Knock, Ireland (1879)

Summary

During a pouring rain, the figures of Mary, Joseph, John the Evangelist and a lamb on a plain altar appeared over the gable of the village chapel, enveloped in a bright light. None of them spoke. 15 people, between the ages of 5 and 75, saw the apparition.

Photo Gallery

Click here to view images from Knock.

Timeline

Aug 21, 1879	18 witnesses experienced the silent apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, and St. John the Evangelist.
1879	Archbishop of Tuam, Dr. John MacHale, appoints an investigative commission to study the phenomenon. No findings were published.
1936	Archbishop of Tuam, Dr. Gilmartin, institutes a new investigative commission which returned with a positive verdict.
Sept 30, 1979	Pope John Paul II visits the shrine for the 100th anniversary of the apparitions. Over 450,000 people came to Knock on that day.

Description of the Virgin

According to visionary Mary Beirne:

"The Virgin stood erect, with eyes raised to heaven , her hands elevated to the shoulders or a little higher. the palms inclined slightly toward her shoulders or bosom; she wore a large cloak of a white color, hanging in full folds and somewhat loosely around her shoulders and fastened to the neck; she wore a crown on the head- a rather large crown- and it appeared to be somewhat yellower than the dress or robes worn by Our Blessed Lady."

Visionaries

There were 15 official eye- witnesses (three men, six women, two teenage boys and a girl, and two children) to the heavenly display, including:

Patrick Hill, 11
Mary McLoughlin, 45- Archbishop Cavanagh's housekeeper
Mary Byrne, 29 - daughter of Margaret Byrne
Patrick Walsh, 65
Patrick Byrne, 16
Mrs. Margaret Byrne, 68 - widow, friend of Mary McLoughlin
Dominick Byrne, Junior, 19 - son of Margaret Byrne
Mrs. Hugh Flatley, 44
Bridget Trench, 75
Catherine Murray, 8 - niece of Margaret Byrne
John Curry, 5
Judith Campbell, 22
Margaret Byrne, 21
Dominick Byrne, Senior, 36 - husband of Margaret Byrne
John Durkan, 24

Click here to read Patrick Hill's statement to the 1879 Commission of Enquiry.

Messages

There were no messages given at Knock.

Miracles and Signs

The place of the apparitions in Knock became a center for pilgrimage, now receiving a million visitors per year.

Over three hundred miraculous cures have been reported there, including the cure of two blind men shortly after the apparition.

Church Approval

Two commissions of enquiry (1879 and 1936) were established. A Commission was set up within six weeks of the Apparition by Most Rev. Dr. John MacHale, Archbishop. Fifteen witnesses were examined and the Commission reported that their evidence was 'trustworthy and satisfactory'. The Report was published in the newspapers and immediately pilgrims began to flock from all parts of the country and overseas. The sick and disabled were taken along in great numbers and hundreds of cures were reported in the public press of that time.

In 1936 All three surviving witnesses confirmed their original statements of 1879. They confirmed the evidence they had given in 1879. One of the witnesses was Mary O'Connell (nee Mary Byrne). She confirmed her evidence, on her death-bed, under oath and added, 'I am perfectly clear about everything I have said and I make this statement knowing I am about to go before my God'. She died six weeks later. The verdict of the Commission determined that the "testimony of each of the fifteen official witnesses to the apparition was trustworthy and satisfactory"

Click here to read Patrick Hill's statement to the 1879 Commission of Enquiry.

The Feast Day of Our Lady of Knock is celebrated on August 21st.

Books

Cadhain, Liam Ua. Cnoc Mhuire or the Irish Shrine of the Holy Rosary. 6th ed. Dublin: The Anthonian Press, 1945.

Carey, F. Knock and its shrine. Dublin: Irish Messenger, 1946.

Coyne, William D. Cnoc Muire in picture and story. Galway: O'Gorman, Ltd., 1945.

Coyne, William D. Cnoc Muire in picture and story. Dublin: Frederick Press, 1957.

Coyne, William D. The Irish shrine of the Holy Rosary (Knock, Co. Mayo), with some accounts of some remarkable cures. 6th ed. Dublin: Anthonian Press, 1945.

Coyne, William D. The Irish shrine of the Holy Rosary (Knock, Co. Mayo), with some accounts of some remarkable cures. 13th ed. Dublin: Anthonian Press, 1953.

Coyne, William D. Knock Shrine. Galway: O'Gorman Printing House, 1935.

Coyne, William D. Our Lady of Knock in picture and story. New York: Catholic Book Pub. Co., 1948.

Coyne, William D. Venerable Archdeacon Cavanaugh: pastor of Knock (1867- 1897). Dublin: Knock Shrine Society, 1979.

Curtayne, Alice. The story of Knock. New York: Scapular Press, 1956.

Deevy, W. Notre-Dame apparît en Irlande a Melleray dans une grotte. Hauteville, Switzerland: Editions du Parvis, 1991.

Eugene Hynes. Knock: The Virgin's Apparition in Nineteenth-Century Ireland, Cork University Press, 2008.

Knock Shrine Annual. The Society for promoting the cause of Knock Shrine, 1952.

Knock Shrine Society. Knock Shrine Annual. Dublin: Frederick Press, 1960.

McShane, John. Our Lady of Knock. Indianapolis, IN: Brigittine Press, 1948.

O'Carroll, Michael, C.S.SP. The Secret of Knock. Dublin: Holy Ghost Fathers, 1941.

O'Keefe, Daniel. The Story of Knock. Cork: The Mercier Press, 1949.

Orsini, Mathieu. The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary. New York: Peter F. Collier, 1880.

Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary. New York: Thomas Kelly, n.d.

The Queen of Angels. New York: Catholic Publications, 1887.

Our Lady's Irish Shrine. Dublin: Frederick Press, 1951.

Smith, William. Novena in honor of Our Lady of Knock. New York: Paulist Press, 1954.

Smith, William, S.J. The mystery of Knock. New York: The Paulist Press, 1954.

Walsh, Rev. Michael. The apparition at Knock. A survey of facts and evidence. 2nd ed. Tuam: St. Jarlath's College, 1959.

Windeatt, Mary Fabyan. Our Lady of Knock Color Book . St. Meinrad: Grail, 1959.

Windeatt, Mary Fabyan. Cnoc Muire in picture and story. Dublin: Frederick Press, 1957.

Windeatt, Mary Fabyan. The Irish shrine of the Holy Rosary (Knock, Co. Mayo), with some accounts of some remarkable cures. 6th ed. Dublin: Anthonian Press, 1945.

Windeatt, Mary Fabyan. The Irish shrine of the Holy Rosary (Knock, Co. Mayo), with some accounts of some remarkable cures. 13th ed. Dublin: Anthonian Press, 1953.

Windeatt, Mary Fabyan. Knock Shrine. Galway: O'Gorman Printing House, 1935.

Windeatt, Mary Fabyan. Our Lady of Knock in picture and story. New York: Catholic Book Pub. Co., 1948.

Articles

Tassone, Susan. OUR LADY OF KNOCK HAD LARGELY UNKNOWN CONNECTION TO SOULS IN PURGATORY

Links

Knock Folk Museum - Collection of witness accounts, details of cures, and photographs

Ireland's National Marian Shrine- official Knock shrine located in County Mayo on the West Coast of Ireland and the Western edge of Europe