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JOHN SPAIN

Knock, Knock, who's there?

By
John Spain

Published Wednesday, November 4, 2009, 2:04 PM
Updated Thursday, November 5, 2009, 10:43 AM

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Knock, Knock, who's there? | IrishCentral




Thousand of people, many of them travelers from Ireland and abroad gathered at Knock Shrine in Co. Mayo on Saturday hoping to see an apparition of the Virgin Mary.

THERE were lots of knock, knock jokes here this week.  Or even Knock, knock jokes. 

Knock, knock, who's there?  It's Virgin. 

Virgin who?  Vergin' on the ridiculous. 

And it was indeed verging on the ridiculous here last weekend, as thousands of people again gathered in the little town of Knock in Co. Mayo fully expecting to see an apparition by the Virgin Mary. 

The true believers among you will, of course, know that Knock is Ireland's answer to Lourdes or Fatima. It's where the Virgin Mary is supposed to have appeared to a small group of people 130 years ago at the gable end of the local church.   

The Blessed Virgin was accompanied in the apparition in 1879 by two other figures, thought to be St. Joseph and John the Evangelist, although since they were all shimmering away in the twilight it was hard to be certain. 

The vision continued for a few hours, and other local people who arrived claimed to see not only the three main figures, but also a few angels hovering above them and an altar beside them with a lamb on it (the lamb of God being Jesus).  

The event was an international sensation and was even covered extensively in The New York Times.  The local bishop at the time and the Catholic Church treated the claims of an apparition with caution, but over the years Knock acquired a degree of credibility and is now given some recognition by the Vatican.   

Over recent decades it has developed into a major international pilgrimage site, the little church is now sidelined by a vast basilica with a processional square in front, and well over a million pilgrims a year come to visit.  Which is great for business, especially in this remote area in the west of Ireland. 

There have been various reported sightings and happenings over the years, but nothing significant and certainly nothing to match the original event.   Even so, the fame of this Marian Shrine has spread around the world. 

And it was given a huge boost in 1979, the centenary of the apparition, when Pope John Paul II visited the shrine during his trip to Ireland.  

The real test for a shrine like Lourdes is miracles, of course, and on that score Knock has not done very well, if at all.  The New York Times reported on claimed miracles after the original apparition.  But the main miracle is more recent. 

It's Knock Airport which the famous Monsignor Horan, the priest who built the basilica, created a few miles away on a boggy hill in the middle of nowhere in an area plagued by mist and fog.  Everyone thought he was mad when he came up with his plans for Knock International Airport but it worked and it's still successful, mainly because of its popularity with west of Ireland emigrants who live in Britain and don't want to go through Dublin Airport on visits home.  

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Knock, Knock, who's there? | IrishCentral


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Posted by ochshane on November 6,2009 | 12:12PM
I remember 1986 well-moving statues and floating hay cocks!I got out of there in '87.






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