treated with the same skepticism as ufo sightings.
@Hughiealonso: Can you ?
@Nucky: no but I didn’t make any outrageous claims. Keep up
@Hughiealonso: you can’t claim you’re not Zeus ?
@Nucky: In jest. And you asked for proof.
@Hughiealonso: I didn’t make any outrageous claims either, like I’ve said irrespective of what I think until it can be proven without beyond doubt , people can think what they want and shouldn’t be mocked for it ,but there again you’re a bit dim for a scientist and doesn’t get it so we’ll excuse you for that.
@Nucky: let’s throw the concepts of rationality and the requirement for evidence out the window so. Whatever everyone believes is true, we can live in abject fantasy. Make stuff up,it’s true. Sounds great
@Nucky: it’s people like you that hold the rest of us back.
Knock ! knock! Whose there ? The pope ! The pope who ? The pope who lied and abused survivors in Chile and won’t take the blame for his and his predecessors actions of cover up . The one who prays but doesn’t pay !
It is being reported in the International press that a senior cardinal, apostolic nuncio, has given evidence Francis himself has covered up sexual abuse of children. Disgustingly, nothing in the Irish press.
Even the catholic fundamentalist sites are reporting it.
@Paul Fahey: Even Euronews which is normally pro-vatican is covering it.
I have childhood memories of a few hundred locals standing in a local park staring at a concrete statue waiting for it to move,even as a child I thought they were mental.
This covers lots of explanations, theories, investigations. My fav is the protestant policeman operating a magic lantern, who requested a transfer when his prank got out of hand lol http://www.miraclesceptic.com/knockmagiclant.html
Its incredible to think how unique the idea of Knock is now yet there it is a town I visited a couple of times growing up that’s whole purpose is down to something i consider unreal. I remember being in a cinema in Dublin when the trailer for the movie was on and despite not believing in apparitions i was jusy bothered by the sneering from the audience. Most looked liked Irish Tories that probably claim not to be religious yet likely to fanatically vote for only certain political parties.
@Dave O’Hanlon: WTF?
@Dermot Lane: wtf is with your wtf
@Dave O’Hanlon: what are u on about?? Lol
@Dermot Lane: think Dave is smoking some strong stuff
Ahhh yea as somebody once said……..Christianity -One woman’s affair that has got completely out of control.
Weak minded fools
Typical. Aliens visit numerous places in the 19th and 20th century but unfortunately it is all dismissed as a visitation from a long deceased religious icon.
What a load of absolute crap. And to think. Idiotic people still actually flock to this pile of rocks. Pathetic. And worrying.
nonsense.
Whatever happened fact or fiction it has truly been exploited for profit.
Will we ever evolve enough as a species to move past this nonsense.
Whatever happened fact or fiction it has truest been exploited for profit.
have your say