2. What happened after the
Apparition?
Despite the immediate hesitancy of
the Catholic Church in recognising
what had happened in Knock August
evening in 1879, it was apparent that
something out of the ordinary had
occurred.
Word spread very quickly.
The church’s response was to conduct
an enquiry and this it initiated within a
relative short time following the
apparition.
3. Who established it?
It was established by Dr. John
MacHale, Archbishop of Tuam, whose
archdioceses includes the parish of
Knock.
The members of the commision were
three parish priests, Archdeacon
Bartholomew, Cavanagh of Knock,
Canon James Waldron of Ballyhaunis
and Canon Ulick Bourke of
Claremorris.
4. How did it begin?
The Commission began its
examination of eye-witnesses in the
sacristy of the Church of St. John the
Baptist on 8th October 1879. At least
22 people had witnessed the
apparition but some had emigrated
before the Commision commenced its
work.
5. Who did they interview?
The commissioners interview 15
‘visionaries’
Fourteen of them saw the apparition at
teh gable end of the church while
another, Patrick Walsh saw the bright
light at the church from his meadow in
Ballinderris, at a distance of half a
mile.
In the following year the Commission
continued its work by examining
alleged miraculous cures.
6. The Witnesses
Patrick Hill was the first to give
testimony before the Commission on
the 8th October 1879.
Understandably, giving his young age,
John Curry’s own testimony to the
Commission was brief and lacked
detail.
7. What next?
The first organised pilgrimages from
Limerick, Cork and Manchester took place
in 1880. Thereafter the numbers of
pilgrims increased and thousands
attended for special occasions.
The church’s attitude towards Knock also
became more positive with the passage of
time as is clear from the fact that all recent
Popes have honoured the shrine.
Pope John Paul visited the shrine in
September 1979 to mark the centenary of
8. A Second Commission
Almost sixty years following the
apparition, a second commision of
enquiry was established in 1936 by Dr.
Thomas Gilmartin, Archbishop of Tuam,
to obtain any other useful information
that might be available.
At that stage only three of the original
fifteen official eye witnesses were still
living- Mary O’Connell(nee Bynre) and
Patrick Byrne, both living in Knock and
John Curry in New York.
