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Mary Byrne (witness)
Mary Byrne later Mary O'Connell (1850 – 19 October 1936) was an Irish woman considered to be the chief witness of the apparition at Knock, County Mayo. Life Mary Byrne was born in 1850, the eldest daughter of the three children of Dominick and Margaret Byrne (née Bourke). Byrne was one of 15 people who witnessed an unusual sight at the gable end of the church on 21 August 1879, later the site of the Knock Shrine. She was brought there at 8:15pm by the housekeeper of the parish priest, Mary McCloughlin. Upon her arrival, Byrne saw three figures hovering 2 feet in the air, and was told by McCloughlin that two of the figures were the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. Byrne identified the third figure of Saint John the Evangelist, as he bore a resemblance to a statues at a church in Lecanvey, near Westport, County Mayo. The witnesses claimed that it was raining heavily, but that no rain hit the area in which the apparitions stood. Byrne went to nearby houses, and brought the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knock Shrine
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Knock, commonly referred to as Knock Shrine, is a Roman Catholic pilgrimage site and national shrine in the village of Knock, County Mayo, Ireland, where locals claimed to have seen an apparition in 1879 of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, Saint John the Evangelist, angels, and Jesus Christ (the Lamb of God). Apparition The evening of Thursday, 21 August 1879, was a very wet night. At about 8 o'clock it was raining as Mary Byrne, who was from the village, was going home with the priest's housekeeper, Mary McLoughlin. Byrne stopped suddenly when she saw the gable of the church. She claimed she saw three life-size figures. She ran home to tell her parents and soon others from the village gathered. The witnesses said they saw an apparition of Our Lady, Saint Joseph and Saint John the Evangelist at the south gable end of the Church of Saint John the Baptist. Behind them and a little to the left of Saint John was a plain altar. On the altar was a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
