I know Brendan is not far from here and my own great grandfather was involved in investigating Our Lady's original visit. He was RIC stationed in Kiltimagh at the time. I am still awaiting his report.
Meanwhile, you might like to read Fr. Hoban's book Where do we go from here? - The Crisis in Irish Catholicism and/or sign the petition to those rotters in the CDF to have Fr. Tony Flannery ungagged and restored to ministry.
Knock is an appropriate location for focussing on the current state of the church.
ReplyDeleteIn 1879, when the BVM is supposed to have appeared, the local community was under serious pressure on at least two fronts.
At the secular level, land agitation was gathering momentum. Davitt had had a monster meeting in nearby Irishtown a few months earlier.
At the religious level, a concerted effort was being made to impose Roman ways on a population whose faith was simple and who put great store by traditional forms of devotion.
Ring any bells?
Check out Eugene Hynes's analysis of the tumults of Knock at that time.
I signed the petition.
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