Sanctuaire de Knock

Knock

On 21 August 1879, at around eight in the evening, some fifteen people declared that they saw, on the gable wall of the parish church, the Virgin accompanied by Saint Joseph and Saint John the Evangelist, and, on an altar, a lamb before a cross, surrounded by angels. The figures did not move and said nothing: this is the so-called silent apparition. It was raining. Bridget Trench, one of the witnesses, told how she had stepped forward to kiss the Virgin's feet and had felt only the wall. A commission convened on 8 October 1879 by Archbishop John MacHale judged the testimonies trustworthy; a second, in 1936, heard the two survivors again, among them Mary Byrne O'Connell, who gave her deposition under oath from her bed and died six weeks later.

Getting there : Free access; Ireland West Airport 19 km away; museum, hotel and campsite on site

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound