The Knock Shrine: Witnesses of Hope

In March 2019, daughter Jill and I went on a ten-day tour of Ireland – three days in Dublin on our own and seven days on a guided tour of the Emerald Isle with CIE Tours International. Click HERE to read a short introduction about our unforgettable tour.

In this story, which is part of a series, I have shared our tour of a Catholic pilgrimage site in the village of Knock.  

Knock, Republic of Ireland (March 18, 2019) This morning we continued our clockwise journey around the Emerald Isle – day six of our guided tour – with a one-hour drive from Galway to Knock, the first of four stops on another dazzling day of sightseeing.
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On the first day of our tour, our guide and driver Bryan shared this fun fact: The island of Ireland is divided into 32 counties – 26 in the Republic of Ireland and 6 in Northern Ireland. And he went on to say, “We will cross 23 counties by the end of our tour.” I made a list of those counties, and by my reckoning, we had passed through 14 through yesterday. Today I placed checkmarks next to the names of four more counties – Mayo, Sligo, Donegal, and Derry.  Eighteen down, five to go!

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This morning’s weather was “typical Ireland” – upper 40s (Fahrenheit, that is), gray sky, and light rain. No matter, though, as I learned early on that Irish weather was variable and we were apt to experience a range of “weather” each day – inclement in some places, nice in others – given the distances we covered. My umbrella was always near-at-hand. 

As we drove north from Galway, I listened to the steady hum of the bus’s tires on the road as I gazed at the beautiful countryside through a rain-spattered window the beautiful countryside. I could not help but wonder whether a grazing cow or two stopped to gaze at me.

We soon arrived in Knock. While not the tiniest village we visited on our tour, it was small. “How small?” you ask. Knock is home to fewer than 1,000 people. And so, it was hard to believe that this wee village in the middle of nowhere – truly a remote location – was a major international Roman Catholic pilgrimage site, visited by an estimated 1.5 million people from across Ireland and around the world each year “in search of healing, reconciliation, and peace.” The Knock Shrine, as it is called for short, was easily western Ireland’s most popular attraction.

I beheld, all at once, standing out from the gable... three figures which,
on more attentive inspection, appeared to be the Blessed Virgin,
St. Joseph and St. John. Above the altar and resting on it was a lamb
and around it I saw golden stars, or small brilliant lights...
reflecting the light of some luminous body."
~ Testimony of Mary O'Connell, August 21st, 1879

This apparition was witnessed by 15 villagers who testified before an ecclesiastical commission of inquiry led by Archbishop Mac Hale from nearby Tuam. The commission, after deliberations, concluded that “the testimonies of all, taken as a whole, is trustworthy and satisfactory.” 

Each evening, as I relaxed in bed, I researched the sites and sights we would visit the next day. Last night, I learned that there were five churches on the Shrine grounds, as well as beautiful gardens, amazing artwork, and a museum and gift shop. Clearly, there was too much for Jill and me to see in the 75 minutes allotted for our self-guided tour, so I made a short list of key places to visit.

The first was the last-built church – the Basilica, which was completed in 1976. Its tall spire acted as a beacon when we stepped off the bus, and we followed a well-marked walkway to reach it.
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This church was not a Basilica when it was first unveiled. Rather, it was elevated to this status – the highest permanent title for Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches – by Pope John Paul II when he visited Knock in 1979.  

The Basilica was described as “aesthetically beautiful and spiritually uplifting” with an award-winning interior that “radiates an atmosphere of warmth and welcome in a space that is sacred and peaceful.” I was hooked and could not wait to step inside! So, you can imagine how disappointed I was when I found that the Basilica was closed to the public on this day. 

As Jill and I walked from the Basilica, we stopped to admire the statuary near the site of the Apparition…

…and then passed a series of reliefs, installed in 1938, that depicted the Stations of the Cross. 

As the tall spire was a beacon that drew us to the Basilica, so too was the hard-to-miss stone tower that rose at the front of the Parish Church, which was completed in 1828 and dedicated to St. John the Baptist. I pulled on the door at the base of the tower…and it opened!!
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Inside, Jill and I found a simple but well-restored sanctuary – white-plaster walls, dark wooden pews, and colorful stained-glass windows, including Our Lady of Knock. The high altar at the front of the sanctuary was sculpted by Patrick Scannell from Cork and presented to the church on his pilgrimage in 1880. We stopped to read a plaque on one wall: My House shall be called the house of Prayer to all Nations. This is the gate of the Lord: the just shall enter into it.

The Parish Church was inviting and inspirational (and softened the blow of not being able to explore the Basilica)!
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It was time to find the perfect gift for my wife, and I spotted it in the window of the third store I stopped in front of – a plaque in the shape of an angel with this blessing:

May the dreams you hold dearest be those which come true,
and the kindness you spread keep returning to you.

She loved it! 
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We left Knock late morning. Next stop: the Atlantic Sheepdogs Farm in Streedagh, a town in County Sligo. I look forward to sharing my memories of this experience with you.